Mattie Cooks

 My grand plan to sleep in today was cut short by the low blood sugar alarm, which went off slightly before 8.  Sigh.  This was not necessarily bad, as I was able to churn out a few emails, go to the post office to get some packages of Street Cards sent out, and hit the gym.  At the post office I discovered that while they did not have the Alex Trebek stamps -- which it would behoove me to buy -- but they also have Dungeons and Dragons stamps coming out August 1... which would be equally awesome!

Then it was home to work on some contract projects, go through links and emails, and in general be somewhat productive.  I put in some extra time on the exercise bike today; it was pouring when I stopped and rather than get soaked, I decided to hop on the bike again and wait it out.  I mean, some extra reading and extra exercise time is nothing to sneeze at.  Being me, I got soaked again while walking to the car and then while filling the gas tank... alas.  I also decided to hit the Pierogi fest at a local church; it was good (mostly) but they use tickets for the food, and we all know what I think about that, so... I will probably not be going back.  Alas.

I had something of a culinary adventure today; a few weeks ago a friend of mine -- who has one of those buy part of a cow arrangements -- gave me part of the deal, a package of steak and one of pork chops.  Of course, I buried it in the freezer, but I remembered them today and decided to treat myself to the steak.  I thawed it (not enough) by taking it out this morning, so it was still frozen at dinner time.  Alas.  The real surprise was when I took it out of the package; it was one giant steak; I think I will get at least three portions out of it!  Anyways, it barely fit into the largest pan I had, and cooking it took twice as long as expected (due to the freeze); I ended up putting a pot top on it just to compress it and try and get it to cook faster.  This also generated an immense quantity of smoke, so much so that I was concerned the fire alarm would go off.  I opened -- for the first time in a long time -- the back door to let it escape.  

As for the steak, it was quite good, even accounting for my idiocy on the stovetop.  I think I seasoned it well enough -- salt, pepper, some meat rub -- and while there is something of a char on one side it was mostly juicy and tender; I prefer it a bit more rare but I think I let it go, as the first samples were quite rare.  As Mom would say, this is why people eat out at restaurants...