Last Sunday of Summer...

I woke up at 7:00 AM and put a pot of coffee on. It was cool and overcast outside (today is officially the last full day of summer here in Michigan).

I had a cup of coffee and then made some eggs for breakfast. I did get a call back from both guys I called at 3:30 AM. The overheating was not in the server room itself, but in the adjacent room where the UPS' are and they had a man onsite, fixing the problem.

I did a little of this and that, waiting for noon. I need to get some charcoal from Gordon Food Service (GFS) and they don't open until then, you see. I think I am duty bound to grill outside on the last day of summer, right?

So, I left around 11:30 so I could also stop at Meijer's. When I was there on Saturday, they had tons of whole chickens or those huge "economy" packs of just legs or just thighs, all marked at 40% of the original price (somebody must have over-bought, or something). So, I bought one whole chicken (for like $2.45) yesterday. I thought about it overnight and this morning, I went and bought five more whole chickens (average price - under $3.00). I figure this way I can make a big pot of homemade chicken soup once a month throughout the whole winter! I also picked up some heavy cream that I will need today.

At GFS, I bought a big bag of lump charcoal and another half-sheet pan. On the way back home, I picked up some prescriptions from CVS and filled up my gas tank. I really lucked out with gasoline, BTW. If you remember, on a whim, I filled my tank up the day before Ike hit and gas prices soared. It has lasted me long enough that the prices have fallen back to where they were before Ike.

Back home, its time to deal with the clams on the half shell Jake and Carla left me. I decided to turn them into my special clam chowder. I normally use three cans of chopped clams and the juice from two of the cans. So, this time I just used two cans and the rest of the fresh clams, rough chopped. I finished the last taste test at 3:30 PM (excellent, BTW!) and let the pot cool. I put the 10 ears of sweet corn I bought yesterday at Westborn in a stockpot full of cool water and took out the small, tri tip steak to let it come up to room temperature. Before I put it on a plate, I hit both sides of it with the house seasoning.

I went out in the back yard to check everything out. I watered the grass seed both in front and in back and then checked the raised bed vegetable garden. I picked 11 tomatoes and three nice size green peppers. I hooked up the square sprinkler and watered the garden for 30 minutes.

Back inside, I put the soup away. I got two four-cup containers that went into the freezer and one two-cup container that went into the fridge. Since it was already after 5:00 PM, I went out and lit the charcoal for the official "Last Full Day of Summer 2008 Grilling."

I roasted the corn first and, as always, shucked it outside, then put it on a half sheet pan and stuck that in the oven on "warm." Next I grilled the steak, and then when that was resting, I did a package of hot dogs for next week.

I ate half of the steak and two ears of corn for my dinner. I cleaned up the few dishes and then wandered in to check out the TV. One of my shows was preempted for the Emmy's and the other one is a rerun. So, I watched taped shows until 10:00 PM and then went to sleep.