Hungarian Organ

I've been meaning to make Hungarian goulash for a while now. Our friends Cile and Glenn Borders moved to Budapest, Hungary nearly two years ago to serve the missionaries in Central and Eastern Europe, and Cile posted a yummy-sounding recipe for goulash on her blog quite a while back. (Their blog, Goulash to Go, is listed on my blogroll in the margin; I know they'd love for you to drop by and bring them some American love!). Back in July, Cile sent me a birthday package, and it included a cute little ceramic house that contained a bag of real Hungarian paprika. I've doled it out sparingly on pork and (at Adam's request) deviled eggs. Last night, after completing his homework, he asked if I could make goulash for dinner tonight. Since it was predicted to be rainy and cool, that sounded pretty good to me, so I agreed. I went to Cile's blog and printed out the recipe and took it with me to the store today. I dutifully hunted down all the ingredients that were lacking at my house and carted them home. And when I brought Adam home from school today, and he wanted to put on his boots and raincoat to play in the rain, I told him he could. BUT... I would have to stay inside, so I could start working on the goulash that he had requested. His eyes got big, and he looked very excited. I started cubing pork and beef, and then I sliced and diced onions, potatoes, and sweet peppers (no parsnips were to be found at Publix today; I hope I didn't totally ruin my goulash!). I got all ingredients ready, and then I heated oil and started browning the meat cubes. Adam came back in from the creek (which now has water, praise God, because of today's rain!!) and asked if I was making goulash. When I nodded to the affirmative, he ran and grabbed a stool and put it by the cooking island. He climbed up and peered into the dutch oven where the meat was browning. "So, is that the organ?" he asked. "Huh?" I wondered what in the world he was talking about. "It's pork, and beef, for the goulash", I replied. "Oh, well, what about the Hungarian organ?", he said. "What in the world are you talking about???" "Well, Mom, last night, when I was doing my dictionary homework, I came across the word 'goulash'. And it said a hearty stew of Hungarian organ, seasoned with paprika." It took a minute; it really did. And then it hit me... Hungarian ORIGIN! Oh, dear... that poor boy! He thought, when he asked me to make goulash last night, that it would really be a ghoul-ish goulash! He was envisioning some sort of organs bubbling in a paprika-laced broth; no WONDER his eyes got big when I told him I really was making it! Oh well, even without the hearts, lungs, and intestines, it turned out pretty nicely, and we all enjoyed our "ghoul-ish" delight!

On a side note, our little buddy Homer, the flying squirrel, left for the great tree in the sky today. He never really did thrive, and I had a feeling he wouldn't make it to adulthood. Still, we were sad to lose him, and we buried him in the same plot as our pets that have gone on before. Adam is convinced that Homer is waiting for him at the Rainbow Bridge, and who am I to tell him otherwise? I hope he's right; I sort of miss that little guy.