Super Late "Friday" Night Foodie (That happened on a Saturday…)

Her hands work quickly, much more quickly than mine, the long nailed fingers handling the specially sharpened knife with precision.  The pile of vegetables, a mixture of various colors, grows in the corner of the warped cutting board, soon to be bound together by white string, a garnish to flavor the sauce we've been working to perfect for months.  This is my father's brain child, my passion, but my mother humors us as we create a recipe found in one of our favorite book series, Nero Wolf.

A wine based sauce, this particular recipe is typically served with poached eggs.  My mother hates poached eggs; this time we use steak.  

The last few times this recipe has been attempted, the sauce met one of two ends; chunky and thick with excellent flavor, or thin and somewhat bland.  Maybe this time we'll find a happy medium.

Our steaks come off the grill at different times; my father's and mine first, juice pooling on the white china beneath the knife, my mother's second, charred through and ruined in our eyes. 

We serve the sauce atop the steaks and garlic mashed potatoes, paired with my new all time favorite wine; Silverado.  

Perfect thickness, perfect flavor, we all agree that this version was a success, the best attempt thus far as we sit enjoying our meal, the company, and an episode of Nero Wolf A&E put together.

I might have eaten the sauce straight from the pan…don't judge me.

But thick or thin, bland or flavorful, I needed that Saturday morning.  A lost job, the overwhelming prospect of the future, under a mountain of guilt by no means cured but eased by good company, a good meal, and entertainment.  Food is more than ingredients, a meal beyond wine and flour and produce…it is fellowship and experience, it should draw you back to another time like smells and songs and movies that stir up old memories.  Even failure can be success when such things bring us together.