A Man's Work is Never Done!

I woke up at 6:00 AM on Sunday. We had high winds all night (I think I even heard them in my sleep). The weatherman said that we had a high wind advisory until 8:00 AM and that 92,000 homes were without power due to downed lines.

When it got light, I looked out the kitchen window and saw all manner of trash blowing around my backyard. I also saw, to my amazement, the wind had blown the top off the metal can I keep the birdseed in. That has never happened before!

So, I threw on some clothes and went outside to put the lid back on (so the seed wouldn’t get damp). I took along a suet cake and refilled the cage with it, along with refilling the squirrel feeder with peanuts. I put the lid back on the can and put a patio block on top of it so it would stay put.

Back inside, I had a cup of coffee to warm up, treated the cats (since I’m not going anywhere today and to lure them off the bed) and stripped the bed. The bedding went into the washer and I put my bathrobe back on. Then I shaved, showered and dressed for the day.

When the bedding went into the dryer, my robe and the bath towels went into the washer. I got started on this morning’s chore: cleaning the house. First I swept and washed the kitchen floor.

Then I got going on the living room. I dusted everything and then vacuumed the rug and swept the floor. Finally, I washed all the glass surfaces to get rid of all the cat prints. I watered the bay leaf bush and wound the clock, too.

Once the kitchen floor was dry, I swept and mopped the main bathroom (since I could now pee downstairs). Then I swept and mopped the office, my bedroom and the hallway. I also mopped the main pathway from the front door to the kitchen pocket door.

Stuck in the kitchen or downstairs, I went out (after putting on a hat, gloves and scarf) to try and adjust the new light and (hopefully) adjust my headlights on the Volvo.

Now, when I revisited the box the light came in, I found some, well, let’s call them shields, along with double-stick tape. So I cut them as I deemed appropriate (who knows) and went out with the step ladder and applied them. I am hoping this blocks out the movement of cats inside and flag waving outside. Since it was daylight, I had6 to wait five or six hours to tell if it worked. See photos.

While I was out there, I noticed I hadn’t changed the Christmas mat (it says “Bah! Humbug!”) so I switched it out with the usual one (that just says “Go Away!”) I like to think both of them define my existence:  The Dude Abides!

Back inside, I downloaded the pictures (requested by Jake) and filled in the Blog entry to date, sucking down another hot cup of coffee. With the wind, it was wicked cold out there!

I took the steak out to come to room temperature. I also sautéed a box of sliced Crimini mushrooms in butter. This reminded me of my Mother. I won’t go into that as I am sure I have mentioned that before. But, I ate about a third of the mushrooms while I was cooking them.

I made a simple dry rub for the steak of one teaspoon of black pepper. 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. I patted this on, over and over again and let the steak sit there to rest. I went back outside in the garage to try and fix my headlights.

I managed to break the other connector (sigh) but did get the light to work again. However, it’s still set too high. I think I will have to make an appointment at the Volvo dealer to get two new connectors and the lamps installed correctly.

Back inside, I warmed up a bowl of the Lemon Chicken and Rice soup and ate that with a chunk of bread for my lunch. Then I took a nice nap.  I like naps!!!

When I woke up, it was dark, so I opened the front door to test the light. It went on immediately and stayed on for five minutes. When it went off, I went out and opened the garage door. My plan was to walk up to the porch and see when it clicked on. But the simple act of opening the garage door set it off!  But, the flapping flag and wild motion inside next to the picture window (my neighbors across the street must think I’m insane) did not set it off. So, that’s good.

I took the sweet corn (five little sad-looking ears) and removed the half husks they left on (for looks, I suppose). I buttered them up and wrapped each in a piece of tin foil (as you probably remember, this is NOT how I like to roast sweet corn!) I would have sprinkled them with thyme, but then I would have to listen to my Brother Carl bitch about it. I turned the oven on 425 degrees F. and when it was preheated, I stuck them in and set the timer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, I got out my trusty cast iron frying pan and turned the big burner on high. I shut the bedroom and office doors, cracked the kitchen window and turned the microwave fan on “High,” so I didn’t set off the smoke detectors.

Then I rubbed the steak with canola oil on both sides. You oil the steak, rather than the pan, so you can get the pan screaming hot without it smoking. Using tongs (never a fork, but you know that, right?) I put the steak in the pan and let it go about a minute on one side. Then I flipped it over with the tongs. Hmmm… not enough crust. So, I let it sit about two minutes on the second side, flipped it again (perfect crust on that side) and let it go another minute on the first side. I pulled it off and put it on a platter to rest.

Note: Depending on the thickness of your steak, this will give you a perfect medium rare, which I prefer. However, if you wanted it cooked medium or well done, you just stick the pan in the oven to finish it off,

I turned the burner down and added in a diced shallot and the rest of the mushrooms. When the shallots were softened, I deglazed the pan with a little bottle of merlot, scrapping the bottom of the pan to get the good bits up. When the wine had reduced by about half, I added in a tablespoon of butter, let that melt and then topped the steak with my pan sauce.

OMG! It was perfect!

The corn was mediocre, but I knew that, going in. But, it was sweet corn on the cob and my favorite vegetable. So, I thoroughly enjoyed my Sunday supper.

I cleaned up the kitchen and then watched some TV before going to bed.