Flowers
"When a child gives you a gift, even if it is a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It might be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you."
-- Dean Jackson
My Grandmother's Alcatra de Carne
“Alcatra” is a traditional dish from Terceira, the island I live on. It is a pot roast that is cooked in large unglazed red clay pots. The pots are seasoned, and with each use get darker, and darker. The simple spices, combined with onions, bacon and wine are what make this dish flavorfull and so good. "Alcatra" is the Arabic word for "piece", and it is made with pieces of beef (round, shank, chuck). The additon of meat with bone in, makes all the difference, as the bones will give it more flavor. Every village, and everybodies grandmother has a different recipe for Alcatra, this one happens to be my grandmother's version. Shortly after I married, I took all of my ingredients, a notebook and pen over to my maternal grandmother's house. Where, while she put everything together, I wrote down her words of wisdom. Now I must say, she may or may not have forgotten something, but I follow this recipe as is, I don't mess arond with it, it's her recipe,
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