here's to the irish

i have been too busy to post lately; but out of the need for blog therapy am doing so. i have also decided to divide my life in half--home and everything else. home life is great! the house-buying thing is moving along, i am madly in love, i am enjoying creativity, etcetcetc. the everything else would include things like finding a way to early retirement, the economy, oh and severe neck pain! now the everything else isn't horrible, but it's not great; and i'll give you the recap...

i awoke thanksgiving morning to neck pain. thanksgiving was great--the food, the company, and relatively little stress. just a quick side note: just noticed relative and stress together. perhaps it should read: thanksgiving was great--the food, the company, and little relative stress. moving on... the neck pain persisted through the weekend. upon returning to work, the pain intensified (i was much more active at work than at home in my sedentary, turkey-induced comfort food lifestyle i enjoyed the four days prior). so the next day i went to the acupuncturist and the GP, and then went and got a deep tissue massage. excrutiatingly painful but in a hurts-so-good way. the asshole GP told me i slept funny and the pain would go away in a couple of days. but it didn't. so i went for another deep tissue, drank a lot of jameson, and rested the following weekend. i have experienced some relief but it is about the same as the first day it started. needless to say i called my GP's office again. first to express what a jerk he was and second to ask what i should do. so i went back to see the director of sports medicine who, upon assessing me, said i am really "locked up", have intense muscle spasms, need to start physical therapy, take flexiril, and continue with the deep tissue massages. and then asked me if i have been doing anything differently or have been stressed. nothing different; but stressed? sure. who isn't these days? my sad-enough-as-it-was-retirement-account has tanked while i am about to embark on the biggest purchase of my life. all the while trying not to think about the pain in my neck thus bringing on more stress and driving me to drink more jameson to sleep well at night. perhaps if i relaxed a bit more and channeled the other half's omnipresent optimism i wouldn't need blog therapy. or jameson. but then that's not very fun.

and so, in honor of the irish whiskey and it's relatively bearable hangovers, i offer the following recipe for beef and guinness stew:

ingredients

2 pounds stewing beef
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1 1/4 cups guinness
2 cups largely diced carrots
sprig of fresh thyme
chopped parsley, for garnish

directions

trim the meat of any fat or gristle, and cut into 2-inch cubes. toss beef with 1 tablespoon of the oil. in a small bowl, season the flour with salt, pepper and cayenne. toss meat with seasoned flour. heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. brown the meat on all sides. reduce the heat, add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the skillet, cover, and cook gently for 5 minutes. transfer the contents of the skillet to a casserole and pour half of the guinness into the skillet. bring guinness to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan. pour over the meat, along with the remaining guinness. add the carrots and thyme. stir and adjust seasonings. cover the casserole and simmer over low heat, or in a 300 degree F oven until the meat is tender, 2 to 3 hours. garnish the beef with parsley, and serve alongside boiled potatoes and a pint...or jameson.