Guinness Beef Stew

Coarsely dice the bacon and fry in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon, leaving grease in pan. Lower heat, add onions to the bacon grease and saute until tender. Sprinkle the sugar over the onions, raise the heat to high, and stir until onions turn brown. Remove onions to strainer and let drip until bowl, collecting the drippings. Meanwhile, mix the flour, thyme, salt, and pepper, and coat the beef cubes with the mixture, discarding any remaining flour mixture. Add the collected onion drippings back to the skillet, raise heat to medium high, and brown the beef cubes on all sides in small batches, removing each batch to an oven casserole dish when browned. Add vegetable oil to the skillet as necessary. Once all the beef has been browned and removed, pour Guinness into pan, add bacon bits, and deglaze the skillet (heat and stir until all the brown bits come off the bottom of the pan). Add the onions to the beef in the casserole dish, pour the contents of the skillet into the casserole, and cover. Cook in a 325 degrees F oven for 1.5 hours or until beef is tender. Serve atop egg noodles or baking powder biscuits, garnished with parsley, with Guinness as the accompanying beverage. Serves 6-8.