Good morning. How are you doing? This week marks four years since many of us went into lockdown after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus to be a pandemic. Amid the fear and illness there would turn out to be, for some, scant pleasures: fragrant, crusty sourdough boules, long walks on quiet streets, seeking beauty amid the darkness. But for many there was simply dread, dread unending, and only pantry meals to mark the passage of time.
It would be understandable, this time of the year, if memories of those ugly early days swarmed back. Take time this weekend to take stock of what you gained.
For some, the rewards paid out in the kitchen, where new skills were mastered over the months and years and new flavors brought to bear. These past four years, some of us really and truly learned to cook. That knowledge brought newfound confidence at the cutting board and at the stove.
Take this fantastic recipe for oven-braised Guinness beef stew with horseradish cream (above). Five years ago you might have made it on Sunday for St. Patrick’s Day, following the instructions to the letter. Now, perhaps, you know that it will be all the better if you make it on Saturday and serve it on Sunday, so the flavors have time to deepen in the fridge, with plenty of celery root and no rutabaga, with carrots and parsnips, with lemon juice to make it pop. (There are many more options for a St. Patrick’s Day meal in this collection of recipes.)
