Long time no write, the problem being that it’s hard for two persons to eat a quarter cow, grass-fed or not.  I did cook up a couple of dishes for friends two weeks ago.  I made short ribs based on the recipe found at the following link, : http://www.food.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-short-ribs-32147, cutting the liquids (broth and red wine vinegar) in half and cooking on the low setting for 6 hours.  Delicious . . . I would make it again.

I also cooked a piece of round steak, making beef braciole out of Bobby Flay’s recipe but skipping the grilled tomato-basil relish because I ran out of time.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/grilled-beef-braciole-with-grilled-tomato-basil-relish-recipe/index.html.  I wasn’t sure what to do with round steak because it’s not a cut I’m familiar with.  I think round steak is what my dad used to call “Marine Steak” because it can be tough and he was looking for a way to get us to like it.  It’s probably what we ate when my parents were a bit pinched financially, being less expensive than sirloin or porterhouse.  In later years I could tell whether the old man was feeling flush by the vodka we drank together on the porch in Grand Haven: Absolut when times were good, Nikolai when things were slow.  Speaking of cheap vodka, I’ve got a friend who swears you can run it through a Brita Filter a few times and it becomes indistinguishable from the top-shelf bottles.    I Googled the idea and it looks like the concept is at least worth a try.  The beef braciole, by the way, was good but probably not worth the prep time.  Anyone have any ideas for the next piece of round steak?

The next meal from Grass-Fed Gertrude is likely to be based on the concept of “Things I Hated As a Child but Kind of Like Now.”  I’m thinking pan-friend liver and onions/bacon, Brussels sprouts (I looked it up: capital B, generally-silent s on the end of Brussels) and beets.  Probably won’t be worth asking any of the kids if they want to join us for dinner on that night; ‘eh?

Beaujolais Nouveau comes out this week.  As tradition dictates, I’ll have it on the sales floor at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, and not a minute before.  This wine is made from grapes which were in the field just a few months ago and is meant to be consumed immediately.  Some wine snobs love to pooh-pooh Beaujolais Nouveau but it’s a wonderful celebration of each year’s harvest and, with its light nature and pronounced fruit, a stellar choice for the Thanksgiving table.  Cheers!