Suzy Homemaker

Sadly enough, my Suzy Homemaker of the Year award has been revoked--and immediately I thought of my Hospice friends (who will NOT be surprised!).

You see, I was making this lovely beef stew I found in a recipe book -even! You know, one of those wonderful magazines that come monthly, or seasonally or whatever. And I was almost even following the recipe and it called for bacon. Easy enough, right? Wrong! The Dad often cooks bacon for breakfast and, after he puts it in the skillet to cook, he goes and does dozens of things: even goes down the drive to get the paper--and the bacon turns out so beautifully crisp and "right", so I tried it. I put those little bacon chunks right into the pan and went off to do stuff. Well, I was also editing some photos to print and lost track of time. I also didn't think about the fact that he turns the heat down to almost off while he does all his stuff. Sure enough, after a while I smelled a funny smell. Scampering in, I found the kitchen all smoky and nasty. The Bacon? Oh yes, it was little charred piles of nothingness lying pitifully in that burned up skillet which I carried outside and forgot for a day or so.

I do remember now that when we lived in Lake Geneva, one of the kids was commissioned to wave the basement door back and forth to keep the smoke alarm from going off when I cooked much. The smoke alarm didn't go off, says The Dad because it is far enough from the kitchen that the smoke didn't get down the hall yet. Finally the smoke has gone from the house but for a while I wasn't sure it was ever going.

The stew? Well, it was fine without the bacon. After that gross error, I put some extra stuff in and forgot about the nice recipe and it tastes almost as good as it would have with bacon. Even found some leftover rice and kasha to put in--now I know something(!) to do with kasha!

Now, Teresa, what was it you wanted me to bring to that hospice carry-in?