Baked Beans, Prime NY Steak, And Toasted Buns

I am not happy that my penis is still not healed. I think things are getting better. It hurts less but still doesn’t look healthier. I’ll give it another day before consulting my doctor. This isn’t a topic I want to discuss. Enough of that.

I made New England Baked Beans yesterday. It’s a great recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. I love that website and their television shows. You can stream several seasons on the PBS streaming service. So far, we have this organization to thank for our bread-and-butter pickles, raspberry and blueberry jam, and now New England baked beans. There is a small price ($49/year) for a subscription to the site. You can sample it for free. Both of us are amazed at how easy the recipes are to follow and how good the food tastes.

Mrs. Lion and I both like comfort food. We consider it a treat to have hotdogs, beans, and potato chips for dinner. That’s not to say that we don’t do fancier, more expensive stuff as well. Last Friday we went to Costco and bought USDA prime New York strip steaks. As far as I know, that’s the only place you can go to get prime beef. Any prime beef on the open market is snapped up by restaurant suppliers. Costco, because they own their own ranches and meat processing plants, makes everything available to its customers. This includes precious prime meat.

If you haven’t had one, a prime steak can be cut with a butter knife. The meat is tender and beautifully marbled. We prepare it using a circulator. This is sous vide cooking. Mrs. Lion and I have very different ideas of how much cooking a piece of meat requires. I like my steak medium-rare. She likes her steak so well done that some restaurants require her to sign an agreement that she won’t send back the overcooked meat she likes.

We have two circulating pumps. I set mine at 127°F (medium rare beef). I set hers at 155°F (super well done). I have to remember to let her steak stay in the bath for at least two hours. When they are done with their sous vide process, I sear them in a very hot frying pan. In my case, the result is perfectly pink meat from top to bottom. Mrs. Lion has very well done beef. It’s not easy getting meat the way she likes. I understand why restaurants are reluctant to cook beef that much. I’m doing my best to get it the way she prefers. She thought the 155° meat was still a bit pink. [Mrs. Lion — Pink? It was red and too juicy for me. Blech!] Next time, I’ll run 165°. Live and learn.

As Mrs. Lion wrote in her post yesterday, I managed to get some chocolate on my shirt the other day. We know what that means. Here comes another spanking. She writes that I “want” to be spanked for annoying her. That’s not entirely correct. I want to help her learn to use spanking as a way to teach me not to do things she doesn’t like. It’s very difficult for her to let me know that I’ve upset her. I think it’s worthwhile to help her use spanking as an outlet. For the record, I don’t like punishment spankings.

It’s lonely around here on Mondays, Wednesdays too. That’s when Mrs. Lion goes to her office to work. She isn’t the only one who abandons me. When she’s not here, the dog takes the day off. She spends it under the bed, only coming out for a possible treat, to share my lunch, or when she wants to go outside to relieve herself. Otherwise, she sleeps peacefully where it’s safe and quiet.

When Mrs. Lion is here, the dog is always out. She stations herself between us. Mrs. Lion thinks it’s because as far as the dog is concerned, I belong to her. She doesn’t want any competition from my lioness. I’m not sure that’s true. It could also be that she doesn’t want to miss out on any excitement the two of us might cook up. In any case, when Mrs. Lion is home it’s much more of a party around here.

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