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This, That, & the Other

THIS:  As if being a zombie all weekend on the new meds wasn’t bad enough, I now have a huge enormous shiny red zit on the bridge of my nose. All together now: eeeuuuu! I did see some people comment that on one of the new meds they got the kind of zits I get anyway, the boil-like ones that you can’t squeeze ’cause they’ll leave craters in your face. I don’t normally get them often, so when I tell you that I already had one near my nose, which means that I now have two, you can imagine how disgusted I am. 

THAT: Actually, I wasn’t a zombie allweekend. I did go home from work on Friday and crash. Saturday I mustered the energy to go to the library and the mall, where I ordered my new glasses. ($486!!! Yowza! That is with a 50% discount on the frames and a 20% discount on the lenses. But when you have to get bifocals and you want lightweight lenses and transitions and anti-scratch/anti-glare coating, it still adds up. They’re very cute, though, and I’m looking forward to showing them off in a few weeks, ’cause when they advertise that they can make your glasses in one hour, that never includes the kind of glasses I have to have.) And I did a fair bit of reading, just with lots of naps in between. And Sunday I went to church and made a killer dinner (more on that in a sec), and then a fair bit of reading, just with lots of naps in between. And I will confess that during sacrament meeting I kept nodding, so I skipped Sunday School to sit in the foyer and snooze. But I was there for Relief Society/Priesthood combined meeting (since it was the 5th Sunday), so I’m not going to feel too bad.

THE OTHER: A milestone was reached yesterday, one that I’m very proud of. Joe has long conceded that I am the best soup-maker he’s ever met, but there’s one dish his mother has always prepared better than I do: Swiss Steak. He doesn’t like the version with tomatoes, which is what I usually make, but prefers it with a brown gravy. So yesterday after church I went to work in the kitchen. When we later sat down to dinner, he took a bite and said, “I hate to say this, but this is better than Mom’s.” Yes! Victory! So here’s how to make it. This recipe will feed 3-4 people, so change the quantities as necessary.

• 1 pound round steak
• Seasoned flour (about 1/2 cup flour and whatever seasonings you like. I used freshly-ground salt & pepper, sweet basil, crushed rosemary, seasoned salt, and ground celery seed)
• olive oil
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup beef bouillon

1. Mix flour and seasonings in a large zipper-type heavy plastic bag.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Brown the onion and garlic; remove from the pan. If the skillet needs a little more oil, add it and allow the skillet to heat back up.
3. Meanwhile, swiss the steak by coating both sides with the seasoned flour mixture; cover it with plastic wrap; and pound with a mallet. Remove the plastic wrap, cut the steak into serving size pieces, and dredge once more with flour.
4. Brown the steaks in the skillet on both sides. Only do 2 or 3 at a time; remove the browned ones from the skillet, add a little more olive oil, and brown the remaining steaks.
5. Return the steaks to the skillet. Put the browned onions and garlic on top of the steaks. Pour the bouillon into the skillet and bring to a boil (won’t take long). Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 4-5 hours, checking the liquid level occasionally. If necessary, add a small amount of water. You don’t want to drown the steaks, but you want there to be about 1/4 inch of water in the skillet.
6. When the steaks are done,o  remove from the skillet and keep hot. In a small bowl or cup, mix together the remaining seasoned flour with water, and stir into the liquid in the skillet. Whisk it well and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, stirring constantly, until the gravy has reached the desired thickness.  Taste and correct the seasonings.
7. Pour a little gravy over the steaks before serving, and serve the rest of the gravy with the big pot of mashed potatoes you made during the last half-hour of cooking.

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