Not much at steak here

I am utterly exhausted. All I want is 10 minutes to stand still and do nothing. But seeing that's not likely (am typing this post between following up on work emails and filing residents' objections to this stupid store), I will indulge in a random rant instead. About steak.



Yes, steak.



It's just one of those things I don't "get". Seriously, what is the fuss about steak? It's a lump of cooked meat. But people go mad for it (especially South Africans). They search for the perfect steak restaurant, order their massive piece of dead cow and then rave to everyone about how delicious it is.



But it isn't really. It's just plain boring. I would never order steak at a restaurant - there are too many other more exciting things on the menu for me to get stuck with a chunk of meat. I would even pick good old roast chicken over steak any day of the week. Or calamari. Or curry. Or a stirfry. Anything, really. Except tripe. I draw the line there.



People think I feel like this because I haven't had a "proper" or "perfect" steak. I have. My husband is the world's greatest steak snob. I have tasted the steak he orders at restaurants ranging from The Cape Colony to Coco Bongo and many, many places in between. And I'll tell you what... it all tastes like steak.



Yes, some steaks are tender and some are tough. Some are cooked beautifully while others are burnt to a crisp or slapped on your plate while they're practically still moo-ing. TSC actually does a better steak than most of the restuarants we've been to. But even the most delicately spiced, perfectly cooked piece of steak still tastes like a big chunk of beef.



I prefer the taste of fresh coriander, lemon butter, plum sauce, green curry or napolitana sauce to steak. That's just the way it is.



But you wouldn't believe how many people have tried to convince me that I am wrong and that steak is indeed the ultimate meal. Weird.



Anyway, go ahead and take your shot. Tell me how awesome steak is. Or don't. I'm going to pick the roast chicken anyway.

You know when...

...You've had a rough day, and then everything looks like it's going to turn out just peachy, and then it doesn't, and then in the end it does?

No?

Sorry... I know, that was a long and complicated sentence. Let me start over:

Yesterday was one of those days where I just couldn't seem to get it all together. I forgot about a telephonic interview I'd scheduled for a magazine feature I'm writing (way to go on the professionalism, Tamara), although the interviewee was very nice about it and agreed to chat a bit later when I recovered at least some part of my brain. Thankfully!

I then got in a rush job from a new freelance client that needed to take precedence over my other work, which I knew I'd have to fit in later. It was interesting though - I haven't done advertising copy since I was first out of varsity, and I'd forgotten how different the writing style is to straight journalism. I struggled quite a bit, but client seems happy, so that's ok.

Things are still weird at the office. In short, boss hasn't been around since about last Thursday. She pops in occasionally, but we haven't had our weekly status meeting with her and things are feeling a bit like we're in limbo. She also hasn't acknowledged the fact that the most experienced employee of our bunch, DK, has resigned, which is making things a bit surreal. DK needs to arrange client hand-overs, but boss is pretending that nothing has happened. She's dealing with the death of a friend, and it's almost like she's forgotten about everything else, including her business.

I feel like we're living in one of those books that don't make any sense (the ones that get turned into Oscar-winning movies). She's talking to DK again (was ignoring her last week), but like nothing's going on. DK finds this totally bizarre, as does the new girl (let's call her Shakira, seeing most people get her name wrong and call her that). I think she's (understandably) a bit freaked out by the vibe at the moment. Poor thing. She seems sweet.

I have so much work to do, but no motivation for my PR stuff. I just want to do my freelance jobs. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position where I can do that, but I need boss's input on the PR stuff, so I'm sort of stuck there anyway. Limbo. Or purgatory. Somewhere inbetween.

I was also supposed to prepare for last night's life group - we were going to talk about Buddhism and Hinduism. I had found some info and was going to take it home to summarise when I started getting messages from a few of our members to say that they wouldn't be able to make it to the meeting. Apparently, everyone else is busy, stressed and not getting everything together either. This made me feel better somehow. Less alone in my ineptitude and procrastination.

TSC and I talked to them all and we decided to cancel the meeting this week. I was actually quite relieved - it would give me time to collect myself and get some work done at home. And hopefully a chance to spend time with TSC.

So I picked an interesting recipe from one of those "quick, cheap and easy"-type recipe books (I call them my slutty cookbooks) to make for supper. It was for Thai-style fish-sticks. And there the fun began.

What a waste of time, energy, money and tuna! Honestly! You're supposed to make this mixture from the fish, the spices, beaten egg and mashed potato, form it into little fish-cake-thingeys and thread them onto kebab sticks. You then brush them lightly with egg, dust with flour and fry on all sides until golden. Serve with lemon slices and sweet chili sauce. Sounded great.

Huh! First-off, I would like to say that I SUCK at following recipes, so I usually amend them slightly. Or more than slightly. This time, however, I decided to stick to every little step and every little measurement and to be totally and completely exact in following this damn recipe.

So why, I would love to know, would my mixture not stick together? I made the little fish-sticks, shaping them around the bloody kebabs, and as soon as I tried to "brush lightly with beaten egg", the stupid things fell apart in my hands. They would NOT stick. I even tried popping them in the freezer for 20 min to see if they'd firm up a bit.

And then, how the heck are you supposed to fry the things if they have a big kebab stick through them that won't fit into any normal-sized frying pan? I ended up taking them back off the sticks and frying them on their own. *Rolls eyes*

They then actually started to look good and smell good (although, being covered from head to toe in flaked tuna and mashed potato by this point, anything else would've smelt good). Problem was, they tasted rubbish.

It's always such a let-down to smell and see something yummy, only to pop it in your mouth and discover that it tastes like crispy-on-the-outside-cold-and-squidgy-on-the-inside-tuna-and-mash-mix... Gross.

So my quick, cheap and easy meal turned into a protracted tuna and mash mixing and frying marathon nightmare that left me both smelly and still hungry. Poor TSC resorted to squashing a few of the revolting fish cakes onto two slices of bread with some sweet chili sauce, cheese and mayo, and making a snackwich of them, which made them slightly more palatable. But never have I seen him enjoy my side salad so much.

That will teach me to follow a recipe.

By the time we had finally rescued our dinner, we might as well have had life group. Grumpy and disheartened, I showered off my pungent meal remains (how does the stuff get under my fingernails?!?!) and felt much better.

And, after I managed to get around to hemming my jeans (been trying to do that for over a month), fixing the curtains and hanging them in our breakfast nook and collating my freelance info for the feature article, I could agree that the day did indeed turn out ok in the end. Especially when I could lie in bed with TSC and cuddle, and the cats actually deigned to join us and keep my feet warm (meaning that last night must've been quite chilly - they don't sleep on the bed unless it'd really cold).

Here's hoping that today is ok too. And that's there's no fish or potatoes involved. Have a good Thursday, all. And stay away from slutty cookbooks.

A bullet-point post...

...Is always good when lacking inspiration. So here it is:

• Stress for the day: Aside from clients, the fact that we're having K over for dinner and to spend the night. I've decided to cook a roast (Halaal) chicken with roast veg and crusty rolls on the side. Apparently, K can't eat anything I've cooked in one of my pots or pans becuase the metal may have absorbed fat from previous non-Halaal meals. But he can eat off my porcelain plates and casserole dishes as long as they have been washed. I'm just worried that he'll arrive and I'll discover that I've messed up in some way. But TSC assures me that he's a nice guy and that everything will be fine.

• Thought for the day: I am very blessed to have TSC in my life. He is kind, loving, affectionate, funny, generous and generally awesome. Yes, he can tick me off more quickly than anyone else on the planet and he leaves his stuff lying all over the house and does irritating things like making us late for every appointment, but I love him with my whole heart and I'm so proud of him.

• Food of the day: I'm loving the delicious yellow cling peaches from Woolworths at the moment. Had one an hour ago and it was so firm and juicy and sweet. Yum!

And that's me for today. How about you?

The Animal Rescue site

This is a website that I really enjoy - you just click on the purple button and you help to donate food for rescued animals. You can also send really cute free e-cards to friends, which also results in a donation.

It's one of the few ways you can help out in a few seconds without a chequebook. Try it.

Click here.