(Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story so far. I'm glad you like it.

Thank you also to Murdock Calavicci, Bartholomew-Kazpian, and Future Skulljockey for your reviews. I'm so glad you guys like this story.

I don't own The Monkees or any TV show or song mentioned in this story.

Also, this is what I call a recipe chapter. That means that there is a recipe at the end. This one is my recipe for Beef Stew.

I hope you like the chapter and if you make the beef stew I hope you like it as well.)

Peter stirred the meat in the Dutch oven as Mike cut up the vegetables.

"This might be a dumb question but-" Peter started to say but Mike interrupted him.

"Has anyone ever told you this no such thing as a dumb question?"

"Well yeah, still doesn't stop people for saying 'dumb question' if they think it's a dumb question." Peter answered a slight smile on his lips as he turned to look at Mike. Mike sighed.

"What's your question Pete?" He asked.

"Why are we browning the meat?" Peter asked "Won't it cook in the water?"

"Well, yes, but if we brown the meat beforehand we get all this good colouring on it and all the brown bits will give it a good flavor." Mike explained "Want to transfer that to a plate and do the next batch?" Peter did as Mike asked and continued stirring.

"Mike?" Micky asked from the bandstand where he was playing halfheartedly on his snare drum looking at the Texan "Where did we get the money for this, beef stew is kind of expansive to make isn't it?" Mike went over to the fridge and grabbed the carrots and potatoes out and didn't answer right away.

"Not really." He finally said as he started scrubbing the vegetables.

But-" Davy piped up from the couch.

"Davy, look, the way I see it we spend a little extra on the meat and make a double batch and freeze some of it for later we're not really wasting any money and we'll have a meal for when we really need it." Mike said as he began peeling the potatoes.

"Yeah, I guess I see your point." Davy sighed and picked up the book he was reading.

"The meat's all browned now what do we do?" Peter asked looking at Mike.

"We add in the onions." Mike answered as he looked into the pot "but first I think we should add in a little more oil." He grabbed the oil and added in a few tablespoons and then dumped the bowl of chopped onions into the pot.

"Stir that around for a few minutes Pete." He said as he went back to prepping the potatoes. A few minutes later Mike came over and added some flour to the pot and told Peter to keep stirring. While Peter did that Mike went to the cupboard and pulled out a can of beef broth and poured it into a cup.

"Why did you add flour?" Peter asked as Mike went back over to the stove.

"It helps thicken the stew," Mike said "there's a fancy name for it but I don't know what it's called." He slowly added the beef broth to the Dutch oven as Peter continued to stir. After a few more minutes Peter noticed that it was starting to get thick.

"Mike, is that supposed to happen?" He asked worriedly. Mike peeked into the pot.

"Yep, now we add in the rest of the beef broth, and the beef." Mike said as he added the stuff.

"Now what?" Peter asked.

"We let it simmer for a bit." Mike answered as he put a lid on the pot and turned the heat down.

"How long's a bit?" Micky asked.

"I'd say an hour or so." Mike answered as he grabbed his guitar and started playing a random tune. It had started to rain and the tune Mike was playing slowly morphed into Bob Dylan's' 'A hard rain's gonna fall' Micky looked at Mike and let out a chuckle.

"What?" Mike asked frowning slightly.

"Nothing." Micky said getting up and cracking his fingers and moved from the bandstand to the couch and turned on the TV.

"Anything good on?" Davy asked putting his book aside and watching the TV as well.

"I don't know, let's see." Micky said as he got up to change the channel. Soon they found a repeat of Gilligan's Island and settled down to watch it. Soon after I dream of Jeannie ended Mike got up from the chair he was sitting in and tapping Peter on the shoulder he made his way into the kitchen.

"Ok," Mike said as he removed the lid from the stew "Now we're going to add the vegetables."

"Why didn't we add them at the beginning?" Peter asked as he watched Mike drain the water off the potatoes.

"Because if we did that then they would be mush." Mike answered.

"Oh."

"Here." Mike handed the celery to Peter and Peter added it in that was followed by the carrots and the drained potatoes.

"Now we let it simmer again for a while." Mike said as he replaced the lid and turned the heat up a little bit. He wondered back over to the couch and sat down just as the opening credits for the news came on. The rain softly tapping on the window, the smell of stew wafted through the house instead of something burning, you could almost call the seen cozy.

OoO

Beef Stew

Serves: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

⦁ 3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces

⦁ 3 tbsp vegetable oil

⦁ 2 tsp salt

⦁ 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper

⦁ 2 yellow onions, cut into 1-inch chunks

⦁ 1/4 cup flour

⦁ 3 cloves garlic, minced

⦁ 1 cup red wine or beef broth

⦁ 3 cups beef broth

⦁ 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

⦁ 1 bay leaf

⦁ 1/2 tsp dried thyme

⦁ 4 carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch slices

⦁ 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch slices

⦁ 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in eighths

⦁ fresh parsley to garnish (optional)

Preparation:

On medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil to a large heavy pot (one that has a tight fitting lid).

When it begins to smoke slightly, add the beef and brown very well. Do in batches if necessary. Add the salt and pepper as the beef browns.

Once browned, remove the beef with a slotted spoon set aside.

Add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the flour and cook for 2 minutes stirring often.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add wine or beef broth and deglaze the pan, scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. The flour will start to thicken the wine as it comes to a simmer.

Simmer wine for 5 minutes, and then add the broth, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and the beef.

Bring back to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on very low for about 1 hour.

Add potatoes, carrots, and celery, and simmer covered for another 30 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with the fresh parsley if desired.