When I think of comfort food, I always imagine something served hot in a bowl or cup with lots of liquid and flavor. Something that goes along with cuddling up near the fireplace with a cotton blanket and perhaps a good book. Yesterday morning, I placed a quartered onion, sliced carrots, sliced celery, quartered potatoes, chunks of beef, beef stock, Beringer White Zinfandel (ran out of red wine...), balsamic vinegar, flour, a sprig of thyme, a sprig of rosemary, three bay leaves, and three crushed garlic in my large crockpot and turned it on to automatic. During lunchtime, I was able to come home from work so I added asparagus and mushrooms to the stew. I got home last night and noticed that the stew had not thickened so I transferred it to a pot and added more flour, and let the stew boil. As Emeril Legassi said, flour doesn't thicken up the sauce until it comes to a boil. I adjusted the seasoning and tried it out. Needless to say, I just had to chilled out after and ended up watching James Taylor's Pull Over Concert on DVD. It was a quite comforting evening...