Flowers on the Table and Stew in the Pot, It's all good

Before Paula and I met and married, I was a florist.  I loved my job and felt very blessed to be able to wake up and go to work every day doing something that I loved.  I was surrounded by beauty and interacted with so many wonderful people on a daily basis.

Then a bitter break up forced me to sell my family land and close my business, I was left feeling empty.  The one bright spot in my life was Paula. The profession that had once filled me with pride now left me feeling bitter and depressed.  It was now a chore to drag myself out of bed in the morning to fulfill my obligations for the day.  I had lost my love for flowers.

My passion turned to building a new life and home with my new family.  Slowly, my brokenness began to heal as I redefined myself.  I was no longer defined by my job, but by the total of life.  Paula and I got married and life was once again good. 

One evening I was sitting on our couch visiting with one of our new friends, Christa.

Christa worked as a Sign Language Interpreter and was sharing with me that her boss was looking for a new scheduler.  This was just a casual conversation as I wasn’t particularly looking for a new job.  The more we visited, though, the more interested I became.  The clincher was that the position offered benefits rarely offered in flower shops.  I contacted Stephanie and we agreed to meet the following week.

The thought of working in an office environment was a bit alien for me.  More than motivated by the benefits the new job offered, I felt lead by God that this was the path for me.  I have grown so much as a result of this decision.  Three years later, I have a renewed passion for my work.  Stephanie has taught me so much about advocating and Deaf Culture.  I have met many wonderful and interesting people through my job.

Stephanie is not only my boss, but my friend.  I have much respect for her and have grown to love not only her, but her family as well.  Stephanie’s birthday is in May.  As I often do for my friends, I prepared a meal in honor of her birthday.  We share a culinary passion, so we prepared this meal together.  The dish she chose is Beef Bourguignon.  It’s a little complicated, but well worth the effort.

I went to the new Uptown Market in Edmond to do the shopping.  I love this store!  My first impression was the wall of fresh flowers as you come in the front door.  I chose a mixed bouquet of orange purple and bright green flowers for my dining room table.  I knew just the vase I was going to use.  A bell shaped green art glass left from my florist day.  Slowly my love for flowers has started to re-emerge recently.  As I rounded the corner, I was startled as someone called my name.

A young woman I had met recently was working behind the cheese counter.  We spoke for a moment and as I meandered on, I looked up to see an old friend working in the deli.  I haven’t seen her for a number of years and she rushed up and hugged me so tight, it was wonderful!  She reminded me of some of the best times in my former life.  We exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes.  I gathered my ingredients and as I headed to check out, I ran into yet another friend who works there.

This is a new friend who lives in our neighborhood.  As we walked out to my car, she told me about a medical condition which was causing her to lose her hearing in her left ear.  She was very distressed about it.  I was pleased to be able to share with her my work, and my experience with my own hearing loss.  We too, exchanged numbers and I’m sure this conversation will be ongoing.

Having gathered the ingredients, I was ready to start.  I begin by rendering a few slices of thick cut bacon in a dutch oven.  While the bacon is browning, cut a nice thick chuck roast into about 2” cubes.  When the bacon is brown I take it out of the pan and set aside.  Make sure that the cubes of beef are dry by patting all sides with paper towels.  Add a little olive oil to the pan with the bacon fat.  Season all sides of the beef with salt and black pepper and brown in the mixture of olive oil and bacon fat.  This will have to be done in batches.  If you crowd the pan, the meat will steam, not brown. As the meat is browned on all sides, set it aside with the bacon.  This process takes a bit of time, but be patient.  It is well worth the effort and this is a crucial step.

After the cubes of beefy goodness are all browned to perfection and set aside, brown the mushrooms and set them aside, too.  Soften a large chopped onion in pan before adding a few cloves of crushed garlic along with some salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.  When the onions are just beginning to turn brown add several carrots cut into 2 inch pieces and a bag of frozen pearl onions then stir everything together.  Let all of this cook together for 5 minutes or so before you add a tablespoon or two of tomato paste. 

Incorporate the tomato paste into the vegetables then deglaze the pan with a bit of the wine.  I think any full bodied red is fine.  Just make sure it’s not a sweet red wine.  Now it’s time to add everything back in.  Place the meat on top of the onions and carrots, then the mushrooms and bacon on top of that.  Now pour most of the bottle of wine, adding some beef broth to bring the liquid level almost to the top of the meat.  Leave the top exposed.  Bring this all to a simmer, replace the lid and braise the stew in a 350 degree oven for 1 ½ hours.

Set out 4 tablespoons of butter at room temperature.  After 1 ½ hours, bring the stew back up to boil on the stove top over medium high heat.  Combine 4 tablespoons of flour with the room temperature butter and drop this mixture a spoonful at a time into the boiling liquid to thicken the sauce.  Then turn the heat down to low and simmer for at least half an hour with the lid off.  At this time, we could hardly wait as the savory aroma from the stew was wafting throughout the house.  Serve with nice crusty bread for a very satisfying experience.  It is also very good with a side of mashed potatoes or egg noodles.  This is such a heartwarming, belly satisfying dish, every spoonful is filled with comfort and complexity and is only improved by the addition of a glass of Irony Pinot Noir. 

While we were preparing the stew, the doorbell rang and there was a floral delivery for Stephanie.  A friend had sent her a beautiful bouquet of brightly colored flowers.  The red tulips, yellow snapdragons, pink lilies, bright red spray roses and chartreuse mums were designed artistically in a window box garden style.  I must admit I felt a pang of nostalgia looking at them.  Yes, I loved my time being a florist.  But life does move on and so have I.  I once again wake up in the morning thankful to have a job that I love.