It is staycation time

Once again, it is vacation time for me - my third one of the year. And, I have two left - one at the end of the month and one in September. The fiscal year for the company I work for is October 1-Sept. 30. 

As all of my vacations the past couple of years, I am staying home. The term for that these days is a "staycation." Here is how Wikipedia describes the staycation:

"A staycation is a  period in which an individual or family stays home and participates in leisure activities within driving distance, sleeping in their own beds at night. They might make day trips to local tourist sites, swimming venues, or engage in fun activities such as horseback riding, paintball, hiking or visiting museums. Most of the time involves dining out more frequently than usual."

I didn't buy these. It is an image to show the marbling.

Honestly, that sounds great, don't you think? During this staycation, however, the only leisure activities I will participate in have to do with our patio, the barbecue, some cold beverages and Alexa. And speaking of the barbecue, I bought some good-looking rib-eye steaks with just the right amount of marbling to cook on the "barbie" tomorrow. 

And why marbling, you might ask. Well, 
because "marbling is fat that improves steak's tenderness, moistness, and flavor," according to mychicagosteak.com.

But, the meat has to be cooked hot enough, at least at 130 degrees F. so the marbling starts to melt and coats the muscle fibers surrounding it, notes the website, which "produces a rich buttery texture and enhances the bold, beefy flavor of the meat," resulting in a "far tastier steak."

At 125 degrees F. or lower, marbling has an adverse effect on the quality of the steak, according to the website and "when cooked rare or blue rare, marbling fails to melt. The unmelted fat gives the steak a slightly waxy and unpleasant texture."

Hmmm. I learn something new every day. 

I also stocked up on some cold beverages -- alcoholic and non-alcoholic -- fruit, veggies and more. The plan is to stay away from the grocery store while on staycation.

Yes, I cheated and bought some already-prepared vegetable kabobs. I am on vacation, and didn't Wikipedia's description of a staycation mention "dining out more frequently than usual?" Well, for me, buying prepared food falls into that category -- sort of. 

And speaking of dining out. It has been a very long time since we had some Five Guys burgers and fries, so I placed an order online and we drove downtown to pick them up. How convenient. No standing in line, no waiting for the food to be cooked. The food was ready in the amount of time it took us to drive there -- about 8 minutes. If you haven't tried their burgers, you should -- at least once. They use fresh ground beef - though I doubt if it is organic. Their potatoes are from Idaho and are specially chosen for French fries. They use peanut oil which is modestly healthy according to fitness expert and life coach Jillian Michaels. Peanut oil has more saturated fats than canola oil, but it has high levels of beneficial polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, she writes on her website. 

While the Five Guys burgers and fries are tasty, they are high in calories and fat -- two reasons we don't eat them very often -- and they are very filling. I am still full and we ate them around 11:30 this morning. 

I had the cheeseburger with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, tomatoes and lettuce. Steve had the cheeseburger with extra onions, extra pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. Mmmmm. They were delish. 

We ate them while watching the TV show "Cash Cab." It is a game show hosted by stand-up comedian Ben Bailey. When passengers get in his cab, he tells them they are on an instant game show. During their ride to their destinations, he asks them a series of trivia questions worth $25, then $50, then $100. If they have to stop for a red light, they get a "red light challenge" question for additional money. If they miss three answers, they are kicked out of the cab wherever they may be. They can get help from a mobile shoutout -- call a friend -- or the cab pulls over and they ask someone on the street for help. If they get to their destination, he offers one more question -- a video question -- to double their money. But, if they get the answer wrong, they lose it all.

Hubby Steve doesn't like game shows, but he likes this one. 

The rest of the day was spent cruising the Internet, although I managed to do two loads of laundry; and clean the bathroom -- floors, toilet, countertop, sink. I made an Amazon playlist titled SANE's smooth jazz (SANE stands for Steve and Nancy Edwards -- clever right? hahahaha) with some great songs, including "Return of the Rainman" by Paul Hardcastle, "Lily Was Here" by David A. Stewart, "Tango" by Kenny G, "Till You Come to Me" by Spencer Day, "Bumpin' On Sunset" by Wes Montgomery, "Lucy's" by Mindi Abair and many  more. If you haven't heard any of the ones listed here, I highly recommend trying them out. You won't regret it. 

And now it is nearly 6 p.m. The day certainly has gone by fast, but it has been a lazy and relaxing day. When it gets near bedtime, I think we will read in bed for a while before nodding off into dreamland.

Here's hoping everyone has a great night.