The Magic You Seek, Rack of Lamb, Community, and Calf Raises
HALT on Hump Day 1/8/25
Nobody makes good decisions when they feel Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. HALT on Hump day looks at ways I manage those things in my life. Hopefully you’ll find something that will help your life.
HUNGRY
Everyone has a food or two they cannot resist on a restaurant menu. I have two: Duck and Lamb. The only way I can resist is if the chef is going for the overly sweet meat approach, which they like to do with both. Even then, I typically spend a few minutes with the server asking how to get the fruit jelly out of the way.
Last spring I shared about the reverse sear technique for cooking steaks. Here’s a secret: It also works for rack of lamb.
But I did one step for this cut I do not do with steaks. I marinated them in a mustard sauce. Here’s a recipe, but it’s fairly easy: garlic, mustard (I like country Dijon), rosemary, and salt. I combined all of them, slathered the thing overnight, and it delivered big time.
Cooking steps:
Take the meat out of the refrigerator about 30-40 minutes before cooking to get it to room temp.
Trager (you can use the oven as well) set to 225 degrees
It’s important to either put it directly on the rack or get it off the pan. You’re looking for airflow all the way around it.
Cook until the meat gets to ~125-130
Take it out, get your cast iron hot, and sear all four sides.
Eat and smile.
ANGRY
Every big project comes with a chunk (or two) that you want to avoid. Sometimes we want to avoid them because we don’t have the skills to do them, other times our emotions get in the way, and sometimes it comes down to tedium.
When I come to those points in my big projects, I come back to this prompt:
What are you avoiding? Why are you avoiding it? How can you make it simple?
Identifying the thing first is a classic “name it to tame it” hack. Things get easier to confront when we name them. I learned it from my kid’s play therapist, and I use it all the time in my life.
Figuring out the root of my avoidance pushes me towards a solution.
Thinking about how to make it simple helps me realize it’s rarely as bad as I’ve made it out to be. It also leads me to a concrete and actionable solution.
I’ll also add a quote that lives in the back of my mind. I’ve known it to be from Dipen Parmar:
The magic you seek is in the work you are avoiding.
It’s a take on this other good quote from Joseph Campbell:
The cave you fear holds the treasure you seek.
LONELY
Community isn’t when people come together. It’s when people want to contribute. We hosted our 10th Christmas Dinner this past year.
The first time we hosted we had an infant who hated his car seat. He screamed like he just came out of the womb every time we put him in it. We hadn’t been sleeping and couldn’t bear the thought of driving to and from dinner with his piercing wails enveloping the whole car.
We offered to host, asked for their trust, promised them the best meal they had all year, spent 3 days cooking a themed meal, and decorated the house to boot.
Everyone loved it, and it became tradition.
But by the third year, the group demanded a change. They appreciated the meal, but they wanted to be a bigger part of it. They wanted to contribute.
Now, we come up with a theme, put together the menu, and give everyone a recipe to cook. It’s an inspiring turn, because I hear conversations about who cooked what, how they did it, and where they learned.
It’s a tighter group now than it was before. Instead of feeling like guests, they feel ownership, and it’s elevated the experience.
TIRED
People joke about skipping leg day. It’s not as sexy as bicep curls, and I get that. I’m making an effort to NOT skip leg day because I have a 9 year old who can’t get enough skiing.
It’s a little surprising, but I really like doing calf raises. I do them in three parts:
Feet pointed forward, like normal.
Toes pointed out about 45 degrees.
The opposite: pigeon toes.
I hold 20 lb weights in both hands and do 20-25 reps of each. 3-4 sets all together.
Bonus if you get get on a step or something else so your heels can go down farther than your toes.
Thank you for reading. If you liked something in here, send it to a friend. There’s a good chance they will smile, I’ll definitely smile, and I bet you will, too. Trifecta!
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