A pretty awesome husband...

made me a chocolate stout cake with bittersweet ganache frosting for my birthday. I came home from teaching on Wednesday night and he locked the back door on me. As I stood outside wondering "what the hell?" I heard the strains of "Happy Birthday" and then the door opening to reveal a chocolate cake with candles. I don't think Steve has ever made me a birthday cake before - tons of amazing dinners, yes, but surprise birthday cake? and the one I had been wanting to make? It was out of my whole grain cookbook, so it was healthy right? Whole wheat flour? Sure... let's not talk about the butter. Or the cream cheese he put in because we didn't have sour cream (?? the non-fat yogurt in the fridge would have worked, but not my honey!) Oh, and it really wasn't stout, but a Rogue Hazelnut Brown Porter - which made it taste SO MUCH BETTER. Beer in cake you say? Oh yes, Beer in cake.

So the birthday celebration just keeps getting better. A found vanagon, a chocolate stout cake, and a cookbook I've been dying to have.

Now Stella could just sleep through the night and it would be pretty awesome. Ha ha. Oh well. Maybe next year.

FOUND!

This is the best birthday present EVAH.

They just stole the radio. And some ratty thrift store fleeces. and a diaper bag. with diapers. (not sure if they knew those were in there though).

But all that for a relatively inexpensive after-market stereo purchased on Amazon?

It was found 5 blocks from the house... seriously.

There was much joy and rejoicing. Let the camping commence.

Inglorious Bastards

Our van was stolen today.

Yes. From out front of our house. Sometime between 9pm last night and 9am this morning.

If you see it, can you please bring it back?

$1 Leggings from Target are awesome.

I hope them make them for every holiday. ;)

In other news, Stella doesn't like carrots as much as she liked sweet potatoes. We'll see what she thinks of pumpkin tomorrow... hmmm... she's also started to throw things. Joy.

Pictures may be worth 1000 words, or...

a mouth full of sweet potato....

a cheesy t-shirt and headband (and Mom, this is the ONLY time she has ever worn that darn headband)

$1 t-shirt from Target that basically says it all...

Boeuf Bourguignon, a love story

So this past week, Steve really wanted to drink a nice bottle of red. The only thing that would go with it, he proclaimed, would be Julia Child's beef bourguignon - which, I'll admit, I have never attempted because it takes FOREVAH to prepare. and most of Julia's recipes all use all of the pots and pans in the house, but... are always worth it.

So I decided to tackle it. And here is my pictorial essay (and if you'd like the recipe, you SHOULD own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but if you don't, you can find PDFs of the recipe here. And really, folks, I'll tell you upfront, it may have taken 90 minutes to prep and 3 1/2 hours in the oven, but it's NOT HARD. It really isn't. With Julia's wonderful writing, you have all the instructions you need.

SO! First you simmer the bacon in water and then brown in a Dutch Oven. (you're supposed to use slab bacon, but i couldn't find any...)

Then you chop up your own stew meat, b/c grocery store stew meat doesn't cut it my friends. This is a rump roast chopped. (and frankly, not that more expensive). I think this whole meal cost me $12.
Brown the beef in the BACON FAT (oh yes please!) , and don't overload the meat or it won't brown nice.
Add one really hungry dog at this point.
Meanwhile, chop up carrots and onions.
Take out the browned meat.
and then saute the onions and carrots in the bacon/beef fat.... mmmm.... Put everything back in the dutch oven, cover with 3 cups of wine, beef stock, various spices, and put in oven for 3-4 HOURS. oh yes. that long. then open wine and let it breath. ahhhh....

In addition to doing the stew part, you also have to cook the pearl onions and mushrooms that you add to the finished stew separately. Seriously? Yes. It was worth it. You braise these puppies for an hour on the stove. and they were the most carmelly tasty brown-braised pearl onions we have ever had. mmmm...
When beef is fork tender, take it out, drain all the liquid into yet another saucepan and simmer down to thicken. Skim off fat. Give to dog with food.
Serve with wine and crusty bread and realize that it is the BEST beef stew you have ever eaten in your life and forget to take a picture of the finished meal until you go for seconds.
Voila! Thanks Julia!!

oh - and in addition, add one happy baby... the next day, of course. ;)

Halloween month is way too short...

so we had better get this onesie worn a few times before the month is over!





Thank you Grandmum Judy for the perfect pillow - I was so excited this year to remember it was tucked away in the closet. For all you crafty people out there - it's felt and hot glue. What a fun and rewarding project. (on the flip side of the pillow there is a turkey - so it's good until the end of November!)

Why hooded towels are just so darn cute...

No rice ingested...

but we're going to keep trying. We tried to give Stella rice cereal for the first time yesterday. I think she spit all of it out. She LOVED eating the spoon though. ;)

Video will be posted soon!