My Happy Place . . .

So, I've got a few happy places and I relish them. There's the Family Life Center at my church. We play games there, hold banquets, have a contemporary service there, and there's a well lighted kitchen in the corner. What is not to love?

Then of course there's my bed. It's big, it's soft, the cat and the Dear One are there.

My grocery store . . .

I've often thought it would be nice if I could move my bed to one of the little rooms off the FLC and perhaps HyVee could move next door? You know, just for me . . .

But now it's summer time and when I go to the grocery store I have Guitar Boy, Darling Daughter, and Little Buddy with me or at least some combination of them . . .

I do want my house to still be standing when I return! Where would I put the groceries . . .

So now when I go to the store I come home with things like . . .

Exotic and strange fruits that nobody wants to eat . . .

. . . and this thing . . . doesn't it look more like a flotation device than a coconut? I guess coconuts are flotation devices . . .

Oh and this because it has nuts and milk in it so it MUST be good for you . . .

75 days and counting . . .

Please send help . . .

Manager's Special!

I have this problem you see . . . whenever I see this little tag I freak out and start scurrying around the grocery meat case examining everything that has it on it.

Sometimes the manager's special isn't all that special. Sometimes it's old shrimp. Yuck!

But sometimes . . .

It's my FAVORITE steak in the whole wide world! Then I buy them! I buy them all!

Last summer I had 30 steaks in the freezer. But they were just tiny 8 oz. ribeyes and strip steaks. Just baby steaks! I only paid $2 a piece for them. They went to the church men's canoe trip.

I have a steak habit. I buy steak whenever I see it at a good price. My friend Donna has counseled me on this before. I practically had myself under control but I failed today . . . I found four T-bone steaks! They were 20 oz steaks for $6 a piece! What could I do? I couldn't LEAVE them there! What if somebody who didn't appreciate them got them?

It's so pretty! It's actually a combination of two steaks. That's the tenderloin over there on the right side. You know, the fillet Mignon? It's tender and juicy. On the left is the strip steak I think. It's not as tender but it has beautiful marbling and just gorgeous beefy flavor!

These steaks go on sale because they start to get a little brown color in the refrigeration case. That's called dry aging baby! You pay EXTRA for that at the steakhouses. So my store throws this super salty, peppery, paprika laden, meat tenderizer on the steaks to cover up this misunderstood color. It's gross so I wash it off and rewrap them.

Look at all the lovely marbling! It's going to be so delicious in a couple of months when I throw them on the grill!

We don't even eat steak that much! We keep on having to throw steak parties to get rid of them. Do you think there's a 12 step program for steak buyers?

Stella!

I'll admit it. My husband and I became interested in this beer because of the commercials. So when it was available at a local Art Fair we said sure!

Is there anything more enjoyable than a cold beer enjoyed on a patio while you indulge in sausages? Not for those of us from German-Irish stock!

Stella Artois is a Belgian Lager style beer. Now the Belgians are quite possibly the world's best beer makers. Seriously, they've been brewing this beer since 1366! Can you say longevity?

This is beer for beer drinkers.  It has that lovely golden straw color I enjoy in beer.

It has a very unique aroma. It smells a little like good musk smells. It's a deeply primal, slightly sweet smell. Your first sniff might leave you thinking of high end perfumes and aftershaves.

It has hops in it. They are prevalent but their bitterness doesn't overwhelm the beer's slightly sweet notes. It is one of those beers that leaves a strange funky perfume in your mouth long after it's gone down your gullet. But it's a pleasant perfume! The closest way to describe it is like hyacinths.

Since the two biggest flavor notes are bitter and sweet I highly recommend drinking it with salty and sour things. We had it with Italian sausages and mustard! It was perfect!

When I was pouring it I noticed it didn't come up as high in my glass as some other beers do. Gasp! They only put 11.2 oz. in each bottle! When you figure that this beer goes for $8.99 for a six pack at the local Hy-Vee you'll probably want to keep it for special occasions. I got it for Valentine's Day. Went lovely with our rich fish dish.

I highly recommend it!

Shopping List

We've got a big storm coming! They're forecasting upwards of 12 inches of the white stuff and I need to put together a shopping list . . .

milk, beer, bread, wine, batteries, margarita mix, limes, vodka, candles, chocolate, acetometaphin . . .

Okay! I think that'll do it!

What's on your list?