December 6, lunch. Half of a Gino's Grinder from Beyond Bread in Tucson with Jan. A good sandwich, much better when eaten as half then as a whole. The meat could be a bit spicier; the balsamic dressing they use a little less acidic. But still a great effort overall.
December 6, dinner. Turkey soup, fresh-made. From the leftovers from Thanksgiving. Home-made everything, including a nice long stock. I put in both white and wild rice into this, as well as the usual carrot, onion, and celery. I also added pepper's from Jan's garden, which really give it a nice sweetness. With a Turley 2001 Zinfandel.
December 6, dessert. A Joseph Schmidt chocolate-and-sea-salt truffle. Very tasty.
December 7, breakfast.
December 7, lunch. A grilled cheese and ham sandwich at Don and Barbara's, plus a salad, plus some tortilla chips.
December 7, lunch dessert. A Reese's Select Cluster, sort of a new-fangled peanut butter cup which adds in a bit of caramel. Unfortunately, the chocolate in Reese's was of low quality as it always has been and so the new combination, while innovative in its thinking and tastes, was marred by the execution of the chocolate.
December 7, dinner. Fresh-made guacamole and tortilla chips. They had avocados for 50 cents a piece, so I got a pile of them thinking we would use them around Thanksgiving. Since we didn't get to them, they really had to go, and so I whipped this up for dinner. At Don & Barbara's, with Dale and mom as well.
December 7, dinner. My Turkey Rice Soup, some chipotle-cheese bread from Beyond Bread. At Don and Barbara's with Dale and Mom too.
December 7, dessert. Pie and ice cream at Don & Barbara's.
December 8, breakfast. A hot cappuccino and an orange marmalade scone from Raging Sage. In Tucson.
December 8, lunch. Some sliced sausage and cheese, at home.
December 8, dinner. Made myself a sausage and brie sandwich. Add mustard, a few leftover tortilla chips, and that's a great little dinner. Which, unfortunately, I ate sitting at my desk alone at 9:45 at night.
December 9, breakfast. A berry scone and a cappuccino at Raging Sage in Tucson.
December 9, lunch. Some sausage and cheese, a couple of very nice fat Cerignolo olives, and a piece of bread. In Tucson, at my desk.
December 9, dinner. A chile relleno burrito from Nico's. And a bottle of Pellegrino water.
December 10, breakfast. A berry scone and a cappuccino at Raging Sage in Tucson.
December 10, lunch. Two fish tacos, rice, and beans, at Nico's.
December 10, dinner. A brie sandwich on toasted sourdough baguette. At home.
December 11, breakfast. Orange scone and cappuccino at Raging Sage. This time, with Jan (hooray) who was back in town. After an 8AM appointment, so we were out and about anyway.
December 11, lunch. Salad of greens (fresh from the garden), sausage, vegetables, olives. At home, outside, in Tucson where it's not winter yet.
December 11, dinner. Three carne seca enchiladas, rice, and beans. From Rosa's Mexican Restaurant in Tucson, with Jan. And a Bohemia beer.
December 12, breakfast. The usual.
December 12, lunch. Salad at home with Jan. Fresh greens from the garden, sausage, olives, artichoke hearts, yum.
December 12, snack. Four dates from Dateland, Arizona.
December 12, dinner. Something Jan threw together: sausage, radicchio, some kale from her garden. And a pile of carmelized onions.
December 12, dessert. A pizza-flavored olive that Rose made. Mostly, it's Rose's olives with an excess of oregano and some garlic. But it was good.
December 12, dessert. Some Frigor Noir (by Cailler), the best chocolate you can't buy in the US. I think I got this at a gas station in Geneva for like $1 a bar.
December 13, breakfast. The usual. In the background, Wanda. In the far background, where you can't see her, Jan.
December 13, breakfast. A quick brie and prosciutto sandwich.
December 13, lunch. A salad of garden greens, sausage, pepper from the garden, cheese, and other good stuff.