I think of myself as a good citizen. I pay my taxes. Yes. I really do. I vote. Early and often. I follow almost every law (take out speeding and maybe a few other occasional moving or parking violations) and I think I follow all of them. I keep up my property to the community standards (it helps to have teenage boys to help mow). What I haven’t done, is serve on a jury.

I’ve never been called to serve on a jury. If called, I doubt I’d try to get out of it. While I would not look forward to hours of time killing in the jury waiting room, I think serving on a jury would be interesting. Even something about tax law could be interesting.

I have severed as an “expert witness”, which was hours of boring waiting (I was going to leave on a ski trip immediately after) and then four minutes on the stand in which the defendant’s attorney didn’t fight any of my expertise. But jury, no.

Recently the New York Times put together a little quiz that attempted to see even if you were called, would you be likely to be picked for a jury. Interested, I took the quiz and found…..I would not likely to be picked. Unfortunately the case details was way to close to what I do in the real world, so one side almost certainly would reject me. Check out the quiz here.

Skillet Steaks with a Red Wine Sauce

The jury is not out on these steaks. They are guilty! Guilty of great flavor.

I love this mushroom mix that I find in my local store.

Fry the steaks.

Add in the liquids and shrooms.

Time for sentencing….They are to be eaten!

DIRECTIONS

Heat the skillet over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until nice and hot. Add the steaks to the skillet, searing well on both sides for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Remove steaks from the skillet and keep warm.

Add the butter to the skillet; then add the garlic and the mushrooms; salt and pepper to taste. Cook till the mushrooms begin to release their liquid and till soft and tender, but don’t overcook. Remove and keep warm.

Now add the wine and remaining ingredients to the skillet and turn up the heat. Using a whisk, get the brown bits from the steaks up and cook till wine mixture has reduced to almost half. Add the mushrooms and their liquid back in and cook another minute; serve over the top of your steaks.