We broke the all-time record high for
Wednesday, January 30, just after midnight. But, it will be all downhill from
there. BTW, just as an update, my back ached a bit from the exercise yesterday,
but both my knees were killing me. That tells me I started none too soon!
It did rain again overnight, but wasn’t
raining when I drove into work. Nor was it raining when I took my morning walk.
My cubicle partner, Michelle, brought in
my Tupperware order. I got six more of the big cereal containers and the microwave
steamer she’s been telling me about. I already have some recipes for the
steamer from her, BTW. It has two levels, so you can steam your entrée on the
bottom and your veggies on top at the same time. Sound like the perfect weekday
time-saver for a single person.
I went home for lunch, only stopping to
fill up my tank at the corner gas station. From there I went home. I found a
box from Amazon on my front porch, which I thought was strange as I hadn’t
ordered anything that I recall. But, I didn’t have a lot of time left, so I put
it aside for after work and made my lunch, instead.
I reheated the two cups of marinara sauce
and meatballs in the microwave. As I had planned, I cut about an inch of the
rustic Italian bread off and put the meatball/marinara sauce on top. It was even
better than I hoped!!!
I parked the car in the driveway before I
left and went in to sweep the accumulated water (from both the snow and
rain on the car over the last several days) out onto the garage apron. I’m
tired of tracking wet footprints onto my kitchen floor.
Then I shut the garage door and went back
to work. Both the ride home and back to work were damp, but dry from the
sky.
It was, however, drizzling when I headed
home. But the drive wasn’t too bad. I got inside, treated cats, changed clothes
and then started the Wednesday night wash.
I fixed a cup of coffee while I opened
the Amazon box. Oddly enough, it was a coffee cup! The message said “For my
first trick, I’ll send you a Father’s Day gift early. Enjoy your next cup of
coffee! From: Melissa.” It has old posters of Harry Houdini as it says on the
box that a hot cup of coffee makes Houdini escape his bonds. I can’t wait to
try it but thought I should wash it, first. So, I did. We’ll see how this works
tomorrow morning.
Another surprise was in my mail: a copy
of the Martha Stewart Living magazine. I’m not sure who sent me that, but
thanks!
I started dinner by thinly slices a
medium onion and sautéing it in butter and oil until it caramelized. Tonight,
I’m making a riff on Krystal Burgers (the Southern version of White Castle, but better tasting). Carla knows how
much I liked them and suggested this Alton Brown recipe for what he calls a ”Mini
Man Burger.”
I combined 1/2 teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and Kosher salt in a small bowl and set it aside.
I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper, and placed a pound of ground chuck in the middle of it. I covered the meat with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Now, the instructions said to “Roll meat with a rolling pin until it covers the surface of the pan; it should be very thin.” That was problem #1. Neither of my rolling pins were small enough to fit inside the cookie sheet. I did the best I could, then used an unopened bottle of Kikkoman Soy Sauce to finish it. That was problem #2. The glass on the bottle kept sticking to the cling wrap. But, I finally got ‘er done.
I removed the cling wrap, and sprinkled the meat with the seasoning mixture. Now the instructions said “Fold the meat in half, from side to side, using the parchment paper.” Easy enough, except I folded it end to end. That was problem #3, as there was NO way to cut it into eight equal squares. So, I ended up redoing it and folding it correctly. Then I used a pizza wheel to cut the meat into eight squares.
I wrapped the Kroger’s Golden dinner rolls in foil and placed them in the oven for 10 minutes. When they were about half way through, I placed the burgers on the griddle and cooked them for two to three minutes per side.
I removed the buns from the oven and cut four of them in half (this would have been easier to do prior to putting them in the oven – ouch!). I spread a small amount of mayonnaise on the bottom of each bun and topped that with the burger, the onions, a little yellow mustard and two half moon slices of McClure’s dill pickle (you can use any condiments you desire).
Damn, Those were good! I ate three before I realized I was stuffed. It was only because I had to hang up the clothes that kept me from eating the fourth.
Thanks, Carla! I will definitely make them again, but only after I get a large dowel and cut it down to the correct size to roll with.
I checked in with B___ and we talked for a little bit, mostly about the weird weather (we both feared the standing water would freeze overnight).
I put the other burgers in a baggie and into the fridge. The rest of the dinner rolls also went into a baggie, but onto the toaster oven.
I cleaned up the kitchen and watched TV until bedtime.