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I am in and out of town so much, but when I am “home” in Seattle and my older grandkids are around I love to have them sleep over on a Saturday night. The two older boys, 10 and almost 8, consider this part of their routine and so far LOVE coming here. Their younger sister is 3 ¼ and is invited as long as we aren’t going out to a movie or activity where we will be up too late. My youngest grandson just had his first birthday and has slept here for naps; soon he’ll be old enough to join his older cousins. I deeply miss my 3 “Nietos” (grandkids in Spanish) from California, but when we do see them we make up for lost time!
Sleeping at Bukkah and Zadie’s house means long, hot showers followed by towels that are prewarmed in the dryer, a meal they usually love, an age-appropriate movie or a walk to the park to play, popcorn, hot fudge sundaes, time to read…and very few rules. Lucky me, my in town children and spouses don’t make rules for what we can and cannot do when they are with us. Truth be told, the kids are unbelievably well behaved. We love having them as much as they look forward to coming here. I know it won’t last and that soon they will have parties and more sleepovers, so this might be a fleeting routine. They assure us they will ALWAYS love coming here. We’ll see.
The first weekend of May, both boys had baseball games and they were scheduled to have a sleepover. The prior week they really wanted to order steak at a restaurant and we explained how easy it was to prepare steak, and that next time we would have that for dinner. And as I write this, all three kids are about to burst through the door and will have grilled steak with HOMEMADE steak sauce, baked potatoes with the works and Caesar Salad. Blood orange soda to go with all that. I’m not sure if dessert will happen – just the thought of all that heavy food makes me feel full.
This steak sauce – adapted from America’s Test Kitchen – would also be good on turkey meatloaf or even grilled fish. I like it because most steak sauces are laden with sugar or corn syrup, and this one incorporates raisins or cherries soaked in water for the sweetness. A jar of this will keep in the fridge for a week or longer. Since I loathe using bottled sauces and salad dressings, this recipe hit a sweet spot with me.
Homemade Steak Sauce
Makes about 1 ⅓ cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup dried cherries or dark raisins (I used dried cherries because that is all I had on hand)
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Cover raisins or cherries with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, cover and let it cook for three minutes. Remove from the heat for five minutes to cool off.
In a food processor, add the soaked raisins with any remaining water, ketchup, Worcestershire, mustard, and vinegar until smooth, about one minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Grill and slice the steak or meat, and pass this sauce to put on the side.
PS: I can report that ALL of us really loved this steak sauce. The boys used it to top their baked potatoes as well. Hmmmm, it actually tasted good used that way.
I have a lot of dried cranberries on hand. I love them! Can I substitute them for the raisins?
Ruth
Of course, dried cranberries would be fantastic. You and I think alike, Ruth.