Category Archives: Cooking

Sweet as can be…

Posted in Cooking, Food, What's Cookin'? by
I love, love strawberries. In fact, I am eating them right now… topped with a little lite whipped cream. Soon (late May-June) I’ll be able to pick my own from my local farm stand. I probably have at least 20 recipes that I use over and over, but always looking for something new.

My recent favorite is this strawberry pie which I received the recipe about a month ago. So far we’ve made it three times. It’s great for those counting calories (or WW points) because you can make it almost fat-free.

David also loves strawberries. They are a close second to his other favorite fruit… blueberries. Yep, I’m lucky that he’s a fruit lover. I count my blessings every day that he’s always been good in that way. How in the world I created a child with a healthy appetite defies logic.

Do you have any favorite strawberry recipes? Share! I am looking for something new for an upcoming barbecue next month.

Stewing

Posted in Cooking, I am not martha stewart by
I had some time on my hands this morning after dropping David off and before sitting down to work. So, I decided to throw something in the crockpot for dinner.

I have this awesome high-tech crockpot I got over the holidays from Williams-Sonoma (see above pic), and I am always looking to use it. I know it seems odd to get excited over a crockpot, but it truly makes me feel all Martha Stewart’ish.

I decided to make some old-fashioned beef stew. With all the good stuff like carrots, parsnips, portabello mushrooms, etc. And for good measure, half a bottle of red wine. Ok, a quarter. That’s the only way wine will be passing my lips today, don’t worry.

I previewed the recipe last night and thought, heck, I’ll just throw everything in there and fire it up for 10 hours or so. I even had pre-cut cubed stew meat, so I was on my way.

Of course you have to first brown the meat, and then cut the veggies, and then make a special sauce. So, “throwing it together” was not really how it went down.

It was more like “turn the kitchen upside down for 45 minutes, make a huge mess, and have a meltdown over onions I just brought YESTERDAY that turned out to be rotten”.

It was not a pretty sight. I rushed browning the meat and spilled flour on the floor too.

After all was said and done, my 20 minute prep was more like an hour and twenty after I had to clean up the mess I made.

I’ll let you know how it turns out. I may share the recipe if I get a thumbs up from the peanut gallery.

For now, I am letting my beautiful crockpot make magic.