Thursday, November 1, 2007

Easiest Meal You Could Ever Make

I lucked out at the grocery this week. They had a small round-rump roast. I love cooking roasts, but being single, a 5-lb. roast is a week of food! I usually end up throwing a good bit of it out. I hate wasting food. This week, I found a 2-1/2 pounder. Perfect. It's still 5-6 servings, but I can handle that!



Here's how I cook my roast. First I cut small holes in it, and open them up. Then I stuff a toe of garlic in the hole. It feels weird to stick your finger in!



Then I fill the hole with salt and red pepper.



I poke a bunch of holes. I like the garilc aroma. My goal is that when sliced, each slice will have atleast one piece of garlic in it. Then I cover the outside with salt, red pepper, and black pepper. Next, put it in a pan and cook, about 375F.



Cook time: about 45-minutes per pound (roughly). About 45-minutes before it's done, add about 1 ot 1-1/2 cups of water, to make a light gravy.

Pull it out. Slice it up.



Spoon some of the gravy over some fresh rice. Serve with some sort of veggie. Spinach goes well. Done.

WHY I HAD TIME TO COOK A ROAST

I went to get on the bike this evening and I felt the rear smoosh down. I looked down to flip the rear shock lever to pro pedal. Pro-pedal is almost locked out.

Except, it was already in Pro-pedal.

What the..?

I also noticed some tell-tale oil on running toward the bottom bracket.

Uh-oh.

So, I sat on the saddle and the shock's collaspsed.

Not good.

"Maybe it's out of air," I grumbled. I haven't put air in the shock in months. I pulled the manual to get the shock pressure and noticed this ominous note "If shock becomes 'locked down' pressure up to 250 psi. If shock remains locked down return it to your dealer."

Yikes.

Out came the shock pump. When I connected it, it read the recommended 195 psi. "Dang, it's got air." So I pumped it upto 250 psi. Good news - sort of. It extended about half-way. I sat on the saddle again hoping to bounce it back open. It didn't bottom out like it was, but it didn't open back up past halfway either. It had more sag at 250 psi than it used to at 195 psi.

EEEEKKK!

I pedaled a bit but all it did was bob. This bike has never bobbed before. The shock DID lock up though, and since I was riding on the street today, I went out with it locked out. Before I left I let the pressure down to a normal 195 psi, hit the lockout and took-off. Didn't last though. After about 45 minutes I felt the back end bottoming out.

Obviously my Fox Triad is dead. Probably a blown air cylinder seal. I'm not about to mess with it. Having worked on bikes since I was six years old, I typically do maintenance myself. But we didn't have shocks when I was a kid! So the bike goes to West End tomorrow... atleast I work just 3 blocks away!

I NEED A BACKUP BIKE
I'm caught out without a bike until the Stumpy is fixed. I'd never considered a mechanical failure before. The prospect of going bikeless for a week is... scary! I've been contemplating buying a either a road bike or a super-light (weight not brand) hardtail for a while now. The debate has been a) a road bike is more practical, as I do a good bit of road riding but b) I really need something lighter to race than the Stumpy. Maybe it's time to pull the trigger on some new hardware?

I wish this would have happened earlier in the week. I doubt I can get a bike put together by the weekend, but maybe?

2 comments:

Jane said...

i love red meat too much
do you use a meat thermometer?

Dave said...

I do use a thermometer for most things, but not roasts. I've cooked them so much I can just tell when they're done.