I Finally Fixed the Sink!

Monday morning came all too soon. It's supposed to be hot and dry today (unlike most of the USA, with rain and severe storm warnings from the Rockies all the way to the East Coast).

When I got home after 5:00 PM, I immediately watered all the container gardens. I was dismayed to find that the cedar tree box I'd so carefully made had spilt at both ends. I'll have to think of a clever way to repair it.

Then I took everything out from under the kitchen sink and started the third (and last) suggestion for solving the trickle that's become the hot water output. I did as suggested and took off the flexible water line from the copper pipe (after shutting off the water). I put down a bath towel and covered the valve with a coffee cup. I turned it back on and water shot everywhere!

So, now I know it's between the 3/4-inch shutoff and the faucet. I took a thin wire and reamed out the 3/8-inch flexible line. Then I took off the faucet shutoff knob and cleaned out the inside mechanism (again). I put that coffee cup over the knob opening and turned the water back on. Again, water shot everywhere!

I put everything back together, cleaned out the sediment in the aerator and turned the water on. Hot Damn! It works!! I can wash dishes in the sink again!!!

I checked on the steak in its marinade and realized I didn't add any acid to it. So, I juiced a whole lemon and added that to the bag (along with some red pepper flakes). I massaged it in and left it on the counter to come up to room temperature.

Meanwhile I peeled two big sweet potatoes, then cubed them up and put them in a pan of cold water and kosher salt. While they were heating up, I got out my metal steamer and added more cold water and salt to my smaller sauce pan.

I boiled the sweet potatoes until fork tender (about 20 minutes). Then I mashed them. In the saucepan, I mixed together 3/4 cup of whipping cream, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, two tablespoon of molasses, six tablespoons of butter and 1/8 cup of bourbon.

I let that simmer over medium heat until the butter was melted and the mixture was creamy. I poured half into the mashed sweet potatoes (original recipe called for four sweet potatoes, but I didn't want that many leftovers). Finally, I sprinkled just a little brown sugar on top and covered the bowl to let it melt.

For the steak, I shook off the marinade and patted it dry. I added some olive oil to my cast iron pan and put it on medium high heat. When the oil shimmered, I put the steak in and left it alone for four minutes. Meanwhile, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees F.

I flipped the steak over and stuck the pan into the oven for 14 minutes to finish cooking. Then I took it out, plated it and let it rest for another 8 minutes of so, while I steamed some frozen peas. Then I assembled my food and went in to watch some TV.

The sweet potatoes were awesome! The crust on the steak was great and the flavor excellent. Only thing is that it was a perfect "medium," and I prefer medium-rare.

I cleaned up and then went to bed early. I have that MRI tomorrow morning and have to be at the place at 6:15 AM!