"What?!!! You Haven't Read My Blog???!!"

Beef Burgundy

I blog for myself. It really doesn't matter if anyone else reads it, but it is nice to sometimes hear that someone has found my blogging helpful, amusing, interesting, or just a good diversion to daily life. After I make a meal and my family eats it, I usually ask for their review of the food. They have gotten quite good at their comments as my blogging has progressed. While gathering my reviews of a recent dinner of Beef Burgundy, I found out that The Husband has never even read my blog! "What?! I have been writing this thing for almost a year, and you never have read it?" Not that I'm looking for him to read it, but you would think he would like to see what all my blogging is about. I'll try to remember to share my millions with him when I make it big with the cookbook I will write someday.

In previous posts, I have touched on the dilemmas of preparing dinner for my family; differing palettes, varying schedules, time constraints of the cook. I am sure these same dilemmas are faced by most cooks. Trying to please many different people at the same time with the least amount of effort is always a good formula for me. Not that I am lazy and looking for the easy way out with dinner. I love to cook and still don't want to spend 24 hours a day in the kitchen. I do have a life outside of the kitchen, but I bet my family would beg to differ. If I'm not cooking, I am reading cookbooks, submitting recipes for consideration in upcoming magazine issues, writing culinary articles, and coaching family and friends in their latest cooking adventures. Everyone has to have a hobby.

A few nights ago, I made a nice dinner. With the cold weather upon us (and about a foot of snow that night!), I made Beef Burgundy thanks to my good friend Ina Garten. She doesn't know we are friends, but we do spend a lot of time together. I read and reread her cookbooks, watch her on tv and try to improve on her recipes (which is not too easy to do). I guess I'm kinda a stalker from afar. Most beef burgundy recipes call for stew meat which is usually tough and requires a long cooking time. I never have really loved beef stews for that reason. In this recipe, I used beef tenderloin. It cuts down on the cooking time drastically, and it is much tastier. Eventhough stew meat is much less expensive that tenderloin, I don't make beef stew too often and can justify the better cut of beef.

I like meals that can be made in advance and when reheated don't taste like they were reheated. This is one of those meals. The family members had different schedules the night this was made, so the ease of reheating was key. My Oldest ate it right after it was made and then was off to Confirmation class. Thumbs up from her. "This is really good," she said without me even prompting her for her review. My Middle One took a nap and then ate her portion. She loved the little boiling onions used in the recipe. They were a nice switch from regular onions. Another thumbs up. No Thank You Boy ate only the beef portion of the meal. No surprises here. Wouldn't want a carrot or onion to pass his lips. Typically a No Gravy kinda guy, he slathered his filet in the sauce. The Husband and I both enjoyed the dish. 2 more thumbs up. As far as meals go, this one my be one of the few 5 Thumbs Up meals that I have made. Pinch me! I must be dreaming.