by jphilo | Jun 14, 2013 | Daily Life
News flash!
The Philo School of Home Repair is proud to announce that the hall and stairway remodeling project which began in April of 2012 is finished.
Done.
Complete.
Looking good.
Ready for use.
A wonder to behold.
To be sure, the effort began with an initial spate of optimism and took 12 months longer than expected, ravished our bank account, and proved to be sexier than any home remodeling project in recorded history. These days, we call the finished product our personal stairway to heaven. (Cue Led Zeppelin music here.) It’s so heavenly, the man of steel has created his own mantra, which he repeats whenever he ascends or descend the stairway:
Oh, it feels so good on my toes.
Oh, it feels so good on my toes.
Oh, it feels so good on my toes.
He’s right. The carpet runner does feel good on the tootsies. And the hardwood floor in the upstairs hall is much cleaner and brighter than the blue-gray carpet it replaced. But, me–I’m just glad it’s finished and am ready for lavish compliments. In case our stairway to heaven as rendered you speechless, appropriate responses are listed below. Please choose one and leave it in the comment box:
A. That’s the best looking stairway I’ve ever seen.
B. If you ever think of selling your house, contact me first. I’ll pay double the asking price.
C. Send all future remodeling project bills to me.
D. All of the above
by jphilo | Mar 13, 2013 | Recipes
Last Friday was Hiram’s birthday, and as is the tradition at our house, the birthday person chose the menu. So what did the birthday boy choose? Round Steak Roll-Ups, a dish I made for him when we were dating in college, and we looked like this:
Instead of like this:
I haven’t made the dish in at least 20 years, probably longer. After a diligent search of my old cookbooks, it seemed the recipe, like Hiram’s hair and my unlined face, was long gone. Today’s recipe is my best recollection of the original, and it received the coveted Hiram seal of approval…though neither of us could eat quite as much of it as we did the first time it graced our table.
Round Steak Roll-Ups
1 1/2 pounds tenderized round steak
1 4 ounce can mushroom pieces, finely minced
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons sweet pepper, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cut round steak into 4, roughly rectangular pieces. Put a couple teaspoons of sweet pepper, onion, and mushroom on each piece. Roll each piece up, from the long side, and secure with toothpicks.
Heat oil in frying pan on medium-high heat. Put rolled up steak pieces in pan and brown, turning periodically until all sides are brown. Add remaining onion near the end of browning process, and continue cooking until they begin to caramelize. Add 1 1/2 cups water and bring to boil. Add any remaining mushrooms and pepper. Turn down heat until liquid simmers gently. Put lid on pan and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check liquid level in pan every 15 minutes, and add water if needed. After 2 hours, remove meat to serving platter and cover.
Gravy: Measure remaining liquid and add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups. (You can use potato water for this.) Return liquid to pan and bring to slow boil. Put 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup water in a jar or gravy shaker and shake until all lumps are gone. Slowly add flour/water mixture to liquid in frying pan, stirring constantly. Return to a slow boil and continue cooking for 2–3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with meat and mashed potatoes.
by jphilo | Dec 31, 2012 | Daily Life
2012 is ending with a bang at our house. Not because we’ve been invited to a rockin’ New Year’ Eve party. But because our long lost, prodigal tweezers have been found.
Some of you may recall the sad fairy tale this grim mother wrote in May. The fairy tale that bemoaned the loss of the excellent pair of tweezers we had owned for many, many years. The fairy tale about our inability to replace them with a pair of comparable calibar. For those of you who don’t remember the tale or never read it, now you understand the unibrow I sported all summer and fall.
But not anymore.
Because the man of steel found the tweezers in his toiletry travel bag. The discovery was so exciting, we greeted our prodigal tweezers with open arms. “So you don’t care that the tweezers were lost for six months in my toiletry bag?” Hiram asked.
“Not one bit,”I replied. “Let’s kill the fatted calf and have a feast! Let’s dress the tweezers in a fine robe and slip a gold ring on its finger.”
“Tweezers don’t have fingers,” the man of steel reminded me.
With a perky little shake of my head, I answered, “That’s okay, because I’ve got ten of them.” Then I used my fingers to pick up those tweezers and start plucking.
How can 2013 possibly be any better than this?
by jphilo | Aug 27, 2012 | Daily Life
Hiram and I are hopelessly addicted to the TV series, Lost. Those of you in tune with popular culture realize we are also hopelessly behind the time, as that series ended in 2010. But thanks to the advent of digital television, which left us with one channel even though we installed a converter box, our location which doesn’t allow us to get cable, and a daughter in college, which left no money for satellite TV until last year, we haven’t watched much TV for the past several years.
Until Hiram’s convalescence after surgery this summer.
That momentous event forced the issue and we signed up for Netflix. That’s when we discovered Lost. It’s kind of like Gilligan’s Island meets Lost in Space meets Wild, Wild West meets soap opera. And now, like I said before, we’re hopelessly addicted to the silly show. So addicted we might need a twelve step program. Or at least a notebook to keep track of six years worth of plot lines, flashbacks, crises, cliff hangers, and deaths.
After all, Hiram’s convalescence is pretty much over.
He used to lay on the couch to watch Jack and Kate and Sawyer and Charlie and John and the rest of the gang uncover mysterious hatches, untangle the mystery of the Others, and munch on provisions dropped by helicopter from the mysterious Dharma Initiative powers-that-be. Now Hiram watches while doing a hopping/balance exercise prescribed by the PTs.
It’s pretty cool.
But not as cool as all those sweaty people running around the island, flashing back to their former lives, doing the time travel thing, and finding more new outfits to wear than could possibly be packed in a carry on bag. To think, we wouldn’t even know about them if Hiram hadn’t had back surgery.
But thanks to one ruptured disk, we’re now addicted to the silly show.
The doctor never once mentioned this as a side effect of surgery. Which proves there are some things modern medicine can’t predict or prevent. Even though it does a really good job with ruptured disks.
For which we are extremely grateful.
But we won’t be so grateful if someone spoils things by leaving a comment that spills the beans about how the series end. So if you want to leave a comment about the outcome of the series or some plot twist, please begin your missive with the words “spoiler alert.”
We’re hopelessly addicted to Lost, and we want to stay that way.
by jphilo | Aug 24, 2012 | Family
Many of you have asked how the man of steel’s recovery from May’s ruptured disk and June’s back surgery is progressing. Obviously, an update is in order, so here goes.
The man of steel:
- Is back to work full time.
- Can now ride in a car for an hour before needing to get out and stretch.
- Puts on his shoes and socks in half the time and half the huffing, puffing, and groaning required before the surgery.
- Mows the lawn again.
- Received an okay from the neuro-surgeon to begin a running program under the guidance of his physical therapists.
- Goes to physical therapy 2 – 3 times a week to build strength, gain flexibility, and work on the above mentioned running program.
- Willingly dons what the physical therapists call “tutu shorts” so he can run on their anti-gravity treadmill.
Having a hard time picturing the man of steel running on a treadmill in tutu shorts? Then take a look at this YouTube video for a better idea.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x99fPa7RSaU[/youtube]
Pretty cool, huh?
Much as I love the idea of Hiram running in tutu shorts in the comfort of our own home, it’s not gonna happen any time soon. Anti-gravity treadmills cost beaucoup bucks, which we don’t have. So I’ll have to come up with a different photo to adorn this year’s Christmas letter.
Which should make the man of steel sleep easier at night, don’t you think?
