Brazilian Steak Salad

 The salad I made and photographed. The family loves the salad but hates waiting while I take pictures when they're hungry.  They call me an addicted blogger.  I think I stand guilty as charged. 

 

An

Best to start this by 10 a.m. so the flavor has good, long time to soak in to the meat by dinner (supper?) time.

You'll need:

Thinly sliced steak (I prefer stir-fry thin, but I was in a real big hurry). Use a big Ziploc bag and add some vegetable oil, minced garlic, ground black  pepper, worcestershire sauce, chopped onion, and any fresh herbs you enjoy.  Taste the sauce and tweak it to your likes.

Place the meat in the bag with those ingredients, and zip it shut, getting all the air out. Then massage the meat and put it in the fridge. The longer the better. Massage it every so often. All day is ideal, but I have been known to massage the heck out of the meat while the grill pan or wok is heating up.  

Quickly sear the meat. We like it medium, so stir-frying it for 3-5 minutes tops, is our preferred method. Let the meat rest while you make the rest of the salad. I actually like to plate each one because I like to play with my food, and everyone else's, and arrange it artistically. Yes, I'm a Food Network junkie, can'tcha tell?

The other ingredients for the salad are:

fresh baby greens
chunks of avocado
crumbled feta
crumbled cooked bacon (optional, but isn't everything better with bacon??)
seasoned croutons
chopped red onion
raspberry walnut vinaigrette (if you buy bottled, I recommend Ken's)

The Artist's Cheeks

My 10-year-old is really into drawing. He's also really into hockey. So it came as no surprise--only a delight--when he decided to draw a picture of Capitals' player Alexander Ovechkin. 

 I love his artwork, watching him bite his lip when he's concentrating, listening to him critique it as he goes.

 "Faces are hard!"he exclaims. 

"Not yours," I say, "Yours is soft." 

"Don't say that! Soft is not manly." 

"Sorry, but it's true. You will have whiskers soon enough. You are manly in every other way." 

He rolls his eyes.

 "The T on Capitals should be longer," he notes,  and then he asks, "Mom, do you think this is good?"   

"Of course it is. It's better than good, and I'm not just saying that because you're my kid." 

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not," I say, stroking his cheeks. "The posture, the detail, the placement, it's all very good," I add, as much to encourage him as to keep stroking his beautiful baby soft face as I stand behind him.

I love those whipped cream cheeks. I love the way God made skin so incredibly soft on children. 

That's something no other artist can replicate.  Praise to the Maker of cheeks!

Unplugging

I have a lot on my mind and my heart right now that needs concentrated prayer. There are things around the house that need my focused attention.  My tendency is to "zone out" online to distract myself from the really important things I should devote my time to. 

To that end, I am pulling back from blogging yet again, and putting serious limits on Facebook time. I have
a three-page punch list to keep me busy around the house, but I also need to talk to and listen to God again because my heart is burdened.  I need to have some important conversations this week with certain  humans as well. That doesn't happen when my attention is absorbed by a screen and some lettered keys.

I'll be back. I simply need to take care of matters in "real life."

I have a few posts scheduled, so it might seem I am  blogging this week, but I'm not. 




Hope you have a productive and/or fun week yourself.

Monet Spoon Rest (Painted and Baked Tile)

I painted this tile (inspired by Monet's Japanese Bridge over Water Lilies) and am using it as a spoon rest near my stove.  It needs some felt pads on the bottom, which I plan to put on this week. 

If you'd like to make one, it's quite simple.  

You need: 

one blank 4x4 white tile   (or get a few; they're cheap and you will get hooked on this project!)

assorted acrylic paint tubes (smallest ones) in white, grey, yellow, green, blue, and magenta

small, flat paintbrush

water

paper towel

cover for table surface

smock or old shirt you don't mind getting paint on (acrylic is hard to wash out of fabric)

felt square (4x4) 

Elmer's glue

I started with the trees by mixing blues and yellows first to make various greens. (You can buy greens if you'd prefer.) . Better yet, use  the impressionists'  method of visually mixing colors by placing them side by side with dashes and dots. That is, magenta next to blue will appear purple. Green next to yellow will "read" as yellow green. 

Don't make any judgments on your piece as you go. It will turn out beautifully. 

After I did the trees, I worked on the water and the lilies. Look closely: there are no "real" lilies or other flowers. The dashes of color only give the "impression" of flowers on the water and banks of the stream. 

Next, paint the sun. Again, it's just dashes of color, not a sun "shape," per se.  If  you are trying to convey and earlier time of day,  make the sun area broader and lighter.  You can lighten by using a lighter shade of the same color, or add white to the yellow first, although doing so can sometimes "muddy" the effect. I prefer to use various shades of color side by side.

When the background is dry (in less than a half hour, usually) , paint the bridge. 

In the upper third of the tile, paint three grey arcs, equally spaced.  Then paint grey vertical bars on the bridge,  Then paint a thin white line to the left of each of those grey space bars. (It's okay if the grey mixes with the white a bit.) It makes the space bars appear to glisten in the sun. 

When the whole thing is dry, sign and date your piece with a fine black Sharpie. 

Once you are satisfied with the painting, it's time to bake the tile. It must be baked in order to seal the color. Otherwise, the color will come right off. 

Here's what to remember: COOL HOT COOL

1. Place tile in a COOL oven.  DO NOT PLACE IN HOT OVEN OR IT WILL SHATTER!

2. Heat it to 350 degrees. 

3. Bake for 30 minutes.  

4. Turn oven off but leave tile in there and don't touch it!!!

  DO NOT REMOVE IT UNTIL OVEN IS COMPLETELY COOL OR IT WILL SHATTER!

To use it as a spoon rest or coaster, be sure to glue a big square of felt or felt  pads on the bottom side. 

Tile will scratch things so keep it away from glass  or porcelain cooktops and wood furniture until you've put the pads on it. 

Enjoy!

FOOTNOTES: 

Acrylic is very forgiving, which I love. It mixes easily, wipes easily off when wet, can be painted over when dry (if you don't like the color after it's dry), it washes off brushes with soap and water, it's inexpensive, comes in a vast array of color, and gives a more pleasing result than tempera. (If you're working with kids under age 6, tempera is fine, but it has a dull appearance by comparison.)  I have found that kids love the "professional" looking result (ie shiny and not "schoolish") and thus feel that much prouder of their art.