Quilt of the Radical by Tank Berrett
_____________________________
My Juicy Steak by Jordy Osborne
tall, skinny and slightly balding. All of us sat in the man’s dirty living room. It was late fall so
there were many broken leaves in the room. Leaves that were brought in by shoes that
unavoidably carried them inside. In the room was one lamp which was the light for the whole
room. My two companions and I were missionaries for the man’s church and he wanted to feed
us dinner to show us his appreciation for our work. We each had a big plate of food in front of
us. On the plate was a nice big steak with sides of peas and mash potatoes. The man, with a big
smile on his face, invited us to eat. I looked down at the plate in front of me and realized
something, my steak was only half cooked. The left half of the steak was a good looking
medium rare, while the right half was nice and rare, barely cooked at all. It was quite talented
that he did that. I’m not totally sure how one does that but somehow he managed to cook just
half of it.
I was grateful that the man was so generous in feeding us. He wasn’t wealthy and had
been retired for some time. It was probably a sacrifice for him to be able to feed us these
steaks. Knowing his situation and his obviously big heart, my heart was full of gratitude towards
him. It made it easier for me to pick up my knife and fork and prepare to indulge. My two
companions were staring at me, then the steak, then back at me. They couldn’t help but
chuckle under their breath. Looking at my steak I couldn’t help but chuckle as well. Despite the
chuckling of my two companions and my own worry, I started eating. As I started on the cooked half of my steak I soon found out it was cold, pleasantly flavorful and good, but cold. I could tell the steak was well cooked and seasoned but seemed as if it had been waiting for me a while. It had a good texture to it, a nice crispy exterior with a juicy middle. It was easy to eat the cooked half. I then came to the raw half of my steak. It was quite red and very juicy sitting on my plate. It was understandably soft, cold and stringy in texture. Despite the odds, it had good flavor. I was expecting it to be nasty and hard to get down. To my surprise it was almost delightful. The side of peas and mash potatoes helped with
the texture of the steak as I ate them together. I was thankful in knowing that steak doesn’t
have to be cooked all the way through like chicken does. If it was chicken on my plate, half
cooked, I don’t know what I would have done. That gave me comfort and help in finishing the
rest of my steak.
With our empty plates still on the coffee table the man served us the dessert portion of
our meal. Dessert was a big bowl of ice cream. It was early December, Christmas was on the
way, so the ice cream was candy cane flavor. Bits of candy cane crunch in cold vanilla ice
cream. It was a cold refreshing way to finish off our satisfying meal.
As my companions and I were away from our family that Christmas season, he helped us
remember what Christmas was all about. The man didn’t have to feed us but he wanted to. He
didn’t have much but what he had was enough. He gave us his best and his best will never be
forgotten.
