Yesterday I had a stress test and echo cardiogram (sp?), it was so much fun. First they injected me with radio active dye and made me wait for 1/2 an hour, then onto this table to lay with my arms over my head for 1/2 hour while this weird camera circled me and took pictures of my glowing heart. Normally this would not bother me one bit but I shoveled huge amounts the day before and holding them in this position caused a good deal of pain and cramping. Next it was onto the tread mill for a little fast walking. I got out of breath and they kept yelling don't close your eyes, don't run walk fast, I think this is to add more stress to the stress test. In any case I had an anxiety attack right on the spot, for those of you that don't have panic attacks, most of the time you have no clue what brings them on, which makes them lots of fun too. I have little pills the Dr. gave me to take when I have a panic attack, but they calm me down and the white coats around me really wanted me to be stressed. After this fun it was onto the echo, which is just an ultra sound of your heart no big deal. The woman who did this test, did the same test on me back in 2008. She went to high school with Joe's oldest brother and remembered asking me back in 2008 about Fred. (I believe she may have been in love with him, she told me how good looking he was and he ran track, they went on one date etc.) She remembered asking me because the last name is unusual and there are so few of us, what she didn't remember was me telling her that Fred died of a heart attack a few years prior. So she got to relive that pain again thanks to me. Now it was back down for more pictures and arm cramping but only after I waited another 45 minutes. Now lets keep in mind that I didn't eat at all, well I had 8oz of almond milk before I left the house. All I had with me for reading material was the last two issues of Gourmet magazine, which I had not read yet. So I'm starving and reading Gourmet, when one white coat sticks his head in the waiting room to say "about 20 minutes and we'll have you back on the table". All in all a very enjoyable Friday. So I went home and to cheer myself up, I bought a nice bottle of wine ($20 bucks that a lot for me I'm cheap...but I deserved it dam it) and it was about 4:00 p.m. when I started making Beef Bourguignon. This is one of those dished I have wanted to make for awhile. I followed a recipe from Simply Recipes. I need to check it against a Julia Child to see what the difference is if any. You start by rendering down salt pork till the fat is out and your left with crisp little brown things. Then you brown the meat on both side, not over crowding the pan (which I did because I was impatient.) Anyhoo....it took me until close to 8:00 p.m. to finish it and the meat was not tender. Joe and I don't eat a lot of red meat (unless he is in CA with my brother and sister in law then he lives at In and Out Burger for the entire vacation) so not knowing beef cuts as well as I should I asked the butcher at the supermarket. (Dam meat man told me it would be tender.) However the sauce was unbelievable, Joe and my sister loved it. I say an entire bottle of Pinot Noir, a half cup of brandy and the liquid of rehydrated porcini mushrooms..... hello.....how could it be bad. So after we had a little beef my sister and I cracked the bottle of wine (Opolo) it was yummy. I let the beef simmer for a few hours longer and it did get tender. It was a lot of work but it did the trick cooking always de-stresses me and makes me happy. If anyone is feeling stress go to Simply Recipes or check with Julia Child and try the Beef Bourguignon.
