cold

This cold is bone chilling. We've got ice everywhere. I'm wearing two pair of pants and three shirts just to be able to stand sitting in my office. What to do, what to do?

Chilly Times Chili
* 2 teaspoons oil
* 2 onions, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 lb lean ground beef
* 3/4 lb beef sirloin, cubed
* 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1 can dark beer*
* 1 cup strong coffee
* 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
* 1 can beef broth
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 3 1/2 tablespoons chili sauce
* 1 tablespoon cumin
* 1 tablespoon cocoa
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1 teaspoon cayenne
* 1 teaspoon coriander
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 4 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
* 4 chili peppers, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil.
2. Cook onions, garlic and meat until brown.
3. Add tomatoes, beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth.
4. Add spices Stir in 2 cans of kidney beans and peppers.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
6. Add 2 remaining cans of kidney beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Grated cheese, a dollop of sour cream and saltines make this the perfect antidote to the misery of winter.

*For no beer folks, I use apple juice watered down by half. You could use some of those nonalcoholic beers, but watery apple juice works for this drunk.

jello salad days

Tony at EvilGanome touched me with his post about country people and dinner and jello salads. I miss simpler times, though I love my life today. Since I'm back to avoiding work today (I worked all week last week), I looked up my mother's recipe for Cottage Cheese Salad in the First Lutheran Women's Guild book of Our Favorite Recipes. This is one of those fundraiser cookbooks and it's full of recipes from the good Lutheran women I remember from childhood: Grandma Wolfe, Mrs. Dorothea Gutzman, Mrs. Gonterman, my grandmother, my mother, all of those grand church ladies.

In the front of the book is a dedication: This book is dedicated to the Modern Home. In our home today, as always, life is centered around our kitchens. It is with this thought in mind that we, The Sponsors, have compiled these recipes. Some of them are treasured old family recipes. Some are brand new, but every single one reflects the love of good cooking that is so very strong in this country of ours.

Cottage Cheese Salad from Miss Audrey
2 pkg lime jello + 1 T sugar
2 c. hot water
Mix above ingredients and let cool 15 minutes. Add in order given:
1 carton country style cottage cheese (small curd)
5 marshmallows, cut up
1 c. mayonnaise
1 tall can Pet milk
2 apples, chopped
1 c. chopped nuts
1 c. crushed pineapple

strawberry shortcake

is there anything more divine? For years I've made the shortcake recipe on the Bisquick box. It turns out a slightly sweetened crispy top and bottom biscuit-textured shortbread, about perfect in my view. Martha assures me I should make actual shortbread, which I adore. What do you use?

Pounds, Camp, Stew, Fennel

Blah. It's gray. It's cold. I'm whining. Bitching. I'm sick of the screeching eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee sound resonating in my brain from the poor pitiful chorus of me, so enough of that.

Boot camp continues and all is well. Lost another 1.5-2 pounds (not sure, changed scales) this week. Eating more than I probably should, working out every day.

A few years ago I found an old recipe for a stew that was divine. I lost the recipe, of course, and couldn't remember anything about it except that it had beef, rosemary, fennel, and was called "liquid gold."

The internet is a wonderful thang, because a recent search turned up the recipe and I whipped it up this afternoon. It is as luscious as I remember and not bad on calories. I could sniff fennel all day long. Yum.

Here ya go . . .

Rosemary Beef Stew

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 lb. beef round or chuck steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 (14.5-oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced diagonally
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 medium fennel bulbs, fronds removed, cut into thin wedges
2 1/2 to 3 cups beef broth
1 cup frozen small whole white onions

1. In shallow pan, mix together flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Pat beef dry with paper towels. Toss in flour mixture to coat thoroughly; shake in strainer to remove excess flour.

2. Heat nonreactive Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Cook beef in batches 4 to 6 minutes or until browned, adding additional oil as needed. Place beef in bowl.

3. Increase heat to high. Add wine; bring to a boil. Boil until reduced by half, stirring to scrape up browned bits from bottom of Dutch oven.

4. Stir in tomatoes, celery, garlic, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon of the rosemary. Stir in mushrooms, fennel and beef. Add enough broth to cover mixture.

5. Cover; simmer 45 minutes. Add onions; continue simmering 30 to 45 minutes or until beef is tender.

6. Stir in remaining 1/2 tablespoon chopped rosemary; simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Freezing/Reheating
Place stew in freezer container; cool. Cover and freeze. Twenty-four hours before serving place container in refrigerator to thaw. Reheat on stove top or in microwave until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally.

8 servings

PER SERVING: 235 calories, 7.5 g total fat (1.5 g saturated fat), 27.5 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 60 mg cholesterol, 760 mg sodium, 3.5 g fiber