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If you are going to go through the bother of having a headache, don't go small. I try to keep up on insulin. I am only supposed to use it for a month, as once unsealed it begins to degrade in potency. One month extra and, just guessing, it might be from 10 to 25 percent degraded, depending on various factors. Two or three months out and it is degraded by time, in some compound multiple, if I had to guess... again with variables affecting the gross effects. I had used almost this whole vial, which means at least three months. I usually cut dose when I go from an very old vial to a new one, but that is tricky math. That is what is giving me this nigh on divine headache. It is at migraine level without being a natural migraine. I had a headache yesterday as well, but it wasn't this exquisite. Neither did it last, sputtering out from the time I woke until an hour or two after, disappearing rather quickly, probably within the first hour though memory is not good with fog blotting out the sun and shine. Anicin, today, as I realized the headache was not going to go away.
I hopped in the shower first thing. Actually, I did a few dishes first thing, then the shower. Always dishes, but in small enough piles, they are actually easy enough to kick out... if I remember. I am not even going to consider making plans until I can painlessly hold my head in it's normal plane without excruciating pain. At least light doesn't cause nausea, nausea hasn't quite crept in, and sounds aren't too terrible. It really is a migraine, at pain level. Just, so far, without most of the other side effects. Yum!
Oh, I did grill one of the specialty steaks last night. Just right, a low medium rare. I let the grill warm while baking potatoes for an hour. It all came out perfect. Oh, it was a good steak. Truly. But I found it to be no different from when I buy fresh ribeyes at the stores, when I am picky. The cut was pretty. It looked like laser cuts. The bone in part was perfect. Not so much that it took away from the meat, but enough to gnaw upon, and with a part exposed so that got some char to it. The pre-cook marbling was glorious. But for pure flavor, it was just a steak. I do live in ag-country. I suppose in NYC, L.A., and other places, yeah... they probably don't have access to good meats. At three to four times the cost, it just isn't there for me. Oh, I'll eat the others, and with relish, I just won't buy myself.
However, I would like to try the steaks Maddox offers. I don't think they are quite so expensive, and yet may be more than typical store fair. Just rare treats, even if they are a step up, even so. If not, I will continue to buy at the stores. Just look them over well, or even request thicker cuts if you want to be fancy, when prices are lower. If I see ribeye at $6.99 a pound, I need to buy a couple of roasts, half cut to an inch and a quarter, a quarter of them to an inch and an half, and the last few cut to two inches. Yeah... that's how I "do". I should hand some of those out, from time to time, too. Make fast friends faster, I'll tell ya. Not buying friendship, merely sharing out some of the small joys one knows will do. I remind, I don't see money as some do. In that way, I am childlike, both for good and ill. :p
I'm not up to much. The darkness, and the change of insulin, are keeping me in a cage. I'll work my way out of it, no worries. Just a little downtime. It is the weekend, too, mind you. So, fair enough. The only other thing I will push to do is to get the trash and recycling gathered and out. Everything, or anything, else... will just happen or not. Probably the same for a day or two. Ugh. Later.
The last package of ribeyes I bought at Costco and ate before the start of my weight-loss cycle were astonishingly good. I don't know why the quality should vary so much with the same grade of beef. It has to be the individual cow.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that to be true. Though, might I recommend steer? Much more flavorful. Or, at least, a flavor to which most are actually accustomed. Cow eater!?! There's your problem rightchere. :p
ReplyDeleteHowever, as I have said, living in ag-country bumps the potential that any particular steer will be of better quality. I have even seen less than excitingly marbled beef end up being more flavorful and tasty then better looking steaks.
I do know that in cities, getting good beef is a nightmare. Even paying exorbitant amounts doesn't work. I have tasted these Omaha steaks, "organic" steaks, and just regular beef. Regular beef is generally better and far less expensive. I will stick with local beef. I have a hog going to slaughter Tuesday, I'll check on a quarter of beef, and maybe a ribeye roast or two, extra, while at it to boot. Local hog is delicious.
Economical? I suspect, all in all, yes. But I would let that slide, a bit. It is very difficult, without doing a severe assessment, with bone and meat all weighed and such, to know for sure. It seems to be less expensive, but then sometimes I doubt. Bleh.
Not all beefs are steers, mind you. ;P
ReplyDeleteOne o' these years I'ma git me a huge-ass freezer and hit up the local ranchers for one of their alfalfa-fed beefs. See what kind of deal I can get with a direct from rancher to slaughterhouse to my freezer path.
There are a half dozen or so ranches in southern AZ that do direct to consumers sales, but their beef is already marked up to cover their extra overhead of going straight to retail. Also the specialty market markup. I think a neighbor would give me a better price.
That's the way to go. And, if it's looking bad, canning some or all of the beef/meat wouldn't be a bad option either. I am hoping to get some of each canned, but... Yeah... Being both a new project, and a big project, I don't know. I would like to can a quarter the meat, ideally, currently.
ReplyDeleteI am one tier removed from what you are talking about, when I get beef. But that cuts the specialty costs down. For me, that is worth it. But the pork is just as you describe, direct from the farmer, and how I prefer. Some ranchers/farmers don't like to sell directly though, oddly. A local who raises sheep, so I am told, doesn't generally do that even for neighbors. Not sure what the problem is. Might be finding a butcher shop that will accept, transport problems if they aren't really set up for that, or who knows what else.
Well, yes. I have had actual cow. A dairy cow that I helped to butcher. But... that's sort of a rarity. Not the usual offering. I've never heard of cows being used as meat directly, on purpose, though.
Dude, so what do you call female beef cattle then?
ReplyDeleteFemale bovine? Cows. Male are either bull or steer, steer being castrated bulls. There isn't anything else. Seriously?
ReplyDeleteYou see, even if not used for milk production, cows are used for breeding. Just on a simple cost analysis, they are too valuable to use for meat. Cutting the herd, unless everyone is doing it, usually just ends up in a sale to another who is needing breeders. Only good breeding bulls are more valuable. Sucks to be a delta, or below, in the bovine world. Youch! :p
Depending on beef prices, feed prices, availability of willing buyers for breeding, I suspect quite a lot of cows end up in the beef supply.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that a butcher in the know favored cow meat for its superior tenderness.
Also forgot to add, grazing capacity limits.
ReplyDeleteYeah? Does of all breeds are more tender. Though age... on the hoof... isn't good for that. Chickens are probably more tender than young roosters, when they are young. But usually they aren't harvested until usefulness is gone, young chickens are a rarity as well. As you go about contemplating beef for the freezer, I would ask that you query regarding cow meat. My guess is, between being hard to get, and generally not affordable, you will find there are more reasons for butchers to take cow meat. It's rare, and tastes different. So much so that most won't buy it on purpose. So he could get it on the cheap. However, in a demand side market... you requesting it and not some rancher with overstock problems... that doesn't work the same. Oh, go check if you wish. One piece of advice? Try ten pounds of such burger, and a few steaks, before you consider buying a half or quarter beef of cow.
ReplyDeleteArgue as you will. And, I might even learn something I don't know or suspect. Though, in this area, I have great doubts. Zoot zoot. :)