Right On 'Cue

A couple of weeks ago, I scored a marvelous, thick, bone-in rib eye steak from Prather Ranch via the farmer's market but the weather wasn't cooperating. No warm, sunny days, just rain, rain, rain.

Here in NOCA, we need all the rain we squeeze in between the end of October and the end of March, our rainy season. It rarely rains the rest of the year so we have to make the most of the wet.

However, we've had some years of light rain recently, during which we all got royally spoiled by day after day of sunshine, so now we are all whining and carrying on about what is actually a pretty normal rainy season. I am the Queen of the Whiners.

When we finally, finally scored a lovely, warm, sunshiny day, I whipped that steak out of the freezer, thawed it in the sun, and fired up the barbecue. It probably didn't need another thing but we coated it with a little garlic-and-herb seasoning anyway and slapped it on the grill. While it was resting, I nipped outside to cut about 10 of the big Swiss chard leaves that are loving all this rain in my garden, and butter steamed them with some garlic.

The steak was perfect, pink and beyond scrumptious. My Beloved even gnawed on the bone like a caveman and enjoyed every growl and gnash. As the sun set behind Mount Tam, instead of behind a bank of clouds, we enjoyed the first barbecued dinner of the season, right on cue.