I didn't intend on taking a 'blog break' last month but I guess I needed it. The weather was quite cold here and I was happy to stay inside most of the time quilting
working on a presentation for my Master Gardeners' group
and cooking for Wonderful Hubby.
I did have to get out some, though. Precious Daughter gave a presentation describing her research project in plant genetics to her fellow doctorial students. She invited us to come and hear her (and give some moral support.) We are so proud of her!!
The presentation was given in the Monsanto Auditorium in the Bond Life Sciences Center on the University of Missouri campus. There is an amazing living wall in the Life Sciences Center. PD didn't want me to take any pictures while she was presenting but I did get some shots of that incredible wall!
Favorite Son stopped by and we were SO happy to see him! (We're pretty proud of him, too!!) He was able to visit awhile before heading to class.
Grandma was thrilled!!
Later in the month, I joined about 40 of my fellow county retired teachers as we traveled to our Missouri State Capitol. We met with over 700 Missouri retired teachers to lobby for educational and retirement issues.
It was a COLD day but we had a great time!
Isn't our state capitol beautiful?
Temperatures are moderating now and the snow is leaving! I'm so tired of it - I'm not going to post any photos of it. In fact, WH and I enjoyed a much needed outdoor afternoon at one of our favorite wineries, Blumenhof, this weekend. It was in the mid 60's and hard to believe the weekend
before we had a winter storm!!
Like many of you, I'm ready for Spring!! Gardening catalogs have been showing up in my mailbox and outdoor ideas are popping up on Pinterest.
I'm joining Cuisine Kathleen for her annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl and I've mixed old and new dishes to set a table for some yummy Irish Stew.
The salad plates, water glasses and dessert dishes are vintage items I've picked up at resale shops.
The rest are from Home Goods, Old Time Pottery and Dollar Tree.
These bowls are perfect for a generous portion of Irish Stew.
I am SO ready for Spring! These tulips make my heart happy each time I walk past them!
Wonderful Hubby said this recipe was an absolute keeper!
I found it at allrecipes.com but I had to tweak it a bit.
DARK ALE IRISH STEW
I used 2 lbs. of chuck roast, cut into half inch cubes
2-3 Tablespoons 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Teaspoon salt and black pepper, or to taste
2 pinches of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
Enough water to dilute tomato paste
1 twelve ounce (12 oz) bottle of dark ale, divided
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Whisk the flour, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper in a bowl and dredge the meat to coat evenly.
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir coated beef cubes, working in batches, until beef is browned on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a dish and keep warm.
Cook and stir onions and garlic in the same pot used for browning beef until lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes
Stir tomato paste with enough water to partially dilute; pour into onion mixture. Stir to blend. Reduce heat to medium, cover Dutch oven, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour half the dark ale into the onion mixture, and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the browned beef and any remaining juices. Pour remaining half of ale into beef mixture; add the thyme. (I tied the thyme sprigs together so they could be easily removed later.)
Cover Dutch oven, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 and 1/2 hours.
Add potatoes and carrots and simmer. If the stew looks a bit dry, add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup beef broth so the vegetables are covered. Stir every 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft, about 1 hour. Adjust salt as needed; garnish with parsley.
I've been thinking about using these dishes for a Valentine's celebration every since I found them in one of our local resale shops last fall.
They feature a delicate bouquet of dark pink and purple flowers on a cream background. Gold highlights and rim provide the perfect finishing touches.
I used a burgundy tablecloth and gold chargers to show them off.
The flatware is from Ross'.
Aren't these delicate pink glasses elegant?
My birthday is this week. A friend (who loves to inform me I'm STILL older than she is) and Wonderful Hubby gave me these beautiful flowers.
(WH brought the roses!)
Aren't they gorgeous?!!
We're planning to stay home and cook together this Valentine's Day. The weather is supposed to be quite cold and it sounds like a good evening to snuggle up in front of the fire.
Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy Valentine's Day!
Nothing warms up a cold night better than a cozy bowl of soup!
We cooked a ham at Christmas time and I froze the bone. Last weekend, I used it to stir up some Ham and Bean Soup. This recipe takes awhile to make, mainly rehydrating the beans, but it's so delicious and hearty it's worth it!
Here's the basic recipe:
1 lb. of white beans (Cannellini or Great Northern), about 2 1/2 cups
1/4 lb. of green lentils, about 3/4 cup
4 quarts of boiling water, divided
1 large cooked ham bone, plus about 1 cup diced cooked ham chunks
2 teaspoons Tuscan or Italian Seasoning
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
Tabasco sauce
Salt and Pepper
Ketchup, optional
Fill a pot large enough to hold the beans with 2 quarts of water and set to boil. Turn the heat off and add the beans to the boiling water and let soak two hours. Drain.
While the beans are soaking, cook the ham bone in a large pot with 2 quarts of water. Add the Italian seasoning. Heat on high until the water comes to a simmer, then lower the heat, partially cover and maintain the simmer for about an hour.
Once the ham bone has cooked about an hour, add the drained beans and lentils, the onions and garlic and the celery and carrots and the cup of ham chunks. Cook another 30 - 40 minutes, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the bone and let cool a few minutes to handle. Cut off the rest of the meat and discard the bone. Return the meat to the soup.
Add several shakes of Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with a generous 'squirt' of ketchup.
We like to eat cornbread with this soup and I recently learned an easy trick that takes regular boxed cornbread (like Jiffy) to the next level!I bake my cornbread in a small cast iron skillet. Spray it first with non-stick spray.
Prepare the cornbread mix as directed then add a small (8.5 oz.) can of creamed corn. That's it, bake the cornbread as usual.
Use a toothpick to check for doneness. The creamed corn make the cornbread moist and oh, so sweet!
Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what deliciousness you've
I'm really behind on my January photos post. Retirement has kept me happily busy but I was able to stick to my photography goal of taking a picture most everyday last month. Not all of my photos turned out but I believe the ultimate goal was to improve and sometimes we need to learn from our mistakes.
Here are some of my favorites.
Who said winter is dull and drab? If you know where to look, it can be as colorful as Spring.
I didn't take many pictures of snow because we haven't had much this winter. I'm sure that trend won't last, but for now I'm enjoying the colors I find around my world.
I've been staying in where it's warm and cozy lately. One of the things keeping me busy is piecing a new quilt. I started with a plan (from Missouri Star Quilt Company) and some fabric.
The block is made up of solid squares and triangle-squares.
This quilt called for twelve of these big blocks. When sewn side by side and row to row, the pattern appears. I really like how easy Missouri Star Quilt patterns and videos are to follow.
I'm ready to sandwich now and start quilting.
I'm planning on machine quilting the interior and hand quilting the borders.
I have to admit I think I like the piecing part of quilt making a little better than the quilting part. Anyone else feel the same??
