Sunday, cleaning up!

I woke up at 6:30 AM on Sunday. After warming up a cup of coffee, I looked outside. Hmmm... it's foggy out there (again, that's rare here in Redford).

I am using up stuff in my fridge this weekend, so I fried the rest of the bacon and used some of the unopened buttermilk to make pancakes. I ate three pieces of bacon with my pancakes and put the others back in the fridge. The extra pancakes went out back for the squirrels.

Speaking of pancakes, did you ever notice the first ones you put on the griddle usually suck? Seems like either the griddle or you have to get in a groove.

I cleaned up the kitchen and then cleaned myself up as well. After a shave and shower, I was ready to get to work. I started by cleaning the house.

Oh, the fog had dissipated and the sun was shining by about 10:30. Other than the fog, today is supposed to be the same as the last 13, mid-seventies and sunny, chilly at night. But, there is actually a 60% chance of rain on Monday night/Tuesday morning. In case you are from elsewhere and wondering, this is unusual weather for Michigan in fall. But, it did give my Mom extra time out at Lake Orion and for that, and my tomatoes, I am grateful!

By 11:30, I had the kitchen floor washed and was just waiting for it to dry. I gave Lu a call to see how she's doing, but just got their recorder.

As I said, my goal this weekend was to use up stuff. I had about two pounds of baby redskins that were heading south. So, I used then to make my roasted potato salad. I followed the recipe (that's listed under "Recipes" in this web site) except for one thing. In my own recipe, I suggest waiting for the potatoes to cool completely before adding the sauce. But, I just saw a show with Bobby Flay where he recommends always mixing in the sauce with warm potatoes (either boiled or grilled or, in my case, roasted). He claims the warm potatoes suck up the sauce while cold ones repel it. I dunno, I just thought I'd try it and see.

While I was doing that, I made a Spanish-style marinade for the last steak left from the meat we bought last fall (after that, I only have one package of stewing meat left and the chest freezer will be ready for this year's meat). I used the food processor and added a lot of parsley, 1/2 of head of garlic (not peeled or anything), two whole jalapeno peppers from my garden (one that nobody saw and that turned red and a little one that will never make it to the correct length) and some Canola oil, salt and pepper. Once thoroughly mixed, that went into a large baggie along with the steak and the baggie went into a bowl and then the fridge. I took a quick taste: Whew! That will wake you up!

I just finished that when Lu called me back. Her goat milk business is booming (she can't keep up with demand!) and she was asked to set up a demonstration booth at a local college that was displaying agricultural products of Virginia. She did and got two or three more customers. So, all seems to be okay down there, although she still has to go to therapy three times a week.

Back to the kitchen! I washed the half sheet pan, the Shun and the food processor parts. Then I checked out the fridge again and found two bunches of scallions I didn't use. So, I peeled them back into shape by pulling off layers of sad leaves until they looked okay (albeit a bit thinner, lol!)

Meanwhile, I took the last three ears of corn from last weeks grilling. I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and, on top of a piece of tinfoil (one sheet per ear) brushed the melted butter onto each ear of corn. Then I hit them with the house seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, oh, you know!) and wrapped them up in the tin foil. The scallions got a drizzle of olive oil, then kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

At 4:30 PM, I lit the charcoal in the charcoal lighter can and let it get up to speed. When it was hot enough, I oiled the grill grates and started the corn, first. Next I grilled the scallions (that only takes a few moments) and finally, the steak. I got some great grill marks on that steak, by the way. Back inside, after the steak rested for a while, I plated up dinner. It looked so nice; I took a photo of it, before eating it! And, eating it was even better than looking at it!

I cleaned up the dishes, started the dishwasher and then wandered into the bedroom to catch the Sunday evening news. I watched all my Sundays shows (all new, for a change) and went to bed at 11:00 PM.