Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Calm Before the Storm.....


This is pretty much me today.

Holed up in the house with yarn.

Didn't dress m'self.

Ate bacon for lunch.

I'm recharging my batteries.

Tomorrow the flour will be flying.

Friday 'it' begins. Ya'll know what I'm talking about.

So it's just a nice quiet day here at the Coop Keeper's.



The girls are quietly laying their eggs, in my garden shed no less.

I overheard them talking today. I couldn't make all of the conversation out, but I did hear 'thankful we aren't turkeys'


A lazy day like this calls for a lazy, soul satisfying recipe.
This is what is in the oven right now....it's so incredibly fabulous that if you make it, your children will thank you, and your childrens' children. Yes, it's that good!

Country Stew
Serves 8 (8 normal people, or 4 if you're like me)

2# beef stew meat 1 T brown sugar
3-4 potatoes 1 t salt
3-4 carrots 1/2 t black pepper
2 ribs celery 1/2 t ground allspice
3 small onions 1/4 t dried marjoram
28 oz can of tomatoes 1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 cup water 1 bay leaf
5 T minute tapioca 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 T Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut meat into bite-size pieces. Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces a bit larger than the meat. Clean the carrots, celery, and onions, and cut all into 1" pieces. In a large, heavy pan, combine all the ingredients, except the parsley. Bake, covered, for five hours without stirring. Add parsley just before serving.

This does NOT freeze well.

I'm working on a post about the house for tomorrow. I know I left ya'll hanging with the masked man stopping by after we burnt all of his belongings....tomorrow I answer the questions left from that, and show you the kitchen before and afters. Hope you'll stop back by for that.


An interesting side note.....whilst working on this post, I began to receive comments that The Pioneer Woman has Aaron's picture up on her website, from her Chicago booksigning!

Oh dear...first Stubs, now Aaron. How will I live with these egos!

Here is what she had to say, hope it's ok that I cut and pasted....

"Okay, will you please look past my 2-hour-old BRUNETTE dye job and focus in on this dude for a minute? First of all, I thought he was 23 or something. He sad down with all the confidence of a reporter in the field and let me know that he and his colleague were getting ready to start chronicling all the recipes from my book online, one-by-one, and will give each recipe either a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Turns out, he's fourteen years old, and his "colleague" is his aunt, who homeschools him. I've got to sort through and find his URL and will share it with you as soon as possible. He completely charmed my socks off"

You should see Aaron now, he's beaming. Thanks Ree!

23 comments:

  1. I don't know if I've ever left a comment for you but I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog. I'm also an avid reader of Ree's blog, so I was really excited to see Aaron's photo! How fun!

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  2. Today is the flour-flyin' day here, as tomorrow is travelin' day. We'll be spending the holiday with the in-laws in New Hamsphire (or New Hamster, as my 7-year old neighbor says.)

    Enjoy your lazy time today, and I'm wishing you a lovely, stress-free Thanksgiving!

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  3. P.S. I'm makin that stew as soon as we get back from New Hamster, it sounds WAAY good.

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  4. OMG! Aaron is famous now. We are laying low today too. Thanks for adding me to your blog list. I did the same as well. Have a great Thanksgiving.

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  5. Enjoy your down time, it'll get hectic (and probably stay hectic) soon enough. Good for Aaron,I'll have to check out Ree's blog to see the picture.
    Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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  6. That is awesome! Aaron is a star!

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  7. The recipe sounds good - think I'll try it tomorrow - company's comin, so hope it turns out!!!

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  8. Been shopping all day, the chef in this house is dying to start cooking, he cooks all thru the night on wed. It's nearly 5pm and now it's my down time for a little while. I'm so excited for Aaron. Can't wait to try the stew. Very soon. Love to u both!

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  9. Sounds like a delicious cold day recipe! Aaron sounds like such a sweetie. I'm jealous of your "girls" (hens). Last week my husband walked past and I said: "I think I'd like to have some chickens." Could have heard a pin drop. He's a psychiatrist, you see. And we live in a garden home on a corner, and there's a brand-spanking new 2-story bank across the street. He said, "Please tell me you're kidding." Well...
    Brenda

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  10. I can't wait to read the next installment on the house story. I also saw Aaron's picture this morning on PW's blog. Loved it! She was certainly taken with him. How cool was that. Looking forward to hearing more recipe reviews from you two.

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  11. Oh, I am so envious....I spent my day hunting and gathering. The flour flies here tomorrow also. I am thinking that it won't be till January that I get to recharge my batteries. Thank God I have sugar and caffeine to fuel me through the holidays!!!

    Happy Turkey Day to you and your hens!!!!

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  12. Congrats on the winner.. nice give away!

    Okies, yes.. I do believe we were chatting on the phone this morning and I ended up wearing pjs most of the day here too.. had bacon for lunch too, well sorta of as it was in last nights chicken (oops cover their ears) sausage and bacon noodle soup.. yummers.

    But I was successful in finsihing many projects and yet the main tree has yet to lit.

    Soon.. let's hope tomorrow for both of us is just what we're looking for!

    ~Oli

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  13. I need to recharge my batteries, so I guess I will make like the kitty in your photo.
    The recipe sounds great, will be making it when I get all the stuff together.
    Can't wait for another house post, should be fun !
    Congrads to Aaron, just read the post on Ree's blog, nice picture.

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  14. Goooo Aaron!! Can we say we knew you when?

    Jayme, thanks for the recipe. I think it would work well with my current 'healthy eating' plan (*who* 'diets' right here amongst the holidays? silly me). Will be watching for your upcoming house post! -Tammy

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  15. Two movie stars under one roof! How exciting for you, but even more for Aaron. I'm trying to inspire my 10 year old son to keep up his love of cooking. Glad to hear about another boy that loves it just as much. Mine isn't famous yet, but a Mom can only hope! Happy Thanksgiving!!

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  16. Oh you must reply to her blog so she knows where to find you 2!! What a sweet thing for her to say "He completely charmed my socks off" Watch out Marlboro Man;) hehe
    Happy Thanksgiving
    Julie
    (~~)

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  17. YAY!!! Aaron's a STAR! So...when's HE gonna write his cookbook...and can I get his autograph someday?

    What a SPECIAL day you 2 had!!!

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  18. nice post friend...!!!!
    please visit me back....

    Culture of INdonesia

    thanks friend...

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  19. How cool is that Aaron? He does make an impression! Your recipe sounds amazing. I'm saving that one. I wonder how it would taste with CHICKEN?

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  20. Hello! Thanks for stopping by my blog last night! The Ree book signing was so much fun! I met so many people.
    Thats so cool that Aaron is blogger famous now! Lol! That's crazy!
    I cant wait to read more of your blog!
    Emily
    Minnesota

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  21. Aaron, oh Aaron. "How ya gonna keep him down on the farm? After he's seen . . ." This is just too too cool. Only 14 and he's already had his 15 minutes of fame. When he starts his cookbook please let me know, I wanna be an official guinea pig.

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  22. Hope you and your family have a lovely day Jayme! This morning I was telling Mark about your Chicken Contest and the sash and all the personalities of the chickens. I was laughing so hard I coudln't talk where he could understand me.

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  23. Hey CK -

    Thanks for the heads up about Aaron and ME!!

    woo wee

    With regard to your question about the health permit - did you call your county and ask them if you need a professional kitchen to sell prepackaged items at a farmer's market? In my county they allow us to bake these items in our homes.

    For the special day tomorrow I pray that you and yours enjoy the blessings of Thanksgiving with family, food and fun.

    to the turkey i say run run run

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