Feasting

We had an impromptu feast this evening.  It was lovely.  My mom came over today, bearing a beautiful tri-tip, simply for the sake of our enjoyment.  I love her.  I always get excited when there is a gorgeous hunk of meat to be roasted.  Mind you, this was not always the case.  I used to be terrified by hunks of meat, because it seemed that all I could do was reduce them to rubbery or stringy, overly dry masses.  Yuck.  Then I learned the great secret to all cooking...don't stress over it...just grab that recipe by the scruff of it's neck, look it square between the eyes, and let it know kindly, but firmly, that you own it.  *Sigh* see...it's that easy (okay, a prayer to the Almighty never hurts either).  Anyway, back to our feast...


I must have been in the mood for feasting today (not just in my heart, where the fish sticks on the table are labeled a feast..I wanted to see something feast-ish on the table.  Meat on the bone, hearty bread with mounds of butter, great vats of steaming soup...that sort of thing) because as soon as that tri-tip entered the house I was planning all of the sides and just how scrumptious they were going to be.  I splurged slightly today and bought some gorgeous asparagus, which I roasted with olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt.  I then mashed up a huge fluffy cloud of cream cheese mashed potatoes and put a bottle of sparkling pomegranate juice in the fridge to chill (something even the kiddos could enjoy with us).  I also planned to finnish off our feast with ruby-red strawberries and really good chocolate.


Now, for the meat.  I have learned that there are a few things that you can put onto beef that will always do you proud.  I have also learned that less is more.  After putting my tri-tip into my covered stoneware baking dish, I splashed it liberally with olive oil and red wine (two-buck Chuck works just fine).  I then ground salt and pepper over the top, snipped some fresh thyme over it, and plopped a few garlic cloves into the bottom of the dish.  Incidentally, these ingredients also turn the drippings into the most luscious gravy (just add a cup or two of broth to stretch it out and some mashed potatoes or flour to thicken it).  I baked the whole caboodle at 375 for an hour and a half (if I had all day, I would have let it roast longer at a lower temp, but this was still tender as can be).  And...voila!  What a feast!
My husband came in from the cold to something he pronounced "heavenly".  The look on his face as he ate made all of the work completely worth while.


Even though we count our every meal to be a bountiful feast from the Lord,  I feel it is still important for us to pull out all the stops and really feast (within financial means, of course).  Usually for our family, this happens on, or the day before the Sabbath.  We love having a planned feast for our kids to look forward to, reveling in the repetition of it.  Sometimes though, we just need to feast, to rejoice, to marvel over the blessings that the Lord bestows so graciously.  We need to bring out the choice meats, the choice wine (or pomegranate juice for the toddlers to gulp down), and have our hearts be glad that this is the day that the Lord hath made.