April 24, 2024 Breakfast - granola with milk, yogurt and diced Fuji apple Lunch - Fried Pot Stickers. Dinner - Antelope Stew with Tomato Couscous

April 24, 2024 Breakfast - granola with milk, yogurt and diced Fuji apple  Lunch - Fried Pot Stickers. Dinner - Antelope Stew with Tomato Couscous 

I had a busy day.  I started by eating a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt and diced Fuji apple. I then showered and got dressed.

Then around 9:00 I picked a basket of lettuce from the garden.

At 9:30 I drove to NM Ortho for my six week exam and it went well. Today I graduated myself from the use of a cane to support my walking.

After my Orthopedic exam I drove to Trader Joe’s and bought several pounds of chocolate before the price goes up, two bottles of Chevalier VS cognac and eleven bottles of wine, including a St. Emillion Grand Cru, a Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve California Pinot Noir, a couple of German Reichard dry Rieslings, two French Palantir Sauvignon Blancs, an Italian Soave, and another white for Summer.

At 11:45 I drove home.  I was hungry and decided to fry pot stickers.  I put 11 in a skillet with 2 T. of peanut oil and a dash of sesame oil. Unfortunately, several were frozen together and did normal cook evenly. The skins tore of several and they absorbed a lot of oil and it turned out to be rather a greasy mess. Of course I ate them with a dipping sauce of soy, chili oil, green onion, and the sauce from the package that has a lot of sugar. I drank green tea.

After lunch I watched and doze through two PL matches. I watched the first half of Crystal Palace v. Newcastle that Crystal Palace won and the second half of Everton v. Liverpool that Everton won, which might eliminate Liverpool’s chance to win this year’s PL title.

I sent out two demand letters and read a land purchase agreement and then at 5:15 drank a gin and tonic and at 5:30 I meditated until 6:00.

I watched some news and Suzette gave me a foot treatment and cut my hair.

Today Arizona indicted the 11 fake electors and seven others for various crimes associated with preparing, signing, and sending fake election certifications to Washington for the 2020 election. Trump was apparently an unnamed co-conspirator but Mark Meadows, John Eastham, Rudy Giuliani and several others were indicted along with the 11 who signed the fake certifications.

Finally at 7:00 we decided to heat up the PPI Antelope stew and tomato couscous. Née noticed that there was very little fat on the antelope.  We drank the California Noble Pinot Noir I bought at Costco on sale last week and we both liked it. We also ate the stew with lots of Suzette’s homemade mango chutney.

We watched the science programs on PBS after dinner.

They included one on trying to save coral reefs, then A Brief History of the Future and finally The Making of North America about life.

We went to bed at 10:00.

April 23, 2024 Breakfast - Eggs and Bacon and toast Lunch with Barbara Page Dinner - Mediterranean Cod with Middle Eastern Rice

April 23, 2024 Breakfast - Eggs and Bacon and toast  Lunch with Barbara Page  Dinner - Mediterranean Cod with Middle Eastern Rice

I made breakfast by frying two slices of bacon and two eggs and three pieces of toasted baguette with a cup of chai.

The Market took off again today and by the time it closed the NASDAQ was up 245 points and my portfolio had regained 1/3 of what it lost from its high in the last few weeks.  Thank God for relative peace in the Middle East, American support for governments resisting autocracies, and success of the U.S economy.

At 11:00 I drove to see Barbara Page at her assisted living facility and she invited me to join her for lunch, which was rather nice, a good large  egg roll on a plate with teriyaki flavored noodles, breaded chunks of white chicken breast, with steamed carrot slices and broccoli flowerets.  The meal was served with sweet tea and water.  Everyone eats together in a large dining room that seats fifty persons easily. There are a lot of old people but they seemed nice and everyone is Mrs Page’s friend.

After lunch I went to REI to examine shoes and then to Costco where I bought seven bottles of wine including a Kirkland Pinot Grigio, two Kirkland Chianti Classico Riserva, a bottle of Gruet Brut, a Chloe Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, and a discounted Pinot noir from Monterrey County. I also bought sugar, mayonnaise, a hose for the garden, Cholula hot sauce, baguettes, Dubliner Cheddar, two cod filets, Clamato juice, and two duck halves.

When I returned home i rested until Suzette came home.

Suzette found a recipe for Baked Mediterranean Cod that looked delicious cooked in a Meunier style.

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  This easy baked cod recipe comes together in just over 20 minutes, but there is a reason it is a big fan favorite! Tender, perfectly flaky cod, tossed in bold Mediterranean spices and baked with a tasty garlic and lemon sauce.

Fish is one of the staples of the Mediterranean diet, so my family tries to eat fish about twice per week.

Luckily, there are so many ways to prepare a tasty fish dinner. Sometimes, I go for a big baked salmon, a hearty fish soup, or something different like a saucy Moroccan fish.

But one of my favorite go-to dinners is this easy lemon baked cod! And it is the #1 fish recipe on my site, for good reason!

Why this cod recipe works?

Cod fillet is a beautiful fish that is quick to cook, tender and mild-tasting so you can easily give it some big flavors!

This baked cod recipe takes on some bold Mediterranean flavors with a tasty garlic and lemon sauce and a few warm spices, including coriander, paprika, and cumin. 

Best part? You can make this lemon baked cod in just over 20 minutes from start-to-finish!

I squeezed the lemon juice and Suzette melted the butter and whisked in Spanish olive in one pie plate. In the other she mixed the ground coriander and flour and added a tsp. of  Z Atar. Then she dipped the four dried fresh cod portions into the lemon and oil mixture and the dish with flavored flour to coat the fish.

Then she briefly sautéed the fish in the garlic flavored oil and finally baked the fish in the oven with asparagus for Ten minutes. I minced 1/4 cup of parsley that we used as a garnish and served it with PPI Mediterranean rice.

We opened the bottle of Chloe I had chilled in the garage when I returned from Costco.

This was the first evening to eat under the gazebo in the garden.

After dinner we returned to watch Finding Your Roots and then went to bed.

I stayed up to blog this entry and read, while Suzette went to sleep.

Bon Appetit

It was a lovely day. 

April 22, 2024 Breakfast - Oatmeal. Lunch - Salami Salad. Dinner - Matzo Ball Soup

 April 22, 2024 Breakfast - Oatmeal. Lunch - Salami Salad. Dinner - Matzo Ball Soup

Today was much better than Friday . I ate well and the Market was up and a regained almost half of what I lost on Friday.  Let’s hope for a recovery of the market this week with Big Tech earnings and CPI reporting.

I woke up at 5:00 and ate a slice of raisin bread spread with Peanut butter and honey at 6:00 and went back to bed until 8:45.

Around 10:00 i made oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins and shaved almonds.

Then at noon I walked to to the bank and back.

I felt pain impending my hip, probably form the 3300 steps yesterday.

I made a salad for lunch around 2:00 with lettuce from the garden, 1/6 of a cucumber peeled, seeded, and diced, leftover tomato slices and strips of onion, and salami diced.  I dressed the salad with the Cesar salad dressing and toasted three slices of baguette and covered them with slices of Jarlsberg cheese and melted the cheese in the microwave. I drank water with lunch.

Then I napped and read because  was not feeling well until Suzette came home at 5:30.

Tonight is Passover and Suzette had made chicken broth so I decided to make matzo Ball soup.

I had a box of Streit’s Matzo Ball mix. I followed the instructions to mix the mix with 1/4 cup of olive oil and two eggs.  I also added minced parsley because that is how Mother made it.

I then then dropped walnut sizes balls into simmering water and simmered 30 minutes. The matzo balls were perfect, soft and they had puffed up to about double their original size. Suzette suggested adding asparagus and zucchini to the chicken stock to add vegetables to the meal.   I also thinly sliced three green onions for garnish.  The result was fabulous. I ate two bowls.

We loved our Passover dinner. I can’t believe it was so easy to make matzo balls.

We watched the Antiques Roadshow and then I watched the end of the Phillies v. New York NBA playoff game 2 that NY stole in the last minute and then most of game 2 between Denver and LA with the trio best players in the NBA, La Bron for LA and Jokic for Denver. Although we made chocolate chocolate chip and raisin cookies so I can take a dozen to Miss Page tomorrow during the second game.

Again, Denver stole this game with a fade away buzzer beater by Murray.

I went to bed at 10:45 after two fantastic games.

Bon Appetit.

 

April 21, 2024 Breakfast - Pickled Herring on Toast. Lunch - Scalo and Earth-day, Dinner - Chicken Pita Pocket Sandwich

April 21, 2024 Breakfast - Pickled Herring on Toast. Lunch - Scalo and Earth-day, Dinner - Chicken Pita Pocket Sandwich

Today things got better. My heart rate stabilized even though I walked 3200 steps, but I did the walking with food and separated in time.

Suzette fixed me a cup of latte macchiato around 8:00 as I was watching soccer and news. Aston Villa beat Bournemouth to hold on to 4th place and then Liverpool beat Fulham to go into a tie for 1st place.  The season is nearing its end and there is growing pressure to stay at the top and avoid relegation.

The news did little more than reflect the immense events that occurred this week that should shift the state of world affairs, including the cessation of tit for tat attacks between Israel and Iran and the House passing the $95 Billion Supplemental to provide military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

The huge change politically is that Speaker Mike Johnson put aside threats of withdrawal by Radical Republicans and the aid package and renewal of the FISA enabling statute on the floor for a vote and they both  passed easily with more Democratic votes than Republican votes.

If Johnson follows this strategy it will eliminate the power of the radical Republicans and end divided government, which is huge.

I toasted two slices of rye bread at 9:00 and spread them with sour cream and garnished them with sliced onion and all the remaining pickled herring and drank a cup of chai with it.

At 9;30 I started working with Suzette to first put a large box into her Highlander and then to mix and feed the raspberry, blueberry, and grape vines with fertilizer.

After we finished I watched the Liverpool match and some more news.

Then at 12:30 we drove to Nob Hill Center for this year’s Earth Day celebration.

We achieved our primary goal of buying a piece of hand dyed indigo colored Queen’s cloth from Nigeria for $150.00 to use for curtains in our bedroom.

Suzette had not eaten and was hungry, so we stepped into Scalo’s and discovered they had a Bloody Mary Brunch special that gave you a large glass half filled with vodka and ice that you filled with Clamato and other flavoring and skewers that you load with items from a buffet, like crab claws, shrimp, oysters, ham, donuts, chicken wings, baked baby hot dogs, etc. to fill your glass.

Here is Suzette’s effort.

I ordered a Margharita pizza with sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves and a glass of French rose wine. The best 5ing about the pizza was its wonderful crisp and flavorful crust.

We shared the pizza and really improved it by adding some snow crab claw meat.

After lunch we went home and napped.

I awakened at 5:00. We discussed dinner and came up with a great idea.  We would each stuff 1/2 of a warmed pita with chicken, tomato, onion slices, feta cheese, and tzatziki.

As we watched Doc Martin, I made tzatziki, with a diced peeled and seeded cucumber salted with 1 tsp. of salt, the juice and pulp of one clove of garlic, the leaves of three sprigs of mint minced, 1 T. of olive oil, 2 T. of onion, and 1 1/2 cups of yogurt.

Then at 7:00 Suzette shredded some chicken and heated it and fetched the cleaned lettuce and we filled our pita pocket and ate it with lettuce with a glass of Kirkland Pinot Grigio.

We were both satisfied and Suzette we might even lose some weight if we reduced our dishes like using only 1/2.of a pita for a meal.

We watched Masterpiece Theatre on PBS and then Suzette went to bed at 10:00 and I at 11:00.

Bon Appetit