Steak and Horseradish

Steak and Horseradish

My impulse buy at the store on Friday was a piece of fresh horseradish. I haven't done much with fresh horseradish over the years, so, seeing it in its little basket in the produce section of the local Wegmans got me thinking that it's about time I did.

A few of the hotels I worked in made fresh horseradish sauce for their steaks, but it was always handled by someone else. When I was cooking, I was the end-user, not the creator - even if I did know the basic recipe. And... most of them were pretty much the same. Probably a few variations on amounts, but ingredient-wise, spot on. Escoffier would be proud.

Horseradish

I peeled and then shredded the little guy, catching quite the whiff of horseradish. Yum.

Horseradish

A bit of white balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt really brought out the flavor. Surprisingly, though - at least to me - was how pungent it smelled, yet how mild it was mixed with the sour cream. Go figure.

Regardless, it was really good! Lots of flavor, but very little heat.

Horseradish Sauce

  • 1/2 cup freshly grated horseradish
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
  • salt & pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients and serve.

Really simple.

I still have a half-cup of the grated horseradish in the 'fridge. it will stay for months, but I need to figure out something else way before then!

Stay tuned.

 

 

 


Beef and Mushrooms with Polenta

Beef and Mushrooms with Polenta

I got the (hopefully) last of the Christmas decorations up. I decided I wasn't going to do anything outside this year - and then I saw the lights at Niagara Falls. After seeing how easy they did them - and how spectacular they looked - how could I not give it a go?!?

Many of the lights were trees made out of rope and lights.

Niagara Falls Lights

It was their simplicity that made them so much fun.

Niagara Falls Lights

Not to mention there were miles of them along the parkway. Lots of them were tied to tree branches and simply draped down and anchored into the ground.

Niagara Falls Lights

From multi-colored to single-colored trees, it was pretty spectacular. And then there were the laser lights that color the falls. They were intense - but you barely noticed the light beams except with the camera.

Niagara Falls Lights

My thought process was if they could make trees with rope, I could make trees with tomato cages. Granted, they wouldn't be quite as tall as the lights at Niagara Falls, but I also don't have unlimited miles of lights and my own personal power plant to light them.

One must make do. So we did. This is looking from the side. That's the house across the street. Easily half of the homes have lights, this year - it increases every year!

Christmas Lights

And looking at the house from the front. Photos don't do it justice, but you can see the simplicity of the setup. When you're just looking at them, you don't notice the frames - you just see lights.

Christmas Lights

And we have the laser spots on the big tree...

Christmas Lights

It turns the side of the house into a riot of red and green!

Christmas Lights

The windows on the right are the kitchen, so we get some dots on the walls and ceiling!

Which finally brings us to dinner.

It is great to be back home and in our own kitchen. I seriously love being away, but I do like my own kitchen, my own bed... and our own decorations.

Tonight's dinner was just something I made up on the fly... Simmering time gave me decorating time. That's important, ya know!

Beef and Mushrooms with Polenta

  • 12 oz beef, cut in cubes
  • 1 qt beef broth - or water
  • 2 garlic cloves, mashed
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 8 oz assorted mushrooms
  • 4 green onions
  • 1 ctn portobello mushroom soup
  • S&P, to taste

Place beef, onion, garlic, and broth in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 2 hours. Turn off heat and let the beef cool in the pot.

Remove cooled beef from the broth and shred with your fingers.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet and add shredded beef. Let cook until it begins to brown a bit.

Add mushrooms and green onions and sauté until mushrooms are tender. Add about a cup of the reserved beef cooking broth, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by about half.

Stir in the mushroom soup and heat completely through.

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.

For the polenta:

Follow package instructions, adding a bit of shredded cheese right before serving.

Really good and perfectly filling for a chilly not-quite-winter's eve.

I'd love to see this in the snow, but, alas, the 10-Day Forecast shows rain. Maybe by Christmas?!? if not, the lights stay up until it does!

 

 


Steaks

Not Turkey

Back in the Dark Ages when I used to make pizzas, the night before Thanksgiving was one of the busiest nights of the year. Moms were not about to cook a big dinner when the following day they were chained to the kitchen. I imagine this is still a pretty big pizza night, although pizza is not what I think about when I'm preparing for a big holiday meal.

I don't have any memories at all about food traditions on the night before holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas were pretty identical turkey dinners. Easter was canned ham - unless we went to Aunt Dolores and Aunt Phoebe's house. Then it was leg of lamb - bone-in, of course, because nothing was boneless back in those days - with Aunt Dolores making the most fabulous lamb gravy on the planet. Something I have never been able to replicate.

The night before most holidays were probably just meals to get us fed. Pop was most likely at the firehouse because in order to be off for the holiday, he usually was working the day before. When we traveled to Bakersfield to be with my mom's family, there was just constant food with the adults imbibing in copious amounts of alcohol. Non-stop food-and-fun from the moment we arrived until the moment we had to leave. Pretty much how it is, today, when my siblings all get together. We have our family traditions to maintain and pass on to the upcoming generations!

So grilling steaks and roasting some carrots is not bucking tradition the night before Thanksgiving because we don't really have a night-before holiday tradition back here. Cooking a turkey on Monday was a bit of a step off the beaten path, but... if we're going to have our traditional turkey soup on Friday, the bird needs to be cooked beforehand, right?!? Right. Monday worked for me.

And the steaks, tonight, worked for me! I marinated them in soy sauce, worcestrshire sauce, garlic, hot sauce, and pepar vodka. That damned bottle has been sitting around here for years. No one drinks it, so every now and again I find a use for a shot or two. I'm sure that next year at this time, I'll be talking about it, again...

The carrots were drizzled in olive oil, sprinkled with S&P and a bit of Penzeys Tuscan seasoning. Potatoes sliced thin and fried with a lid on the pan to steam them.

This is one of the most laid-back holidays I have ever spent. My work is done, Victor will make an appetizer in the morning, and we arrive at 1pm with Nonna in tow.

We couldn't make it out to the west coast to be with my family, but we're going to be there next year - no question about it! There are some serious family traditions I need to help pass on!

 

 

 

 

 


Beef Pot Pies

Beef Pot Pies

What do ya do when you have leftover Boeuf Bourguignon?!? Why... make Beef Pot Pies, of course!

I love pot pies. I especially like a double-crusted pot pie, because I really like the crust. And... especially if your filling is already made - they're pretty easy to put together.

A while back, I popped into a kitchen shop across from the local farmer's market. I looked through the store to see what was new or interesting - and couldn't find anything to buy. We already have everything. Sad, but true.

Well... almost everything... I saw a couple of little pie plates that I thought might come in handy since we were just starting our new food regime. At $4.99 a piece, I bought 'em - and they have been in the cupboard ever since.

Today, I decided it was time to put them to use - and to break in our new food processor.

Kitchenaid Food Processor

Our close-to-25-year-old cobalt blue Kitchenaid food processor finally bit the dust. Or, rather, the work bowl did - and they don't make them, anymore. I did my online search looking for a replacement, but to no avail. Time to bite the bullet and get a new one. It's another Kitchenaid - still my preferred brand - and it has a few bells and whistles the old one didn't - including an adjustable slicing disk. I tend to use my mandoline for precision slicing, but... what the heck. The downside to the new one is the base is lighter than the old one, so it doesn't sit as steady - it bounced around a bit with the frozen butter for the pie crust. But... the price was right, so I'll cope.

The crust came out perfect. I have to admit I do have pie crust down to a science. Light, flaky, and buttery - just as a crust should be. I play around with sometimes using vodka and sometimes not. This was one of the not times. For pie pies, I will often use 1/3 cup of pastry flour with 2 cups Italian "00" - or all-purpose. Tonight, I used all Italian "00" I also added a pinch of sugar. When making a crust for a sweet filling I'll usually add a couple of tablespoons. Sugar helps with tenderness.

Pie Crust

  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 2 sticks butter, frozen
  • pinch salt
  • pinch sugar
  • 1/2 cup ice water

Using a food processor, add flours, salt, and sugar. Pulse to mix.

Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.

Slowly add ice water and pulse until mixed.

Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into two disks . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.

Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.

Beef Pot Pies

I cut it in half and froze part. The other half I made into 2 small bottom and 2 smaller top crusts. They went into the 'fridge for an hour.

I rolled the crusts out, fitted them into the little pie plates, and then filled them with the cold beef filling. On went the top crust, brushed with egg and sprinkled with Maldon salt - I hafta use this stuff up, somehow...

I put them back into the 'fridge to get nice and cold before going into a preheated 425°F oven for 30 minutes.

They were actually too big for either of us to finish, although we did put a good dent into them. The beef was just too good - and even better that last night after spending the night in the 'fridge.

The rest, as they say, is history.

::burp::

 


Boeuf Bourguignon

Boeuf Bourguignon - Sorta

I have made Julia Child's classic Boeuf Bourguignon many times. I have followed her painstaking directions, cooked the pearl onions - fresh, of course - and the mushrooms separately, straining the sauce - the whole bit. It's fabulous - and a lot of work.

I've streamlined her process several times - and today, came up with another variation that is more than adequate. It's all done in one pot - a far cry from the numerous pots Julia used - and the results were stupendous. And really good, too!

I'm a peasant at heart, and just can't see straining out perfectly good vegetables to make a silken sauce - on a Monday. I would do it for a special occasion - I have done it for a special occasion - but I also like how the carrots and onions just kind of melt into the sauce and how the mushrooms add to the meatiness of the dish after several hours in the oven.

The dish still takes hours to make - but it's oven time, not prep and cooking and washing pots and pans time.

Totally doable.

Boeuf Bourguignon - Streamlined

  • 3 ounces bacon, cut into matchstick strips
  • 1 1/2 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
  • flour for dredging
  • 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 6 shallots, halved - quartered if large
  • 6 green onions, chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 garlic cloves, mashed
  • 1 lb mixed mushrooms, small left whole, large halved or quartered
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 3 cups red wine
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

In an ovenproof casserole, cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.

Dredge beef in flour and add to the bacon fat in batches and brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

Sauté shallots, green onions, garlic, and fennel until they begin to wilt - adding a bit of olive oil, if necessary.

Stir in tomato paste and cook about a minute. Add the brandy and start scraping up the bottom of the pan.

Add the wine and the beef broth - then the mushrooms and carrots. Add the thyme and bay leaf and salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring to a boil, cover, and then place in a 325°F oven for three hours, stirring a couple of times.

Before serving, check for final seasoning and add S&P, as needed.

Serve over potatoes or noodles.

This is like really awesome beef stew - and you can make it even more stew-like with celery, parsnips, rutabagas... cooking potatoes in the sauce...

Go for it!


Beef Stew

Beef Stew

It's the first full day of Autumn - and it's damp and rainy. It's also Sunday - the end of the grocery shopping week when the pickin's can be a bit slim.

Time to make a batch of beef stew.

I'm reasonably old, so stew doesn't have a recipe - it's just something you make. And it's made slightly different each time - while being remarkably the same. A bit more vegetables, a bit less. Made with potatoes, made with wide noodles. Red wine, brandy, coffee. Like soup, it's the perfect clean-out-the-refrigerator dish.

So... while I said stew doesn't have a recipe, my Mom wrote down hers years ago.

Mom's Beef Stew

This was her basic, although she improvised on it every time she made a pot. Mom was a modern cook of the '60s, so she used things like onion soup mix, bouillon cubes, and seasoned salt, regularly.

My basic is red wine, onions, carrots celery, and beef broth. If I don't have wine, I'll use coffee. Sometimes a splash of brandy for a bit of oomph. I also like to cook the meat in bacon fat when I have it in the 'fridge. The potatoes are often russets, but this batch was made with unpeeled baby gold. French herbs or herbes de provence are the standard, although they can change with my mood or what's in the pantry.

The end result was a filling and satisfying dish. In keeping with our new eating regime, I made just enough for dinner and lunch.

 


Steaks and Lentils

The End of Week Seven

It's been another grueling week at the gymnasium. We've been dealing with dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, squats, lunges, and every sort of pain-inducing piece of equipment the Marquis de Sade and the Inquisitors have been able to conjure up.  The good news is it seems to be working. I'm down 15 pounds and Victor is down 14. And we're still eating like kings!

It's a flippin' miracle. Or something.

Rumor has it that going to the gym and exercising releases endorphins that make you feel good and reduces the perception of pain. I would like to call bullshit on this rumor. Getting beat up does not take me to my happy place. I'm doing this good-naturedly. I'm not doing it happily. But, happily or not, it's working - and that is what counts. We're both feeling better. We have more energy. Simple tasks are easier. And we're definitely eating better.

It's been a lot of fun refocusing on the basics - and scaling back recipes. This website has been great at tracing our eating habits all the way back to 2005. I shake my head in horror at the portions we were consuming! The real miracle is we didn't weigh twice as much as we did when we started this. I have pretty much always cooked what I wanted when I wanted - without any thought at all to portion size or calories. It was fun, but it certainly wasn't realistic. And most definitely not sustainable.

I'm liking it better this way.

Our celebratory dinner was steaks and lentils with roasted vegetables - and a fried Italian Long Hot pepper on top. These peppers are scorching-hot. I love it! We just cut the stem off and fry them - seeds and all. A pinch of garlic and anchovies towards the end. H.O.T. I'll be making a nice batch of hot sauce next month as they start turning red.

For the lentils, I roasted golden beets, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic - all chopped relatively small - and then mixed them with the cooked lentils. I added a splash of sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, and some herbes de Provence and stirred it all together. It was great hot - and will make an excellent cold salad, tomorrow.

We're not suffering in the food department.

Victor will head to the gym tomorrow for a solo trek, and I'll be there Sunday for mine - and then Monday starts Week Eight.

Bring it on!


steaks

The End of Week Six

And there's more good news coming from the boys in Gym Class - we're both down 12 pounds in 6 weeks! We're maintaining a 2-pound per week weight loss - and still eating like Kings! We are pretty psyched!

It is definitely not a walk in the park, though. Our trainer is pushing. And pushing. I was on some damned arm machine this morning and in the middle of my second rep of twenty, my arms just stopped working. I could not push that goddamned thing, again. He was singing encouragement and even assisting, but I had reached the end. On the other hand, I had done more this time - with more weight - than I had the last time I was chained to the implement of torture. Baby steps.

And the baby steps are starting to show in small, subtle ways... It's a little easier bringing the laundry up and down the stairs. Victor spent a few hours gardening, yesterday, and wasn't winded and feeling like crap, afterwards. I walked back from the garage after dropping the car off for its annual inspection and wasn't winded, at all. We're both moving easier.

I wish I had been doing this 20 years ago, but, better late than never, right?!? Right.

Aches and pains, aside, we're feeling pretty good about this. 6 weeks down, 46 weeks to go for this chapter. Totally doable.

Also totally doable was tonight's dinner. I marinated a couple of steaks in red wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and a pinch of S&P. Onto the grill. Pretty simple. They were two 6 oz sirloin steaks I cut in half - poor man's tournedos - and we actually each only ate one! It seems we're actually learning to stop eating before we're gorged!

The fun dish was leftover eggplant stuffing from last night. It went into a skillet, got nice and hot, and then I fried a couple of eggs and dropped them on top. Yes, it was a bit of protein overkill, but I felt like celebrating - and ice cream is currently not on the weekly shopping list!

We'll each have a session at the treadmill this weekend, and on Monday - Week Seven begins.

This is going pretty quickly!


Steaks

The End of Week Four

“My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people.” -- Orson Welles

It's the end of Week Four and we're doing pretty well. I'm officially down 8 pounds and Victor is down 9. Not bad, at all.

I think the most interesting aspect of this entire thing is how good we both feel. Being the perennial cynic that I am, I have p'shaw'd people for the past 20 years saying how much better they felt after going to the gym - as if you could possibly feel better after having the crap beat out of you...

Mark it on your calendars, boys and girls... I was wrong. Again. I feel better after having the crap beat out of me. And the reason the crap is being beat out of us is because we're paying a Personal Trainer to do it. There is absolutely no way on this Earth I would be doing this stuff if someone wasn't standing over me telling me I only have to do that damn rep of 20 three more times - and then do it all over again on the other arm/leg. If I were on my own, I'd do a couple of reps and then eat a donut. The Trainer is making the difference.

I'm eating better. I have more energy. And this is after 4 weeks. The diet change has been ridiculously easy - almost scary-easy. I think the main reason is probably because we started feeling results right away - even though we purposely weren't looking for them. And we didn't dramatically change anything - we just started eating less - and switched out our nightly dessert for a bowl of fresh fruit. We're not denying ourselves anything. We're not on a diet. We're simply eating smaller portions and paying better attention to what we eat.

We both used to have a bowl of candy by our chairs in the living room - Victor with gumdrops and me with any number of different things. They're now both empty - and gone are those empty calories. There are chocolate bars in the cabinet if anyone wants one, but right now, we don't seem to miss them.

We're also not doing cheat days - because we're not dieting and denying ourselves anything. We're eating well - as is evidenced, here. I had a hot dog for lunch, today - on a roll. Bread - the dieters big no-no. I like bread a lot. I'm no longer eating it every night at dinner, but if I want a hot dog on a roll or a sandwich, I eat a hot dog on a roll or a sandwich. A hot dog. A sandwich. Circling right back to portion control.

Portion control. Cooking realistic amounts for two people and not preparing enough to feed the neighborhood. Something I'm still working on but getting better at - it's only been 4 weeks, after all.

Our celebratory dinner tonight was a steak, an ear of corn, and potatoes that were first steamed, and then slightly smashed and fried in a bit of oil. The potatoes are really easy - and really tasty. The steaks were liberally doused with Penzeys Mitchell Street Steak Seasoning. The corn just boiled and spread with a bit of butter...

So bring on Week Five! We're ready!

 

 

 

 


chili burger

Chili Two Ways

I made a pot of chili the other day, thinking chili atop a baked potato was well within our dietary regime. I've been a chili lover since Day One. My mother said that the first solid food I ate as an infant was a chili bean - I was the second child. It seems that I didn't want whatever it was she was feeding me so she gave me a chili bean from what she was eating, figuring I would just spit it out. Not only did I not spit it out, I clamored for more. The rest, as they say, is history.

I don't have a recipe for chili - it's one of those things I just make - and never make the same way twice. This batch was no exception. I had some Chili Con Carne seasoning from Penzey's - spicy flavor but no heat - so I thought I'd start with that. Not bad, but it wasn't a chili base like one of those bags from the grocery store. I added cumin, chipotle powder, oregano, ancho chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper...

I soaked the beans overnight and then cooked them for a bit more than an hour. The base was a bit of clean out the refrigerator - bell peppers, onions, half a yellow zucchini, a couple of radishes, garlic cloves, and tomatoes and peppers from the garden all went into the food processor and then into the pot after browning some ground beef with the spices. I let it simmer for a while and then added the mostly-cooked beans to finish in the sauce. And then let it simmer some more.

A cup of chili over half of a baked potato was not a bad dinner!

chili con carne

But wait! There's more!

Tonight, the chili became an open-faced Chili Burger! One roll, split in half, topped with a chipotle mayonnaise - two chipotles in adobo mixed with a couple of tablespoons of mayo - topped with a grilled burger, topped with chili, and then topped with a bit of sour cream. Homemade french fries on the side.

Fun, filling, and oh, so good! Chili, like soups and stews, really does improve with age and this batch aged to perfection!

 


Cocotte Burger

Put An Egg On It

I receive a couple of different food and recipe emails during the week - one of which comes from the New York Times. The latest email had a recipe for a Cocotte Burger - from a restaurant in Paris, of all places! The last thing I would probably be ordering in Paris - or anywhere in Europe, for that matter - would be a burger. I mean... really. A hamburger in Paris when you could be eating Jambon-beurre or Poulet Chasseur?!? I mean... really.

Yet... here I am having made a burger from a French bistro and I loved every bite of it! Never say never, ya know?!?

What interested me when I started reading the recipe - other than the egg on top - was that the burger had both pine nuts and thyme in it. Neither are traditional burger ingredients in my house, although that may be changing!

What also made it fun was I got to break in my new over-the-top bad-boy All Clad Egg Pan! I received a lot of really nice gifts from customers and coworkers on my retirement, but this was my Gold Watch from my Captain, Chris! It is awesome!

All Clad Egg Pan

He knows me well, to say the least! I love it!

So... here I am making Boeuf haché avec des oeufs on Jour de la Bastille with a pan made a few hours drive away from me, right here in Pennsylvania. Cross-Culturalism is good!

And speaking of cross-culturalism... we had a Neighborhood Yard Sale, today, and we participated. One of the things we did was had a Register to Vote sign with Voter Registration forms - part of another over-the-top gift from my friend, Elizabeth - a Retired Political Activist Kit!

voter registration

We received so many smiles, thumbs up, and positive comments, it made my heart swell. And more than a few takers! We had one conversation with a woman who was born in Mexico City, lived in LA for years, and then moved east after the LA riots. She was incensed at what was going on and when I called Trump a pinche pendejo, she let loose with a few expletives of her own. We started talking cultures and food, and when I was lamenting the lack of decent Mexican Restaurants, she said there was a place in Malvern that was really good - and offered to take us there! I have her name and number and will be getting in touch with her when we get back from Rochester!

It gives me hope.

But I digress...

The burger concept is sheer simplicity - it's merely adding some toasted pine nuts and thyme to ground beef - along with a bit of S&P - shaping into patties and cooking, topping with cheddar cheese - I used an English Double Gloucester with Onions and Chives for a true round of internationalism - setting it on a plank of toasted bread and topping the whole thing with a fried egg.

How could it possibly be bad?!?

In my book, it can't. It was absolutely delicious! The thyme was a new flavor in a burger and it really worked well. The pine nuts, on the other hand, were barely perceptible. I probably should have toasted them a bit more to bring out more flavor. But, they also worked.

I can see lots of variations on a theme, here...

Vive le hamburger!!

 

 


strip steaks

Strip Steaks and Fried Onions

Summertime... and the grillin' is easy...

Okay. It's three weeks to summer - but the grillin' is easy! Three weeks to summer and four weeks to retirement. The grillin' is going to be even easier.

Retirement. I still haven't totally wrapped my head around this one. I'm going to get checks in the mail and/or directly deposited into my checking account - and I don't have to get up and go to work. This getting old stuff ain't too shabby!

Of course, with four weeks to retirement, I still have four weeks of work - and methinks the paybacks are going to be fast and furious.

I have had a slight habit for years of embarrassing my coworkers. I'd shout out that it was somebody's birthday from across the store, walk up to a customer in the checkout line and let them know it was their cashier's birthday... little things to make people blush or stammer a bit. And I've been doing it for more than 16 years. I was rather hoping that since I've also been feeding these people for 16+ years that the good food might balance things out, a bit.

Naturally, I was wrong.

This morning when I walked into work, this was hanging on the wall - not in the breakroom, mind you... out in public.

Oh joy, oh rapture.

While I have never had any qualms about making someone else the center of attention, I really hate being the center of attention, myself. Really hate it. I now have 30 days of being it. Oh, joy, indeed.

Fortunately, I did get to negotiate my last day hours. There were a few folks who were trying to get me scheduled 11am-7pm so I would hit all shifts. I balked and said I would rather work a 5am-1pm shift and get out as early as possible. I finally agreed to a 7am-3pm. Personally... I'd rather slink out the back door at noon, unseen, but that's not an option.

So I'm just going to roll with it. Payback's a bitch - and I'm sure I deserve it.

To drown my sorrows, I cooked up some steaks, tonight. Rubbed a couple of strip steaks with the rib rub I made a couple of weeks ago and then topped them with fried onions. Fresh corn on the cob and blackberries and apricots soaked in pinot grigio.

Ice cream for dessert.

The livin' is easy... I just have to get through a few more days...

[countdown date=2018/06/29-15:00:00]
A mere [timer] until I punch out for the last time!
[/countdown]