Reading Corner

I love reading.

I do not get the chance to read nearly as often as I used to before kids, but I do so love to read for pleasure.

I just finished reading the last book in the "Earth Children" series named "The Painted Cave" written by Jean M Auel.

I did not love this book, I found it to be full of a lot of repeats from previous books. There were bits of new story in there and I liked getting to live in Alya's world for just a tiny bit longer. I also could never in good conciseness knowing there was one last book out there and never read it.

I am now reading one of my all time favorites by one of my favorite authors,
An Old Fashion Girl by Louisa May Alcott

I have a list started of books I have read but need to go back and add more that I missed putting on there and include the ones that I have read recently.
If you want to check out that list click here.

What are some of your favorite books?

Hello

Good Morning Monday...

err ummm I mean Tuesday!

No I didn't forget what day it was, really I didn't!

Ok So over the weekend I got to see my husband. This was a rare and wonderful treat since he is staying out of town for work and coming home on the weekends. It sure has cut down on our gas expenses though! We didn't do much for excitement other then enjoy some fun family meals together, do some grocery shopping together, and watch a few movies. All normal everyday things that we couldn't do during the week.

I also finished up the other sock to match the one I created the first time. I followed my own pattern and actually made another sock. This is a good sign as I hope to write the pattern and make it available for others to use. The socks have the same stitch on the Fingerless gloves on the top of the foot and around the ankle, but the bottom is just a tight even single crochet stitch. The whole thing is worked in the round so the top half of the round is done in the pattern and the bottom half is done with a simple stitch. I prefer ankle socks so my socks did not come up to far, however you can make them taller by simply continuing the pattern around to the desired height. These lovely little socks were done using sock weight yarn in a red colorway of dark burgundy shading out to a deep pink.

I am contemplating refinishing chairs today, They still have not been finished because first it was to hot to try painting them and now it has been raining so much that I cant possibly do it yet. I need to get them done before it really starts raining and I will have to wait until spring. I want to get them done. I have the fabric cut to refinish the seats, I have the staple gun loaded and ready,  I have the paint, the brushes, and the chairs lightly sanded. I just need a day when its not pouring rain or threatening to. :)

Later today I am getting a dresser that needs to be painted and put in my daughter The Bookworm's room. I got a steal of a deal, a real wood dresser (not that particle board crud) and they are delivering it for 20.00! It has a broken wooden handle but that is a fairly easy thing to fix, either with a new handle or a small piece of wood to replace it. That will have to be evaluated after we get it here.

I am considering board games for school today....

What lovely things did you do over the weekend?

Finger-less Gloves~ A Picture

So did my description from the other day do these justice? 

Here are a set of cell phone pictures... 

Shell detail at top of fingers

Inside of glove

You can see the scaling better

Here you can see the thumb detail

So what do you think? 

Beef Stew

The weather is cooling down a lot and I promised a month or so ago to post pictures my friend took of my Beef Stew. Honestly this had completely slipped my mind until last night! SO without further ado...

Beef Stew~
2 lbs beef, cubed
6 large carrots
4 large potatoes
4 celery stalks
1 large onion
2 cloves whole garlic
1/4 cup flour
All spices are divided
1 tbsp cummin
1 tbsp smokey paprika
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2-4 Tbsp olive oil
12 cups water
1 sprig fresh rosemary
*1 tbsp corn starch if needed*

Now that is the basic ingredients list. What makes my beef stew so special? The way I cook it!

we cook in layers for this stew. Its the only way to make it taste wonderful.

I start with my onion, chopping it into about 1/2 squares. While you are chopping heat 2 tbsp of oil in the bottom of the stock pot or dutch oven, when onions are chopped add them to the pot and stir them around. Allow them to cook while you chop the Carrots. The onions should be slightly carmalized in color and soft, add the chopped carrots (they should be no bigger then 1/2" as well) Saute these and allow them to cook until they have softened and started to carmalize. While those are cooking chop the celery and add it to the pot. Next the potatoes go in. I always cut my potatoes in half then into cubes except one half of one potato that is chopped into small pieces. I want this one potato to break down a lot during cooking and help thicken the stew naturally. Once all the veggies have been added I allow this to cook for about 10 minutes then I remove all of the veggies from the pot.

They look like this (O my a picture!)

In the pot

Once it has cooked and removed from pot

Next put half of all the spices in a bowl with the flour, mix well. Trim your meat so that there is very little fat on it and place it in the bowl of flour. Stir to coat all of the meat. Heat the 2 tbsp of oil in the same pot you used to cook the veggies. Be sure not to over crowd your meat. Cook it in batches if you must but do not try putting it all in the pot at once. Brown the meat, taking it out of the pot as it browns and adding a little more oil if need be. Once all the meat is browned add the remaining meat back to the pot and start deglazing your pan. I most often use water because that is what I have on hand however you can substitute burgundy or white wine for some of the water in this step to make a richer flavored stew.

Here is what that should look like:

During this step you need to add any remaining flour that was left after you browned your meat cooking it slightly and making a rue while you deglaze the pan. I typically use 2 cups of water, or wine to deglaze. (BTW Deglazing is just a fancy word for saying removing the bits from the bottom of the pan.)

Next add all of the veggies, the remaining seasonings that you did not use in the flour, the water and that sprig of rosemary to the pot. Cover and let simmer on low for at least 2 hours. This brings your flavors together and thickens your stew.

After an hour if you happen to have fresh green beans like I did you can add them at this point.
Here is what the stew looks like :

After one hour

With Green Beans added

After two hours your stew will look like this:

If the stew is not as thick as you would like it at this point you can take 1/4 cup warm water and add the 1 tbsp of corn starch to it and whisk  it until it is dissolved. Add that to the stew and bring stew to a boil for 1 minute. This will thicken the stew even more and you will have a nice lovely Stew.

A few substitutions can be made. For example if you don't like green beans but love peas you can add those instead. If they are fresh I would add them 30 minutes before you want to serve the stew. Frozen should only be added after the stew is at its desired thickness and no more then 5 or 10 minutes before you want to serve it. You can completely omit the green veggies if you do not like either, or have either on hand.

I hope that you all enjoy this post and this recipe it is one of our fall favorites. I also make a beef stew with a tomato base.