My Son-In-Law; My Son

Memory:

My real husband has a nick-name for everyone. I am "Pumpkin" (paying tribute to my round loveliness); my mom was "Smithie" (for Granny Smith Apples), and our son-in-law has been dubbed "Fast Eddie" by him and my father-in-law since Ed was 15 years old, and had dinner in our home just about every Sunday in Saco, Maine, until he went off to join the Air Force and later married our daughter when he was 21 and she was 20.

I can understand how he would be connected with quickness. Ed was the most aggressive athlete on any of the school's teams. What he lacked in height and girth, he made up for with guts and speed. He is still that person today. My son-in-law has broken many a finger and injured himself in innumerable ways playing on his church soft ball teams. You can't make him ease up.

He has a booming voice that can carry across a soccer field like an atomic bomb, but like Teddy Roosevelt, Ed " speaks softly but carries a big stick, " about what he believes. Ed never brings up his thoughts on politics to hit you over the head with them, and he respects each person's right to be wrong.

He could care less if you like him, but if he likes you, oh fortunate one, you now have the most loyal and giving friend you will ever have. He will never give up on you or say a bad word about you. He will defend your name and protect your well being with his life. He is the most honorable, decent, honest man I know, and he's a dish.

Because Ed and Shannan married so young, I was afraid for the prospects of their marriage, but the two of them are a perfect fit. Shannan can be controlling but she has a wonderful sarcastic sense of humor to deal with Ed for all of that. He enjoys her banter and knows just how far to let her go before reeling her back in. They are the best parents to their three kids. They protect them and teach them, but at the same time allow them the room to grow up to leave them one day.

A few years ago Shannan called to say that Ed was praying about going to Iraq to work for a year or more as a Contractor to instruct Iraqi police. I wasn't supposed to say anything to Ed or anyone else until he had made up his mind. I knew I didn't want him to go, but I have always supported their decisions no matter what. Once the choice was made and he was ready to leave, I fell apart. My health deteriorated and my spirit died for the whole time he was gone. It was a long tour. Ed and I communicated by email while he was away, and I learned so much more about him. And then I learned he was even more a man than I realized, when he came back from Iraq. I tell him as often as I can how proud I am of him in every way. He and Shannan are my blood and heart, and I am a blessed woman to have two such wonderful children.

My recipe for my Pot Roast would have to be Ed. He is the meat eater. Don't bother him with sandwiches or any kind of sweet fluff. Just show him the meat and the gravy.

Recipe:
Mom's Yankee Pot Roast

3 lbs chuck roast
1 large onion chopped
4 - 5 carrots sliced (good size)
4 - 5 white potatoes cut into fourths or eights depending on size
oil
salt
pepper
water
2 cubes of chicken bouillon (I like chicken better than beef. Subtle)

• Dry the chuck roast with paper towels.
  

• Salt and pepper dry meat and pat to make sure it sticks
  

• Add 3 to 4 tbs oil to just cover a very hot dutch oven and brown meat on all sides
  

• Add enough hot water and dissolved cubes of chicken bouillon to come up half the way of the meat. Bring the water and broth to a boil, cover and lower the heat to a slow simmer. Let cook for 3 to 4 hours. Check for fall apart tenderness.

• I don't care for the taste of my gravy loaded down with veggies, so when the meat is pretty close to being done, I cook the carrots first in a separate pot of boiling salted water and add the potatoes 10 to 15 minutes later. I let them cook for another 10 to fifteen minutes and move them to a large bowl until they are ready to go into the dutch oven. Reserve some of the veggie water.
  

• When the meat is done, take it out of the dutch oven and let it sit on a dish for 10 or 20 minutes, while making the gravy. This is the easiest part.

• Bring the meat juice back up to a slow boil and add a "slurry" of flour and water. (I use a nice little jar with a good tight lid. (I put 1/4 cup flour into the jar and add 1/2 cup cold water. This will work with any measurement for the slurry, just double the cold water to the flour. Put the lid on tight and shake until there are no more lumps. Pour the smooth slurry into the slow boiling juice and stir with a whisk until the gravy thickens and the flour taste is cooked off. If the gravy is too thick, add some of the veggie water you saved from before. If it's not thick enough, try a smaller - 1/8 to 1/4 - mixture of flour and water. If for some reason there are still lumps, pour the gravy into a bowl through a sieve, and just throw the left over lumps out. No one will ever see them.).

• Add back the veggies into the hot gravy and let simmer for a minute or two. Slice the meat, put on a pretty serving dish, surround the meat with the veggies, and put the gravy in a boat.
  

• Sit back and wait for your son-in-law to devour.
  

Thought:
I didn't like my little punky son-in-law the first time I ran into him, but he grew on me and my real husband, and there is no one on this earth I love more.