Winter Stew

While I was on holiday in the Northeast, I had my two and a half weeks of winter. Then I returned to Southern California where I walked around in my shirt sleeves after dark and thought about how happy I was to be back. But while I was East, I made a very wintery meal, which I will now share with you, to help you get through all those long, dark, cold days that you may or may not have ahead.

YOU WILL NEED:

4 white or yellow onions

6 or so fair sized red-skin potatoes

2 cloves of garlic

1 parsnip

1 turnip

1 yam

1 pound of carrots

1 large steak

Oregano, thyme, black pepper, tarragon and bay leaf to season.

Olive oil, to cook in.

Begin by chopping your onions and pressing your garlic. In this case, I chose to use a garlic

press instead of just chopping it, because I wanted it to infuse into the broth that I was making.

Chop two of your onions into into small pieces. Set the other two aside. Press both cloves of

garlic. Fry these two things in olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot.

Next, you will need to cut up your meat.

Once you have done this, add it, and more oil, to your pot.

Fry it until all the meat appears cooked.

Then add six to eight cups of water and a teaspoon of salt. You have magically created beef broth, free of all the extra crap and packaging usually associated with beef broth!

Let it come to a boil as you chop your vegetables.

You will need to peel and cut the turnip, parsnip and yam. All vegetables should be cut to about the size of a quartered, small potato. You should leave the skins on the potatoes and carrots.

The skins add flavor and nutrients to your food. You might want to cut up your carrots into smaller, coin sized rings. That's what I do.

Add the veggies to the pot, and then season it well with Oregano, black pepper, two bay leaves, thyme and tarragon. Don't over do it, but don't under do it.

Then get it simmering and leave it there for a while, uncovered. With soups and stews, I have the following rule of thumb: if you want it to thicken, uncover it. If you want it to keep its moisture, cover it. Stews should thicken out.

Then go do something else for about an hour. I recommend Mario Kart Double Dash.

Once you've totally won against your siblings and become the queen of your household once again, or if you did something else, about an hour later, the soup will be ready. You should check it in between every couple of races... I mean, every fifteen minutes or so, to make sure

nothing is sticking or burning. If it is, reduce the heat.

When the soup is finished, the yam will have cooked into the broth and all the rest of the vegetables will be mushy and tender. The meat, in my case, was tender enough to cut with a

spoon.

Now, I like to eat garlic bread with stew, personally. Garlic bread is easy to make. Its very similar to the recipe for garlic bread stuffing, but here it is again, just in case:

You will need:

About a half a stick of butter

4 cloves of garlic

Oregano and basil, to season

Thick bread, sliced.

Arrange the bread slices on a cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to about 375. Then melt the butter in the microwave so it is a liquid. Use a garlic press, or cut the garlic by hand into small pieces, and add all of it to the liquified butter. Season it. Stir it up.

If you have a little brush, you can brush it on the bread. If not, you can sort of pour it on with a spoon.

Bake for about five to ten minutes, keeping a weather eye, to make sure the bread gets to be your desired amount of crunchy without burning.

Dip the garlic bread in the soup. Mmmmmmm.

Christmas tradition (and recipes!) in a blended family

With the holidays come a spate of food traditions, among others. My family includes my four siblings, my mom, my dad and stepmom, and her ex-husband. With so many members, my family has plenty of Christmas traditions to share!

My step-siblings' father is from Denmark, and his Christmas specialty is Danish sweet potatoes...not like the orange potato things that are sometimes (incorrectly) called yams. I found a recipe on About.com to illustrate the tooth-explodingly sweet goodness of the potatoes Jens makes.

Ingredients:
12-15 small new potatoes
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp. water

Directions:
Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Remove, drain, allow to cool slightly, and peel. In a large frying pan, brown sugar over medium-low heat just until sugar begins to darken around the edges. Stir in the butter until mixture is smooth and slightly bubbling; mix in water. Add potatoes to pan, shaking pan to coat them evenly with caramelized butter. Allow potatoes to brown briefly, 5 to 10 minutes.

Seriously, though, don't load up your plate with these like you would regular potatoes. You will pass out and wake up diabetic!

Beetus

My stepmommy makes baked beans every Christmas from her mom's special recipe. It seems weird, yes, but they pair wonderfully with ham and fill the house with the smell of molasses, brown sugar, and sweet, sweet bacon. Here is a recipe from Paula Deen (Paula knows about bacon).

BACON!!!

Ingredients
6 slices bacon, diced
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cups brown sugar
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 cup water
4 (28-ounce) cans pork and beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until browned and crispy. Add onions and a dash of salt and pepper. Allow to cook for a few minutes. In a large bowl, mix together pinto beans, brown sugar and diced tomatoes. Add to Dutch oven and allow cooking. Add 1 cup of water and pork and beans to pot. Cook for 30 minutes.

Now lets talk about the only holiday tradition from my mom and dad that I can think of. The whipping of the cream. The whipping of the cream come with much fanfare. There is a big to-do that morning when somebody announces that they are CHILLING THE BOWL. After dinner we pull the cold bowl out of the fridge and whisk the ever-loving crap out of the cream (by hand), passing it around as our arms become too sore to whip.

Ingredients:
Heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Beat the cream like a fi-dolla ho.

Not pictured: paralyzing arm pain (photo courtesy Toni Metzger Horrace)

No, we don't sweeten the cream. It's so wonderful, and adds richness to every dessert without making it sickly sweet. It is also excellent to dollop into your coffee if (like me) you don't take sugar in your coffee. You COULD add a little confectioner's sugar, and you COULD make it with a mixer, but it tastes so much better sweetened only with the pain and suffering of your entire family.