grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Channeling Jamie Oliver and Cooking the Perfect Steak

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Perfect Steak

The Jamie Oliver Way

Jamie Oliver has a simple and oh so perfect steak recipe that absolutely cannot be beat. And I’m going to tell you how to cook it.

First of all, you should know I don’t eat a ton of red meat. In fact, I go days with no meat at all. But after eating fish for two solid weeks in Iceland—don’t get me wrong, it was FABULOUS!—my body craved a steak.

I probably eat one steak a year. Maybe.

So I bought a sirloin at our neighborhood grocery store (which shall forever be known as Marvins IGA to me even though the name seems to change every few months), and I channeled Jamie Oliver. Confession: Now as I write this, I’m not 100% positive what cut of beef I bought, but I think it was a sirloin. Regardless, it wasn’t an expensive cut of meat—five bucks—and that’s part of the beauty of this skillet steak method.Continue Reading

mid-June Garden Shenanigans

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mid-June Garden Shenanigans

Since I returned from Iceland, I’ve been writing like a fiend. Between all the words, I garden. That’s pretty much it. Weeds, y’all. They are thriving. I know my garden as well as I know the manuscript I’m working on. Because when I say, I garden, what I mean is, I crawl around on my hands and knees looking between flowers, pulling weeds by hand, studying the landscape and what’s changed in my brief absence. (Much like scrubbing the lines of my writing, pulling weed words. See what I did there?) I’m here to announce there are some mid-June garden shenanigans at work in my flower beds.

For real.

It’s as though the tiny garden gnomes said, “Hey, she’s gone for two whole weeks! PAR-TEEEE.”

And they have been.Continue Reading

Today will not be perfect.

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Today will not be perfect.

Today will not be perfect. But within this imperfect day, there will be snippets of perfection. That’s what I’ve come to expect. It’s what I believe and notice. I thought about this as I pulled weeds and came upon this pansy smiling at me, expecting nothing at all, barely even asking for soil.

I thought about this earlier, as I made breakfast. I’d already written for an hour or two. I easily lose track of time until the dogs remind me, or I discover I need food.

John and I enjoyed near perfect breakfasts while in Iceland. I can duplicate that at home. Sort of.

Breakfast at home.

Everything looks super perfect on social media. We post our best pictures, clean homes, good hair days. I’m guilty of it, not because I want to reflect perfection. Rather, I imagine folks would prefer to see flowers blooming than the weeds mushrooming along my drive.

Believe me, I have weeds.

And I look at them plenty. I spend time nearly every day pulling them. Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!