what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

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I did my 2nd attempt at sous vide steak. This time, I bought an entire tenderloin albeit a smaller one. I cooked it while still in the store vacuum pack for 3 hours under 132F temperature. Then, I cut up and seared only 1/2 of it. It was plenty for 5 of us.

My children and my future son-in-law liked it. It was a lot better than the first time I tried with a couple of sirloin cuts. But to me, it was tender but not at all flavorful like a grilled steak or pan-fried steak, even though I made a sauce for it. Without the sauce, it would be very boring.

I will try this one more time, but will let the meat rest a bit before searing to avoid overcooking, then used more seasoning and seared it more.
 
Salzburg is #1 on my to-do list. I've never been there. Did you go with a tour? I am thinking I'll stay in a B&B in the countryside, and get a rental car to cruise around Austria.

I was on a day tour during a Danube river cruise. But I would happily go back and spend more time in Austria. I like your idea of the B&B and rental car.
 
2015 maiden voyage for the kayak. Got an email from UPS saying my table saw on-off switch is being delivered. UPS shows up, but my package is not on the truck.
 
I took the online Jeopardy test last evening. Got 40 out of 50 right, which is respectable, although not nearly good enough to become a contestant.

I've done this twice before, and both times was called in for an in-person interview. Didn't make it to the show, which is kind of random selection of the approved would-be contestants, but had a lot of fun doing it.

Alas, my knowledge of popular culture diminishes every year, although I still remember the more factual and historical items.

Jeopardy | Official Site | Jeopardy.com
 
going fishing... wish me luck :dance:

family friend has a stock tank that's overstocked with bass, catfish and crappie.. she'd like to 'thin it out' .. sounds like my kind of job!!!
 
I took the online Jeopardy test last evening. Got 40 out of 50 right, which is respectable, although not nearly good enough to become a contestant.

I've done this twice before, and both times was called in for an in-person interview. Didn't make it to the show, which is kind of random selection of the approved would-be contestants, but had a lot of fun doing it.

Alas, my knowledge of popular culture diminishes every year, although I still remember the more factual and historical items.

Hey, yay for you!! I am jealous, not about that show but the knowledge. I know a lot of answers but freeze up. My sister is probably like you. I know she watches the show and knows a lot of answers.
 
Today we removed the kitchen sink (cast iron, 100+ lbs) and the last section of countertop; replacement is scheduled for install next week Monday. Part of a planned 20-year spruce-up of the kitchen.
 
Made the morning coffee for DW before she headed off to work, packed up my son's lunch before heading off to school, enjoyed the rest of the coffee and an English muffin while watching the birds in the back yard.

Decided to head off to parts unknown to explore - took a scenic drive thru Fairbanks Ranch and Ranch Santa Fe on my way up to the Elfin Forest Preserve area for some hiking.

Whew - the Way Up Trail is steep and was a great cardio workout. But the views were worth it!

Drove back home to enjoy some left overs for lunch.

Then some afternoon gardening whilst sipping some cold refreshments.

Dinner is coming up soon - pastrami sandwiches and soup.

That's my kinda day :)
 
Ran some errands in the morning, then went for a six-mile run around a local lake. I stopped a couple of times to watch a loon on the lake, so it took longer than it should have. But that's okay, I feel lucky whenever I see a loon so I like to watch a little bit.

When I got home I showered and grabbed a quick lunch, then went out to get the deck ready for the season. Three hours of scrubbing, power washing, and moving furniture have left me exhausted. This retirement gig is wearing me out!
 
Today I had a lazy morning drinking my coffee and reading the news. Walked the dog, redid my tax withholdings for 2015 and started to prepare dinner. Currently Im having physical therapy twice a week for a neck problem so haven't done much of anything lately except be in pain.
 
I did my 2nd attempt at sous vide steak. This time, I bought an entire tenderloin albeit a smaller one. I cooked it while still in the store vacuum pack for 3 hours under 132F temperature. Then, I cut up and seared only 1/2 of it. It was plenty for 5 of us.

My children and my future son-in-law liked it. It was a lot better than the first time I tried with a couple of sirloin cuts. But to me, it was tender but not at all flavorful like a grilled steak or pan-fried steak, even though I made a sauce for it. Without the sauce, it would be very boring.

I will try this one more time, but will let the meat rest a bit before searing to avoid overcooking, then used more seasoning and seared it more.

I won't cook a steak any other way than Sous Vide anymore. But you need to season the steak before cooking it! Take it out of the store package and season or even marinate it before cooking it. :dance:
 
Spent the day spring skiing with DW. We got an early start as we wanted to get in some runs before the trails softened up too much. Conditions were good... groomed trails were outstanding... others were hard/icy early but got real good as the sun softened them up but then got too soft and heavy. Probably our last day for the year.

I'm realizing how out of shape I am. I only fell twice all season, one of them today and it was a relatively gentle fall but I am thankful that I had a helmet on as I banged my head on a mogul hard enough that it would have hurt if I didn't have a helmet on.

Quit a bit early as conditions got too soft. Took the long way home and three whitetails crossed the road in front of us so we stopped and watched them for a few minutes. Stopped in on some friends, had a drink with them and then we all went out together for a light dinner of salad and wings.

Good day overall other than I need to get in better shape.
 
Prepped the ol manse for sale.
Had an offer accepted on the house we plan to downsize to.
Enjoyed an evening cocktail in the warm sun with my wife.
Yep, this is exactly what one should do when stepping off into ER.



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I won't cook a steak any other way than Sous Vide anymore. But you need to season the steak before cooking it! Take it out of the store package and season or even marinate it before cooking it. :dance:

I've read these sous vide comments but haven't tried it. But seriously, you can take a decent steak, throw it on the grill, cook it to perfection, and it's delicious with no seasoning or anything. Obviously seasoning makes it better to your taste. But I just don't get the reason for the sous vide. Is it for people with sore teeth or something? Or just to make sure it doesn't overcook?
 
From a long article I learned that woman's breast sizes have gotten significantly larger in the last decade. To address that problem a couple of women who graduated from Carnegie Mellon U. with degrees in structural engineering started a new company. For making bras using truss structural engineering concepts. They base their design on breast volume, as opposed to some of the current linear circuferential measurement. Talk about curve fitting!

Studying women's breasts at Carnegie WHAT University?? :cool:
 
Philliefan33, Didn't know we had loons in Pennsylvania. Very cool, love their call. Will have to keep an eye out for them at our local parks.
No one seems to be awake. Watching "Blood and Glory" on the History Channel. I like any of the shows about the civil war but don't like how they've colorized most of the photographs. The photos look so new and sharp. Didn't realize they were old photos at first. Have seen them advertising "Texas Rising" still not awake but think it's about the Alamo. Wonder when it's on.
Harley, I'm not a steak eater but wondered about the "sous vide" cooking comments. I thought that a good steak stands on it's own. Is the technique to make a tender steak no matter the cut? I don't like a lot of seasoning on anything.
Alarm goes off in a couple of minutes and it's off to get ready for work.
 
Spent the day spring skiing with DW. We got an early start as we wanted to get in some runs before the trails softened up too much. Conditions were good... groomed trails were outstanding... others were hard/icy early but got real good as the sun softened them up but then got too soft and heavy. Probably our last day for the year.
...

Don't think I will make it up skiing any more this spring. :( I'll be concentrating on getting the house dried in. Yesterday was too windy to work on the walls so I got trained on running the road grader. (Its a boys and toys thing :)) Got a couple inches of snow over the last two hours. I'll be spending a couple hours sweeping snow later today.
 
The day before yesterday, we had torrential rains and flooding making some streets impassable and resulting in several drownings in my suburb. Even my relatively high street had a foot of water in it.

Yesterday, we had golfball sized hail that came out of nowhere with 50 mph winds and sheets of rain and a tornado that fortunately did not touch down. The hail took down power lines but amazingly, I had no damage and I still have power although my internet is iffy, on and off. I was scared to get a piece of hail to photograph (thought I might get knocked out by it) and it is hot here so they had melted quite a bit by the time I could take this photograph. In the next suburb over, they had baseball sized hail.

Today, it's back to flooding rains predicted again! I don't want to be the next drowning victim in my suburb so I'll probably stay home. I feel like we have been through the wringer this week. This goes beyond "April Showers Bring May Flowers", IMO.

I just want to go grocery shopping but apparently that is too much to ask for. :LOL:
 

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W2R, you might want to get your insurance company to check out your roof for damage. We've had to replace our roof twice due to storms with similar sized hail.
 
Torrential downpours and possible hail and tornadoes are forecast for metro New Orleans, Baton Rouge and most of southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi over the next three days, as Gulf moisture continues to stream over the region, the National Weather Service said.

A flash flood watch remains in effect until 7 p.m. Friday, though forecasters said the watch may be extended, and its geographical area expanded, later today. Days of heavy rain have saturated the ground, increasing the risk of flooding during additional storms.

http://www.nola.com/weather/index.ssf/2015/04/torrential_rain_possible_torna.html#incart_m-rpt-2

(groan) Sounds like a good week to plan, uh, ..... nothing.
 
I'm about 6 weeks into this retirement thing and now I fully understand what all the hype is about. It's like a long vacation without the dreded Monday in sight :) I've spent the last couple days cutting down some trees and cleaning up one that fell the other day. Now just sitting here burning it up and listening to the birds and chipmunks. Life is good.

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