Tuesday, January 11, 2011

American Girl Magazine...


The arrival of this magazine in the mail is a moment of bliss at our house. It is filled with imaginative fun, with projects, recipes and ideas that are age appropriate. One of our favorite sections is where we are introduced to other girls the same age as c across the country. They tell a little bit about themselves, their interests and a typical day. It's a whole new world. Life it is different for every girl and yet the same.
Because I've found other news, blogs and creative instruction online, I have dropped all of our own subscriptions with the exception of Business Week (with which I'm currently not impressed). This is literally the only subscription left. Worthwhile.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew...


Ingredients
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
Directions
Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

This recipes is from Allrecipes... I used it with Corrines more savory suggestions. Which are:
1. Increase flour to 1/3 cup and substitute seasoned salt for regular salt. Put flour mixture into gallon-sized, zippered bag. Shake beef in bag to coat. Sauté coated beef in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil until browned. Add chopped onion to beef to sauté and soften. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Mix beef broth (I used Swanson's Certified Organic in aseptic carton) with 1 TABLEspoon Worcestershire and ½ cup red wine. Pour into hot skillet to deglaze, then pour over beef and onions in cooker.
3. Add remaining ingredients with these additions: increase garlic to 2 cloves minced, 2 bay leaves; add 1 packet McCormick's Beef Stew Seasoning.

I had straight hair...

for a couple of days.. It was fun.

Back to normal... :)