Is the world coming to an end or what?

2008 has been a strange year for me. And yesterday it got even weirder.

At 4:15 pm I found myself huddled in my closet with my children. The weatherman told me to do that because a tornado was coming right for my neighborhood.

Fortunately for us, the “wall cloud” passed over us, turning the sky green, and the funnel went elsewhere, doing damage to outlying buildings.

From what I understand, no one was hurt in this episode (thankfully). But I’ll tell you what, I’ve never hunkered down in my closet before and I never want to do it again.

After it was over, my kids decided they wanted to stay and play in the closet. How fun! So that’s their new spot. Lots of great places to hide Luke Skywalker and the Green Goblin.

And by 6:15 pm I was in the kitchen making dinner. Business as usual. Except that the kids were still in my closet.

I had thawed these babies for a possible turn on the grill . . .

But after seeing the sky turn a color nature never intended I decided to stay in and cook.

I cooked these steakburgers on the stove with a little salt and pepper. That’s it. I did a mix of sweet Vidalia onion and classic steakburgers.

My favorite was the Vidalia onion. Hands down.

It had a sweet oniony taste that was just the right touch. Not overpowering, just a great flavor.

Check it out.

My husband was so excited to see this when he got home that he could hardly contain himself. And he almost forgot his family and his house could have been swept up in a cloud of dirt and debris.

But I digress.

For an afternoon that started out not so great, it ended up turning out pretty well if I do say so myself.

I’m going to go hang out in the closet now. I left my magazine in there.

So, it’s been established that I love steak. And if you’re reading this you probably love it, too.

But what do you like to eat with it?

Certainly you can’t just have a steak and call it a night.

I’ve given you some of my faves, like Bonita’s Potatoes, Oven Sweet Potato Fries, and even the tried-and-true baked potato loaded the way you like it.

Then there are the veggie goodies like asparagus and carrots. I’ve been served steak with a huge cooked carrot on top. That was a new one to me. But it was colorful and quite ingenious, I thought.

Got any other ideas?

What do YOU like with your steak? Let me know!

Grilling this weekend? Try this KC Strip recipe with these special mashed potatoes. They’re extra-specially creamy and they melt in your mouth.

Grilled K.C. Strip with Blue Cheese Mashers
(Serves 4)

4 10 oz. K.C. Strip Steaks
Salt and Pepper

4 large Russet (Idaho) Potatoes
4 Tbsp. Cold Butter cut into pieces
1 to 1½ Cups Heavy Cream, boiling
2 oz. Blue Cheese
Salt and Pepper

Sometimes, when you have a beautiful steak like this, the best thing to do is nothing at all.  Salt and pepper both sides and grill to medium, about six minutes per side, rotating a quarter turn every three minutes to create the cross hatch grill marks.  Serve with mashed potatoes and enjoy.

Peel the potatoes and cut into thirds. Each piece should be roughly the same size and shape, to cook evenly.  Place in a pot with enough water to cover and add a Tbsp. of salt and bring to a boil.  When the potatoes are tender, drain and place on a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven for five minutes to remove any residual moisture. Start cooking the steaks at this point.  Rice the potatoes in a ricer or food mill (you can do this with a hand masher or in a mixer but the consistency is not as fine).  Add the butter and stir until the butter is melted, add the cream and blue cheese mix to combine. You may need to add a little more cream depending on the size of the potatoes.

Voila! A beautiful meal is born!

Let me know how you like it.