What?

Posted by goodoldgirl

I stopped by the grocery store in a rush a few days ago to pick up a few necessities. You know, eggs, bread, milk, the usual stuff.

This morning, I finished the last of the milk (the milk I already had) and reached in the fridge for the new milk, ripped the top off, and poured it right into the almost-full glass I already had.

Before I go any further with this narrative let me just say that I LOVE milk. A day without milk is like a day without sunshine in my book (sorry orange juice marketers) and breakfast without milk just isn’t right. It would be like crackers without cheese, a movie without popcorn, CSNY without Y. (It’s been years and I’m still not over that one.)

I digress.

Next, I took a big gulp of my beloved milk and what to my wondering taste buds did appear?

BUTTERMILK.

I HATE buttermilk! Except in biscuits, of course. And, ranch dressing.

So, to the twit that stuck a jug of buttermilk in with the sweet acidophilus …

Bad move.

Very bad move.

On the brighter side, breakfast with Dr. Pepper ain’t too shabby.

But, what the heck am I going to do with a gallon of buttermilk?

Easy Peasy Beef Stew

Posted by goodoldgirl

We all have certain things that make us feel cared for, comforted. For many it’s certain foods that evoke happy memories of home and family. Which, when it comes right down to it, is what comfort food is all about isn’t it?

I know I do, and I suspect that most of us probably do, have more than one comfort food. My comfort foods include my mom’s chicken pot pie, warm biscuits, spaghetti with meat sauce, pot roast, beef stew, and coconut pie. My mom’s coconut pie is a slice of heaven on earth, but that’s a story for another day.

I asked her once where she got her recipe for beef stew and she said she made it up. I think I was about 10 at the time and didn’t know it was even possible to make up a recipe. (I thought they had to come from a book that some kind of professional recipe-maker wrote.) I’ve learned since that most recipes are made up by moms.

Where was I? Oh, yeah …

It wasn’t until years later that I learned that, for most people, beef stew has a brown sauce. Mama’s beef stew has a red sauce. Think that sounds funny? Don’t laugh until you’ve tried it.

Here’s the recipe …

Ingredients:

1 Pound of beef, cut into one inch chunks
2-3 Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
5-6 Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Small can of early green peas
1 Small can of tomato sauce
1 Small onion, diced
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp instant granule beef bullion
1/4 Tsp garlic salt (or, salt to taste)
6 Cups water

Directions:

Pour olive oil into a dutch oven. Add beef chunks, diced onions, salt, and beef bullion granules. Brown beef and onions over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to brown evenly. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat after 5 minutes and cover.

Simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours (until beef is fully cooked, tender but not falling apart). Add carrots, potatoes, and tomato sauce. Continue to simmer until veggies are tender (usually about an hour). Add peas and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Serve with a salad and hot crusty rolls. (Apple sauce is a good side dish, too.)

Now, doesn’t that sound delicious?

Nothing to say. Nada. Zilch.

Posted by goodoldgirl

You may or may not have noticed that I’ve not been blogging lately. Either way, I guess the best explanation for my absence from the bloggosphere is to just fess up and admit that I’ve run out of things to say.

To get ideas, I spent the last hour or so reading posts from some of my favorite blogs. They’re fresh, funny, interesting, and full of bits of wit and wisdom and insight.

Me?

I got nothing.

No insight into the way of the world.

No ideas about how to live long and prosper.

Not even a wise crack about the presidential debates.

What to do?

Hmmm?

I know … fake it!

I’ve been on a quest.

I put my house (really a townhouse/condo) on the market about three and a half years ago. I managed to get three offers and even two contracts but, alas, no sales. So, I decided a couple of months ago, finally, to finish unpacking and forget about selling for a few years.

Since that momentous decision, I’ve found all kinds of things I forgot I had. For example, an Oster Food Center that my mom gave me for Christmas about 25 years ago. She borrowed it from me about two months later and returned it about three years after that. Not being a domestic diva, I stuffed the big old box of food fanatic tools in the closet and forgot all about it until last week. Which is when I discovered that some of the pieces had gone astray, got melted, whatever. Anyway, it still works so my quest has been to find replacement parts.

Enter eBay. I can get a new turntable for the mixer part for about ten bucks. (Apparently, that part got too close to a stove at some point.) Not too much to spend to get this combination mixer/blender/chopper back to perfection. After pulling all the bits and pieces out of the box, though, I realized that the chopper bowl is missing.

Can’t help but wonder what happened to that. Is it stuck in some cabinet corner at my mom’s? I doubt it. She’s moved about a gazillion times in the last twenty years so I might as well look for that part on eBay as well.

Not so fast!

Both my sisters got the same gift from Mom that same Christmas. Last night’s chat with baby sis revealed that she has the chopper bowl and never uses it. So, it’s mine for the pick up. She also has the instruction booklet. Yeah! My daughter will be pleased.

You see, that’s what this quest is all about. Becky is really into domesticity. She makes pickles and jams. (Don’t worry. She’ll get over it eventually.) So, the almost vintage food center, once I have all the bits and pieces again, is going to her house. She can chop and mix and blend to her heart’s content.

And last, but not least, the food center can live long and prosper.

Yes, I really am this goofy. 🙂