Another Saturday Story

I woke up at 6:00 AM on Saturday. I made a cup of coffee and then finished the Blog entry. I posted it and then moved on to typing up the grocery list and the ToDo list. Oddly enough, the ToDo list was more or less a repeat of last Saturday’s with just a few additions and deletions. I guess that means I wasn’t that productive last weekend!

I made some soft boiled eggs for breakfast, took my pills, then shaved and showered. I guess I had dawdled a bit, as I left at 8:50 AM for my 9:00 haircut.

But, I made it in time (thanks to the expressway, no cops and my turbo). Michelle (my old barber – no wait, I meant long time barber, not that I was calling her old) remarked that my hair was getting very coarse. I told her I had noticed that, myself. She suggested it was from not taking the medications I had during my spinal year. I told her, no, it was because it’s Spring and my sap was rising…

I didn’t have time to go grocery shopping before my 10:00 AM massage appointment, so I just went home, treated the cats and used the bathroom. Then I turned around and went back out.

Margaret, my massage therapist, asked how I‘d been feeling (she always does). I told her that my back had been hurting all week, but that I had an appointment next week with the spine doctor and was going to ask him to check it out.

After my massage, she said that one of my vertebrae was out of alignment and bulging to one side. I asked her what she recommended. She said she had loosened all the muscles around it and it might just pop back into place. She said if I was anybody else, she’s suggest a chiropractor, but given my circumstances, she thought seeing the spine doctor was my best bet. She said to tell him it was right in the middle of my scar.

From there, I went to Kroger and got all the items on my list. For a change, they had bone-in rib eye steaks on sale, so I bought two. As I was driving to the post office, I realized it was supposed to be over 5576e4 degrees on Sunday and I could grill them outside!!!

I hadn’t considered that, so now my dinner plans were evolving.  I realized if I had the charcoal going anyway, I could grill some brats. But, I don’t have any brats (I know, because I go through my chest freezer every few days, trying to empty it). So, I thought I would shoot up to the Town Market (on Joy and Beech Daly) and get some brats and buns.

I was worried about how long it might take at the Post Office, as the lot was almost filled and people were standing everywhere. I hesitantly walked by them all and got waited on. I asked the clerk (or what ever you call them) what was going on and she said it was passport day and it was by appointment only. All the people were waiting their turn for a passport! So, I was in and out in a flash. Whew!

I was dumbfounded when I pulled into the Town Market. There were no cars and the building had a sign on it, saying “Closed for Remodeling.” It’s not a chain store, just a little grocery store that’s looked the same since I first moved here.

But, I knew that there is a butcher shop, tucked between a Vietnamese Noodle shop and an Asian specialty food shop, on Joy Road just east of Telegraph. So, I went there. I knew in advance I would have to pay more and I did, but I was hoping the quality would make up for it. We’ll see…

Finally, I was home again, just after 12:30 PM. I unloaded the groceries, treated the cats and changed clothes. I decided to forego a real lunch, just snacking on some more cheddar cheese and Triscuits while I watched a DIY show. Then I took a well-deserved nap.

When I got up, I took the steaks and brats out of the fridge to let them come up to room temperature. I realized that, while Sunday was supposed to be warmer, there was a good chance of rain. So, I decided to grill today. I told you this was an evolving menu plan.

Then I backed the car out of the garage and put the saw horses in its place. I got the clock from the kitchen table and drilled egress holes for the saber saw with a 2-inch hole saw. That took a while, because you can’t rush the saw or it burns the wood. You can see in the photo where two of my holes started to burn about half way through.

I stopped at that point and blew all the sawdust outside (I didn’t want to track any more into the house than I already had last week).

I got the camera and walked around in the mild air, taking photos of the mail box, the hyacinths next to the garage and the crocus on the south side of the addition. The plant photos were just to make my brother Carl jealous!

I heard the phone ringing, so I went in to answer it. It was B___, checking in. We caught each other up on our respective, if minimal, news.

It was after 4:00 PM, so I decided it was time to start supper. I took the clock back in the house, moved the saw horse, pulled the car back in and buttoned up the garage for the night.

Inside, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, I stabbed three big baking potatoes with a fork. I rubbed them with canola oil and heavily salted them all over with Kosher salt. When the oven was ready, I stuck them on the open rack and set the timer for an hour.

I went out and fired up the charcoal starter. When the coals were ready, I set the grille grate down and let that heat up. Then I scrubbed it with a wire brush and oiled it with canola oil. That done, I put on the brats.

While the brats were grilling, I seasoned the steaks with salt, pepper and a hint of garlic powder.

 I took a picture of the brats when they were on the hardest side to grille: the curved underside. When that side also had a crust. I pulled them off.

I snipped off the last rosemary stems and added in some thyme stems as well. I tossed them on the fire and threw on the steaks. I let them go until I had a nice crust on the one side and the flipped them with the tongs. I checked them with the instant read thermometer until I had 140 degrees F. internal temp (medium rare). Then I pulled them off.

I put a pat of butter on each and let them rest while I got the potatoes out of the oven. I plated one, topping it with butter and sour cream. It’s still too early for my chives outside, so I put a little flat leaf parsley on top for color and added a steak to the plate.

It was delicious!!! Unfortunately, I ate the potato first and so couldn’t finish the steak, lol!

When my remaining half of steak and the other had cooled, they went into a baggie and then into the fridge. Ditto the brats.

I walked around and reset all the clock one hour ahead. Again, I completely forgot the furnace thermostat. I cleaned up the minimal mess in the kitchen (that’s another reason I love to grill, lol). I set my alarm (to try and get used to Daylight Saving time – it usually takes about a week for me to acclimate). Then I watched TV until bedtime.