Happy Easter!!!

 Christ the Lord is risen today!  I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed day with their friends and family, even if that only includes their fur friends.  

I have to admit, my little guy was a pain in the butt all night long.  I'm hoping it's just tummy troubles because he had me up three times.  I finally gave up at 2:30.  Maybe it's because he just can't wait to get to those chocolate Easter eggs.  Just kidding, he doesn't like them.  No, I don't give him chocolate!!

I take it all back about not being sore yesterday.  As soon as I stood up from the desk, it hit me like a hammer.  I could walk but my legs complained every step.  It quickly became a shuffling walk to the bottle of aspirin, which I now carry in my pocket.

Aren't these eggs just amazing?  I have a friend from Budapest who used to get these when she was younger.  It's rather like painted rocks on steroids.  No way do I have the patience for this, but I look forward to seeing them ever Easter.

By the time I finished my first cup of coffee, the rains came down from the Heavens.  It was truly a downpour, which is great because we really need the water here.  Sadly, it showed me where three more problems live ... up on the roof with my gutters.  One is over 14 feet high and has never been cleaned.  I did get part of it unplugged after removing the piece at the bottom, but it still needs work.  

Somehow two have come loose, allowing water to go underneath them instead of INTO them.  I guess I'll be back up on the ladder later in the week.  But not until it rains three more times!!!  

I had a rather healthy breakfast before heading off to the grocery store for things like Cole slaw for Jonathan.  Like little kids, it's hard to keep their diet varied enough to keep them eating.  He's almost as bad as Cooper!!!  Yes, these are sweet potatoes fries.  Just throw them in the air fryer and BINGO you have a tasty treat.  It's vegetables, right????  These were mine, not Jonathans.

By 8:00 I was out the door.  It's funny who you run into.  This very sweet elderly lady ... I say elderly because I'm sure she was older than me ... was calling out for "Ray" to come help her as we stood by the most expensive beef I've seen in awhile.  The SALE sign caught my eye.  Prime Rib for $6.99 a pound, a right nice price considering it was $26.99 a pound last week.  

I have no doubt they are still making money at the lower price.  In fact, this is probably the same meat they are now trying to get rid of.  This under 5 pound roast was still $33. 00. 

The sweet lady told me to have them cut one since they were out of small ones, and have them season it with Pappy's Prime Rib.  They'll do it for free she said.  And if you need it, tell them to wrap it in freezer paper.  It will stay fresh longer.  She knows the names of all the guys behind the counter, teased them about someone's nose growing like Pinocchio and finally walked out with TWO roasts and two plastic bags for good measure.  I don't know what the bags were for.  

Believe it or not, I saved $56 on one shopping trip, $37 of it on two meat purchases.  They tell you so you will feel better about getting deceived and completely blowing your budget.

We never saw a prime rib in our many years of raising beef.  It was always left for the butcher, along with the tenderloins, for payment.  If we wanted tender meat, we had them hang it in their cold box for two weeks before wrapping.  Now the best restaurants age their own beef and charge you accordingly.

So here comes the hard part ... roasting it.  I've never had one turn out like it's supposed to.  For one thing, they fool you nowadays.  I don't think anyone even knows about prime meat because I haven't seen any in years.  All you get is Choice and more often Select.  The simple truth is because of that, meat is no longer tender.  It's feeding grain that makes it so much better.

Here's a good example.  The fourth grade on the list is standard.  Even though they make it look pretty by making kabobs, THIS meat is tough as nails.  I kick myself for wasting $13 on these.  I guess you're supposed to take it off the sticks and marinate it for days before cooking.

Instead I just stuck it on the barbecue.  Even after cutting it into smaller than 1/2" pieces, I literally could not chew it.  What a waste!!

So today I'll try to cook the prime rib.  If it turns out not so good, I'll recook it in the Instant Pot until it falls apart and make stroganoff out of it.  I did that once ... when prime rib was really "prime" tender ... and never heard the end of it.  I guess it's the same as taking fillet mignon and making spaghetti sauce.  Yeah, I did that too.

Hopefully this afternoon, I'll be like the sleeping bunnies above ... snoozing on the couch with my sleep walking kid Cooper.  I'll let you know how the roast turns out!