Yummy, Yummy Sammich!

I just had to show you my Yummy, Yummy Sammich! I barbequed (ok, so someone else did it) a Marinated Flank Steak last weekend (ok, there were FOUR of them), and they were oh, so good! But what's even better are the Yummy, Yummy Sammiches I make out of the left-em-overs! This is a friend's secret recipe, so shhhhhhh....don't tell anyone!

Start with some left-em-over Marinated Flank Steak (recipe below). Then you need some sweet onions (I'm using Cipolleni here because they are so cute!). A juicy, ripe red tomato or two. And some vinegar - I'm using cider, but you can use plain white or some other fancy flavor.

Slice the tomatoes and onions and put em in a wide container so they can spread out. Dump a big glug of vinegar over them, slosh things around, and let sit for just a minute. Then pour a bunch of boiling water (yep, boiling water!) over all. Immediately drain. This very lightly "pickles" the veggies and imparts a flavor that is subtle, yet amazing! Set this aside.

Take two slices of bread of your choice and apply a light coat of mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (I like either, but usually use mayo). Pile on some thinly sliced Marinated Flank Steak. Add layers of the tomatoes and onions. In this picture, you see I have put the meat on one side and the veggies on the other. Yeah - that's just for the picture. Don't actually DO this because you'll make a mess trying to put the two sides together!

Yes, the meat is Medium R-A-R-E...but you can cook yours to your taste (but it's infinitely better Medium R-A-R-E!). Here's the Yummy, Yummy Sammich put together and sliced. It's admittedly a messy sammich. I started with two large paper napkins.And here's the sammich at FOUR large napkins AND a sturdy paper towel!

It kinda looks like it's been attacked by a pack of wild dogs - woof, woof! But boy, was it tasty! Now, I'm reminding you AGAIN - the pickled veggie thing is a SECRET RECIPE...so don't go spreading it around :-) Here's the recipe for the Marinated Flank Steak, and in fact, you can use this for regular steaks as well. Yummmm!!!

Hot & Spicy Steak Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

2 T. Red Wine Vinegar

2 T. Sherry

2 T. Soy Sauce

2 T. Brown Sugar

2 t. Seasoned Salt (I use Johnny's)

2 t. Red Pepper Flakes

1 t. Worcestershire Sauce

1 t. Paprika

1 t. Chili Powder

1/2 t. Garlic Powder w/Parsley

Flank Steak, New York Strips, T-Bones, etc. I used 3 x the recipe for 4 flank steaks.

Combined marinade ingredients; add steak. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour, up to 3 days. Grill to desired doneness, aka Medium R-A-R-E (or you can broil it as well). Enjoy!

P.S. It took me FOUR tries to get the pictures for this post! Why? Because I would get started making the sammich...and I think I must have gone into sub-space or something...because the next thing I knew, all I had was a soggy, empty plate and no pictures! Heeheeeeee.

"Slicker Than Deer Guts On A Doorknob"

Well, I used the term "slicker than deer guts on a doorknob" in my post directly below. AwtemNymph took me up on my threat that I might explain it, LOL! I heard that particular saying probably 25 years ago. I guess I'm a bit of a weird sort, and the oddest things stick in my head. Somehow, I'm just pleased as punch about the way "slicker than deer guts on a doorknob" just rolls off my tongue. From time to time, I would ponder how that saying came to be. I mean really! Who would say that...and more importantly, why?

I've done a bit of Googling on it, but other than its meaning, I haven't really found any definitive history of who said it first and WHY. Doesn't really matter, because I KNOW why! About 20 years ago, my husband and our two (little, then!) boys were going to a Halloween party at a neighbor's house in a few hours. My mom, who also lived on our 37 acre property, had a habit of calling when she saw deer in the pasture. "Tell Terry to get the gun - there's a deer in the pasture!" Now, we did this all legal, mind you - got a license and tag each fall...only our "hunting" consisted of just hanging around til Grandma called, and then we'd take the Kabota tractor to wherever the poor deer was and make a lot of noise in the hopes it would go someplace else, LOL!

We were just thinking about getting cleaned up and dressed for the party when Grandma called. Dang! This was just not a good time to be bagging game...plus it was cold and starting to drizzle. But Terry started the tractor and the kids and I jumped in the bucket. We dumped the boys off at Grandma's as we headed past her house to the pasture. Sure enough, there was Bambi standing right there in plain sight.

Terry tried his best to rev the tractor, cough, wave his arms, and generally let that deer know that it should just move along. Dumb deer. Just stood there. Finally, he couldn't put it off any longer...he aimed...he shot...Bambi went down. We tossed it in the bucket, picked up the boys (who, of course, were wildly excited about the dead deer!), and headed back up to our little old house. And I mean OLD house - built in stages starting early in the century uhhh...the LAST century!) and the walls insulated with nothing but dead mouse and kitten skeletons. Old oil stove, claw foot tub. Been burned down and patched up more than a few times, and had a back door on piano hinges with the most awesome old brass doorknob. Well, we raised the tractor bucket and hung the deer from it for dressing. Terry was good at cutting carefully around the "nether bits" so the meat wouldn't be spoiled by those icky gland thingies...so in return for his expertise at THAT, I got the "plum" job of reaching in and easing the innards out of the carcass - more fun than a barrel of monkeys, I tell ya! Sooooo...."innards" translates to "guts," ok? And reaching in...with my bare hands...meant I had "deer guts" on my hands. Well, back in those days, we had ONE phone, in the house, no voicemail, AND when someone called, it was a real human being and they usually had something important to tell us! So, we heard the phone ringing...and I sprinted towards the back door. I reached the door and grabbed the brass knob, turning it clockwise to open the door. Remember what I had on my hands. Yup - deer guts! At that VERY MOMENT...I realized the signifigance of "slicker than deer guts on a doorknob" because my hand just went 'round and 'round that knob without any progress being made to get that door open! Are ya losin' your lunch yet? Don't know who was on the phone.....doesn't matter now, I guess. Well, Bambi was awful tasty, at any rate...

So, AwtemNymph...aren't you glad you asked me about that saying? Stay tuned for More Redneck Sayings 'Splained :-)

Red Velvet Malt Ball Cake...and Cake Leveler Guard

Some very beloved coworkers and friends are moving to another work location, effective tomorrow. Today we had an "Eat-All-Day Farewell" for them, with Cake and Punch at 3:00 p.m. I provided the cake - a bunch of years ago, I made a cake for another work farewell, for a person who REALLY liked chocolate...being short of time to do a lot of fancy decorating, I baked the cake, threw on some homemade frosting (real butter!), and then dumped mass quantities of Whopper's Malted Milk Balls, along with an assortment of milk, semi-sweet, mini, and white chocolate chips on top of the freshly-frosted cake. A "star" was born! Not to mention, the cake itself was Red Velvet (Duncan Hines) - a cake marriage made in Cake Heaven! It has become a much-asked-for favorite at work events calling for cake. Here's the cake before we whacked into it:

And another showing the lovely red cake...I was so busy dishing up slices that I almost forgot to take a pic of the "inside"!

I use Wilton cake pans - this was the 12"x3" using the Heating Core in the middle - it takes two cake mixes and bakes a thick cake that must be sliced. A few years ago I got the Wilton Large Cake Leveler which made the job a breeze! The serrated blade "easily levels and tortes cakes up to 18 inches diameter. Adjusts up to 3 in. high-just twist feet to lock into desired height notch and glide the stainless steel blade through your cake." It works slicker than deer guts on a door knob! (Some day, I will tell you where I heard THAT saying...and why it sticks in my head to this day!)

A bit of a close-up of the "business end" - the blade:

The love affair with the Large Cake Leveler lasted about a year, then the tri-fold plastic guard that came with it and kept me from slicing my fingers on that very sharp blade gave up the ghost - yellowed and split, I retired it to the landfill. Needing something to save me from certain finger amputation, I made a cute (yes, it had to be cute!) cover for it. Two strips of fashion fabric, 3 1/2" x 20," plus 1 of cotton batting, along with 19" of pink (yes, pink!) 3/4" velcro was all I needed! Sandwich the batting and fashion fabrics, right sides together and sew around, leaving an opening on one long side. Turn, press and apply the velcro, sewing the opening shut.

Fold in half around that nasty (but highly effective!) blade. That's all it takes! The sharp edge has not cut the lining at all - the velcro keeps everything in its place. I am STILL tickled every time I need to use the leveler - that homemade guard works SO great! (And it's cute - did I mention that?!!!) You may not NEED a Wilton Large Cake Leveler...but if you find yourself in the market for one, make your own guard for it - it's prettier and longer-lasting than the plastic doo-hickey that it comes with.

Now...here's a secret about me...I have more than ONE HUNDRED shaped, Wilton pans. When the kids were little, I made cakes galore - Mickey Mouse, rocket ships, Uncle Scrooge, guitars, bowling pins - you name it, I gots it! Just like a LOT of other things in my life (43 sets of dishes and way too much fabric to mention), I AM a collector...but it does keep me off the streets :-) Uh...well....kind of.....