I woke up at a much more normal 6:00 AM on Sunday. I watched
the morning news for a long while and then ran through the Sunday morning
chores. I had to go up in the attic, so I did that before it got hot outside. I
got down the electric wok that Jake and Carla left me. My cube-buddy Michelle
said she always wanted one, so I thought I’d give it to her (I have never used
it). I also got down an old, rusted ceramic bowl I got somewhere. I don’t know
why I saved it or what I’ll use it for, but I like it. Then I shaved and
showered.
I noticed yesterday when I was grilling that the chives were
about to bloom, so I went out today and harvested as much as I could without
cutting the blossoms. I wanted to harvest them before the stems got woody. I
used the scissors to snip them into a useable size and put them in a baggie. I
filled a quart bag! I labeled it and stuck that in the freezer for use next
winter. Sadly, that’s the only way I ever harvest my fresh herbs. Drying them
is a pain and I never seem to use them anyway. So, I use them when they are in
season and buy them when they aren’t.
B___ called and we talked for a while. When we were
finished, I did the last load of wash for this weekend. I putzed around until
the clothes were out of the dryer and I could hang them up.
I finally went outside and fired up the lawn tractor. The
clumps of grass that were left in neat rows out back Friday night had dried
out, so I wanted to spread them around. So, I essentially recut the whole back
yard. I finished up around 4:00 PM. I went in and got the trimmer, but found
the battery was dead! Dammit! I stuck it on the charger and went back to
digging around the black walnut tree.
I was taking another wheelbarrow load of sod out back to
dump in the hole when I saw my neighbor and his wife outside. So, I went in and
got the rest of the money I owe him for the shed. I told him I wanted to know
what I owed his “guy” for spreading all the dirt. He shrugged it off, saying I
shouldn’t worry about it. So, I insisted, reminding him that it was not
something I could do myself and that the guy was obviously busting his ass for
me. He said he would think about it. Grrr…
I went back inside the house and changed into my shorts. It was
hot out there! Even the air conditioner was running. So, before I went back
out, I shut all the windows.
The ground was much harder to dig in today. We need rain!
But, I “endeavored to persevere.” Some neighbors walked by from down the road, (on
their way to the Coney Island for supper) and the lady asked me what I was
going to do with the filled in ruts. I explained that was a stupid mistake on
my part. She thought I was gonna mulch them and plant flowers, LOL! She told me
to have a “blessed day” (I get that a lot around here) and they walked on…
I finished up the dig just before 6:30 PM. I went inside and
drank a huge glass of water. Then I took the blower and blew off all the maple
tree seeds (or “helicopters” as I like to call them) off the small mulch pile
Jake left on the garage apron. I loaded the mulch into the wheelbarrow (it took
four loads) and dumped them around the tree.
Sidebar: I KNOW I had a roll of that black plastic edging,
but I cannot find it! So, without the edging, I raked the mulch around until it
looked level. I was finally done with the damn thing! I took some pictures and
went in the house for the night. It was 7:15 PM.
Oddly enough, I was extra careful not to overload the wheelbarrow
so my back did not hurt. Nevertheless, my right shoulder (the one I had the
rotator cuff surgery on) was killing me. I was unable to raise my arm to level.
WTF?
I hate getting old…
So, I started my Sunday supper. As you probably already guessed
from my purchases yesterday, I am making Steak au Poivre (French for peppered
steak) for the first time. I had the
steaks sitting out for the last couple of hours, to let them come to room temp.
I patted them dry with paper towels.
I mixed two tablespoons of fresh cracked black pepper with
one teaspoon Kosher salt and spread it on my cutting board. Then I pressed both
sides of the two steaks into it.
I had some olive oil (not extra virgin) heating in my cast
iron pan on medium-high. I set the steaks in the pan and didn’t move them for
four minutes (so they got a nice crust). Then I turned them over with the tongs
and cooked them another four minutes. I transferred the steaks to a plate and
covered them with aluminum foil.
I poured off the excess oil and returned the pan to
medium-low heat. I added some butter and scrapped the brown bits off the bottom
of the pan. I added a ¼ cup of cognac and lit it to burn off the alcohol. Then
I added ½ cup of beef broth, four tablespoons of heavy cream and ½ tablespoon
of Dijon mustard. I whisked that to combine and brought it up to a boil. When
it thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, I sliced up one of the steaks
and drizzled the sauce over top of it.
OMG! That was freakin’ excellent!!!
I watched some of the shows I had taped, but I was beat. I went to bed before 10:00 PM.
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