By G. E.
Shuman
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s
been pretty cold lately, and I think we all need something to warm us up a bit.
So, I decided to share my quick recipe for beef stew. It’s something I’ve
refined over the years, (If you believe that, you shouldn’t.) and it’s super
easy to make. My family and neighbors love it, and I hope you will too. Please
note: Measurements, quantities, and even ingredients can be varied. (They
always are when I make it.) If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s following
the rules, even in following a recipe. Anyway, here goes.
The very
loosely defined and less adhered to list of ingredients:
You will
need 1-2 lbs. of beef, (whatever you can afford right now, without selling your
house) cut into approximately one-inch cubes. (One of the reasons I call it one-inch beef stew.)
You will also
need a bunch of carrots, peeled, and also cut into one-inch lengths. (Another
reason it’s one inch beef stew.) I like chunky stew, so I use a lot of carrots
and I try to get those big fat over-grown looking ones and cut them a bit diagonally.
My five-year-old granddaughter taught me that that shape is a rhombus. She
really did. You could also use a bag of those pre-peeled finger carrots, but I
don’t like fingers in my soup, so I don’t.
Now you need
five or six average-sized potatoes, cut, you guessed it, into (approximately) one-inch
cubes. You can peel the taters first, if comp’ny’s comin.’
1 small can
diced tomatoes. What more can I say about that?
2 32 oz.
cartons of beef broth. Ditto.
1-2 largish onions
peeled, chopped. (You can’t ‘cube’ onions, but don’t worry about that.)
A 1-inch length
of a quarter-pound butter stick. (Here we go again.)
A little
instant potato. (Don’t panic. It’s important.)
A smidgen of
Garlic salt (I got the word smidgen from my mom.)
A dite of salt.
(I also got the word dite from my mom.)
A pinch or
two of pepper. (I usually go for three pinches.)
A few glugs
of olive oil to brown the meat.
A big ol’ pot
with a cover to do it all in.
Now for
the precision cooking instructions:
Glug the few
glugs of olive oil into the big ol’ pot, on the stove. (Important, turn on the
stove’s burner too.)
Brown the meat
in the pot, stirring occasionally if you feel like it. Or, just sip on your
coffee. That’s what I do. If you want to get really fancy, throw the onions in
now to brown them too. Also, shake in some garlic salt. Then, and this is important.
Do nothing more to the meat! DO NOT DRAIN IT! Just leave it in the pot and keep
your fingers out of it. Although that beef will taste pretty yummy if you give
in to temptation. (Personally, I can resist anything but temptation.)
Add both
cartons of the beef broth and bring it all to a boil.
Now for the
precision part: Throw everything else in, except for the instant potato. We’ll
get to that in a minute.
Return the
pot to a hard boil, then simmer until veggies are done. Sample a big carrot
rhombus. If that’s soft, it’s all soft.
Now, about
the instant potatoes. I shake a box of those flakes over the pot, (For best
results, remember to open the box.) while stirring the stew. Add whatever
quantity you want. I just do enough to thicken the broth up a bit.
Guess what?
You’re done, and so is this column. Enjoy, and stay warm!
By G. E.
Shuman
Here we are at the beginning of a
brand-new spin around the sun, known as the year 2022 AD. It’s not the first
time we’ve been on this page of the calendar, but it is the VERY FIRST time
we’ve been on this page of this PARTICULAR calendar. The year 2021 is a thing
of the past. The year 2020, wonderful year that it was, (sarcasm intended) is
further past.
Strangely, whenever I turn on the
news, which is less and less frequently lately, the biggest news stories I see are,
yes, about negative situations our country and our world are experiencing but
even more about how sick everyone has become of those topics, especially sick of
hearing everyone discussing them for the umpteenth time. (Is that how you spell
umpteenth?) As far as the super story
goes, people in general seem to be simply tired up to the Band-Aids on their
upper arms of talk about vaccinations, boosters, masks, mandates, and words
like corona, covid-19, delta and omicron. I know I am. Truthfully, I think we all get
the situation by now.
Those other little matters (more
sarcasm) like national security, inflation, and energy, to name a few, are
topics that have been with mankind since Rome was built, not in a day,) and
will likely always be heard from the Colosseum to the coffee shop. And maybe
that’s okay. The super story remains the virus, but it is getting under a lot
of people’s skin. (Pun intended.)
So, what do we do about that? Here’s
my idea, since I’m the one at the keyboard here. I think that we should live
our lives with care, but without fear. Our country and, indeed, our world have
been rocked to the core by a mutating, microscopic menace that we did not ask
for or deserve. But here we are. The effect of that rocking has been the
disruption of families, careers, schools, the economy, and even race relations
for over TWO YEARS now. I guess my idea is for all of us to just knock it off.
I think we all need a well-deserved, (self-administered) slap in the face and
an admonition to get back to our personal, non-intrusive lives.
As for politics, I am a conservative
old white guy, so I’m a racist. Nope, I am not. You may be a liberal young
black woman, so you’re a radical. Nope, you are probably not. Whoever we are,
whatever we think, we need to respect each other’s opinions, or at least
respect each other’s right to have them. I just think it’s going to be hard to
get very far down the road of life if all we’re doing is stepping on each
other’s toes.
There is no doubt that people are truly suffering because of
the illness and loss of the last two years. My view is that the best thing we
could do in 2022 would be to reach out to other people and simply help them. I
know, that sounds way too simple. Let something, (maybe love?) be why we do the
things we do for (not to) others in this brand-new year. I have lately realized,
that, although I may agree with you on almost no issue, I am not your judge. I
know way too much about me to ever be that. (Matthew 7:1. Holy Bible)
We’ve all heard the saying that the future is what we make of
it. If that’s the case, what will we make of 2022? In the words of author Wayne Muller, “How,
Then, Shall We Live?”
