Another Verison of Eastern Goulash

This last semester my friends and I went out to lunch about twice a week.  We often ate at Subway; otherwise, we went for a buck-burger at McDonald's.  After a while, I decided that I did not want to not eat at any inferior restaurants any longer.  To my amazement, the many McDonald's restaurants near Aquinas College do not appear to care about pleasing the customer.  Today, my faith in McDonald's was restored, at least to a limited degree.  I was craving a good old Big Mac with fries, and of course, Brian was willing as usual.  I knew that there was a franchise Micky D’s right there off the intersection of 44^th and Kalamazoo.  Our experience thre was so perfect today, I am giving them public credit, here and now.  In honor of Samantha, the manager, I offer the following: 

First, the restaurant was clean.  This is important to me because the kitchen will go the way of the dining area.  Second, the employees were nice, and when I say "nice," I mean they were downright cheerful; that actually acted like they enjoyed their jobs!  Third, the crew fills the French fry containers properly, and they were fresh and hot.  At the end our meal, I walked up to the manager and expressed how happy I was to have found a McDonald's that cares about their customer’s satisfaction.  Samantha’s face lit up like a Christmas tree; you and I know that she gets her share of complaints.  Today's Food For Thought:  Try to give someone a complement when they’ve done something right, you know you complain when it's not. 

For Dinner, Brian and I ate Eastern Goulash:

Place 2 lbs of stew meat in a bowl that contains flour, salt and pepper.  Shake bowl so that all the meat is covered by the flour mixture.  Put some olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot and turn on the heat; let it heat for a couple of minutes. Add the stew meat to the pot and partially brown the meat.  Add: fill the pot with water so that covers 2 inches above the meat, two bay leaves, tablespoon goulash seasoning and salt and pepper.  Cover the pot and cook in the oven 350 oven for about two hours.  Next, add 4 cubed potatoes, 1 cubed sweet potato, 1 green pepper, one diced onion, 3 stalks of cut celery, 2 carrots cut small, one zucchini cut up into small pieces, 2 heaping tablespoon of marjoram, 1tablespoon of Cumin, 1 tablespoon of goulash seasoning, 1 small can of tomato paste,  and 1/8 cup of white vinegar.  Cook in the oven until the meat is tender and the vegetables are fully cooked, about 2 to 3 hours.  In a frying pan sauté: 2 diced onions and 5 large diced garlic cloves in olive oil.  When they are tender, sprinkle paprika, salt and ½ cup of flour over the top, brown and add to soup.  Cook in the oven for about an hour longer, add 1 cup of sour cream and serve. Enjoy!

PS:  You can't put it in the refrigerator hot, but don't wait too long, because it has sour cream in it, and because The Bear will lift the lid and eat some every time he walks past.  I was suspicious because He kept going toward the bathroom, but isn't sick.  When I investigated, I found two large spoons on the counter, even though I had done all of the dishes.  It's true that soup is good food, but there should be a volume limit, all the same.  I wonder if The Bear will come prowling again after midnight.  (I'm flattered, but don't want to be flattened!)