Honey Sweet Beef (Maybe I could have called it Sweat Beef)

Summer is my favorite season of the year (except for about two weeks of sauna-hot temps).  Last year’s steamy hot days left us lethargic, sticky, and desperate for a comfortable night’s sleep.  We found ourselves longing for cooler temperatures where real PJ’s and a light blanket are required.  Instead of comfort, I found myself laying in bed without any covers, dressed in my favorite boxers and tank top, doing the backstroke in the puddle of sweat, and hoping that the fan blowing directly on my body would cool me off as the perspiration evaporated. 

As of yesterday, we can wear long sleeved shirts in our home, even though it is 90 degrees out, and the humidity is so high that while looking out our window you need to pinch a tender piece of flesh to alert your scenes to the fact that the haze outside is not a bad dream.  The nightmare is finally over; we’ve got central air in our home.  Goodbye to loud fans blowing throughout the day and night, creating a hot windstorm that never really causes a cool breeze through the home, a hot breeze that your brain tries to make you believe is better than no fan at all.  Gone are the blinds drawn down to create a dark cave effect, futilely attempting to simulate cave-coolness, hiding the green grass, trees and colorful petunias, snap-dragons, lilies and a host of seasonal beauties growing in front of the house.  Now I can appreciate my all of my spring labor in the rich fertile earth.  

Now I can celebrate summer, enjoy being able to see my fish staring out of the non-fogged glass tank.  I can gaze out my front window on summer’s beauty protected by my 74 degree controlled environment.

Honey Sweet Beef (Maybe I could have called it Sweat Beef)

Place 1 or 2 pounds of stew mean into a crock pot.  Add two cups of water, marjoram, 10 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, and salt, cook on high until the meat starts to pull apart easily with a fork.

Add: 4 cut carrots, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow pepper, 2 stalks of celery, 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 cups of BBQ sauce, and1/8 honey. Cook on high for 2 hours stirring occasionally.

Add: 3 tablespoons of flower stirring while adding to prevent lumps. Turn down to medium for about 1 hour.

Serve over gnocchi or rice

For a zip add cayenne pepper to taste.