It all started with a sweet-tooth. My husband and I found ourselves on an impromptu Saturday afternoon date. Grandma took the kids for a few hours, so we headed to Hanuman Thai Cafe on Central Way for an aromatic bowl of Tom Yum soup and a plate of Wild Wild Squid. We were on our way to hit up Cupcake Royal in Bellevue when we discovered time was running short.
After a U-turn, we decided on some gelato at Metropolitan Market in Houghton. Of course, as parents of three young kids, we multi-tasked, turning dessert into a grocery shopping trip. Metropolitan Market offers weekly specials in newspaper format at the front of the store, which we grabbed on our way in.
One particular special caught my husband’s eye: with a purchase of two or more pounds of chuck roast, get a free bag of russets and a free bag of carrots. Management must have had pot roast on the brain.
But pot roast rarely makes an appearance in my menu-planning noodle. I suppose it must be the flashbacks to the dry, stringy hunks of meat that required copious amounts of ketchup from my childhood. Mushy carrots and mealy chunks of russet potatoes probably added to my inherent dislike of this American classic.
Fortunately, I know what else I can do with chuck roast, carrots and potatoes. Picking up some tiny pearl onions, a pound of mushrooms and a bottle of wine I was now thoroughly anticipating a magnificent Sunday dinner of Boeuf Bourguignon or Beef Burgundy in English–basically, French-style comfort food.
Though the dish is time-consuming to prepare, the majority of the work is on the front end. It can be prepared hours in advance, even the night before if desired as long as you don’t fall asleep like Julie Powell in “Julie and Julia.”
Around 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, I suddenly remembered what I had planned for dinner. Turning on my turbo speed, I dashed to Trader Joe’s to get the bacon I had forgotten and wisely picked up a second bottle of wine along with some cheese for dessert.
Donning my apron and a comfortable pair of shoes back home, I gave my knife a few pulls on the hone and started to prep.
First up, I sliced the bacon into small strips and simmered it in some water for about 10 minutes, which leaches out a good deal of salt. During the simmer, I prepared the three pounds of chuck roast, cutting it into 2-inch cubes and removing some of the larger pockets of fat and connective tissue.
And then came my favorite part — chopping vegetables. I just find it so satisfying to create those uniformly sized pieces of carrots, thinly slicing the onion with my sharpened Japanese steel.
Browning the meat is my least favorite part, perhaps due in part to a tong-induced ache in my right forearm. But this is an essential step for building flavor and texture into that lovely bowl of stew. The meat must be dried with paper towels before it gets sizzled in the heavy-bottomed dutch oven otherwise it won’t brown properly.
Skipping ahead, with the first half of the process finished and the stew simmering lightly in the oven surrounded with several whole spuds sitting on the rack, I had three hours before more prep was needed. I was in such a good mood from all that uninterrupted time in the kitchen that an idea burst from my mouth.
“Let’s have a party!” I exclaimed to my husband. “Let’s invite everyone.”
Thanks to modern social media, friends, acquaintances and even strangers received an open-ended invite; merely a description of the meal, the time it would be served and the question, “Any takers?”
As the house became more presentable, we remembered that a couple of major NFL games were also underway. Would anyone come to our last minute party? It looked doubtful as the clocked ticked past 6 p.m. and no reassuring chime could be heard from our wireless devices alerting us of an email or text.
To those less used to rejection, the night could have turned depressing. Not for us, however. With a windfall of tender beef and rich sauce, freshly puffed yorkies, and a whole bottle of wine to ourselves we hatched a plan.
The plan is about spontaneity, hospitality, relationships and breaking bread. When was the last time you were invited to someone’s house for dinner? Are the days of “calling” on friends, coming over uninvited, gone?
It’s definitely an old fashioned idea. We’re all so hyper-scheduled with our iPhones and our Blackberries and our Google calendars that the very notion of spontaneously inviting an unknown quantity of random people for dinner seems impossible, especially on, gasp, short notice.
But I’m not giving up. In fact, I went straight to my computer and bought the URL for FlashMobFeast.com. Consider this a social experiment aimed at igniting a home-cooked hospitality revolution in the ‘burbs.
Sure, it’s a little scary not knowing if a dozen strangers might descend on our family dinner. We’ll likely eat alone more than once.
But there are other possibilities, too. Like making new friends, deepening existing relationships, meeting other foodies. Who knows? Maybe even a local chef or two might stop by for a home-cooked gathering on their night off.
The website might take a bit to get up and running. In the meantime, keep an eye out for random Sunday afternoon tweets (@ReporterJulie) and updates (Julie-Jams) with the phrase “Flash Mob Feast.”
And keep an open mind. It could be the most delicious decision you make that weekend.
More Reporter Julie articles can be found at 
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