Unsatisfying Sunday

I woke up at 8:00 AM on Sunday and immediately posted a quote I’d heard (and laughed my *ss off) last night through my insomniac wanderings on the cable channels.

Then I went out and started my Sunday night supper. I had thawed out the last rump roast yesterday after Jake and Carla left. Why a rump roast? Because it will fit into the smaller round crock pot (the English blade roasts need the bigger oval crock pot and I don’t need a lot of leftovers).

Now, unfortunately, I have no fresh mushrooms (a necessary ingredient in any CaptainK’s pot roast). So, while I had my coffee on the couch, I started to think how I could add layers of flavor to this. This will be an experiment.

So, I started out by peeling two big-*ss carrots and cutting them on the biase. I put them in the round crock pot. I added some chunks of leftover Vidalia onions and two whole cloves of garlic. Then I added some new red potatoes, chunked with skin on. I threw in two bay leaves and 1/2 cup of water.

I melted two tablespoon of bacon fat and seared the rump roast after heavily seasoning it with salt and pepper (it’s a big chunk of meat). I had the pan on high heat or “full whack” (as Jamie Oliver likes to say) and let it get a nice crust on all the sides and ends. Then I put it in the crock pot. I filled the remaining sides with more potatoes and topped the meat off with another clove of garlic and some leftover red onions.

Then I went outside and got some fresh oregano, thyme and rosemary. I threw them on top, stems and all, put the lid on and turned it on low.

I went in and filled in the Blog entry. Lu called for a brief chat and told me a funny story about our kids and hay bales. I putzed around doing a little of this and that until 2:00 PM when I decided to take the bike out.

So, I went out, disconnected the battery trickle charger, turned the fuel and choke on, made sure the kickstand was up and the key turned on and hit the “start button” (this is the first bike I ever owned with electrical starting).

It turned over! It coughed! But it didn’t start!!

I kept trying in say 30 second intervals (I didn’t want to burn up the starter motor) until the battery died (when you turn on the key the lights automatically come on, so that didn’t help). Having sat there with a leather jacket and my helmet on all the time, I was not only p*ssed but sweaty.

So, I rolled the beast forward next to the car, turned the car on and jumped the bike battery from the car’s. Still the same effect. Now, I realize that I am doing something wrong, so I got out the Owner’s Guide and checked out everything. Everything seemed okay, but since I started trying to jump it from the car, occasionally the “Check Engine Light” would flash. So, I quit. I pushed the bike place (there goes my thighs again).

I put the trickle charger on the mower (I thought I’d cut the back lawn later on) and went inside. It was about 5:00 PM.

Gui called and I told him what happened. He said he was sure I had somehow flooded the engine. After we hung up, I realized just how frustrated I was and decided enough was enough. So I gave up on lawn cutting for the day.

About 7:00 PM, I got out my roast and veggies and put them all on a platter. I reheated the skillet with the bacon grease. I reheated it, added some flour and made a roux. Then I added in the liquid from the crockpot and made gravy.

I plated some and went in to watch my Sunday shows. While I did miss the mushrooms, dinner was pretty good!