Archive for June 30th, 2008
Protected: Knowing Is Half the Battle
Posted in The Weirdness of Me on June 30, 2008|
This, That, & the Other
Posted in Cooking, Disgusting Things, Talking To Hear My Head Rattle on June 30, 2008| 1 Comment »
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
- Mix flour and seasonings in a large zipper-type heavy plastic bag.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.