Ringing in the new...

Oh, that ringing isn't still happening is it? I mean it is now the 9th of new and the ringing should have stopped by now. Or you had some party.

I have yet to get the butt in gear to get real work done, but I'm making the approach. Or so I tell myself in response to the query: self, you working yet? So, okay, as far as approach--wow, that's taking tremendous effort.

It is cold which of course slows me down some too, but really, truthfully(!) everything slows me down and I have to get over myself and get at it. The 'it' in question being working on project tasks and preparing for website, workshops, and book completion. Sigh. You can see why I curl up in a ball next to the wood stove and wait for spring or inspiration, whichever comes first.

Caffeine does help, even though I have to adulterate my cuppa with the decaf variety to ensure I actually sleep at night. 

Ah, then there's the birthday on Sunday. Somehow that always requires a significant amount of self-reflection and noodling in notebooks and I'm at least making a bit of progress there. Perhaps though, because I've been doing that for so many, many years, even that particular pleasure pales a bit eventually. I've got a couple of days to go however so I may yet come up to standard on this.

In other news the root ball of the uprooted pine tree that blew over in a storm mid December is slowly making its way back into the pit created by the uprooting. A friend came by with a chain saw a couple of days ago and cut the tree from the root ball so the thing could fall back into place. A pit that size in one's yard is dangerous to small animals of the two and four legged variety.

This brisk January day requires that I make a thick black bean soup and I can hardly wait to enjoy that deliciousness. Of course I will need biscuits to go with it for the perfect lunch. Off we go to putter in the kitchen then...

Beef and a sturdy red wine

For close to 30 years I have cooked under the tutelage of books by Marcella Hazan. If, as she urges, you do exactly as she directs, you are assured of excellent results. I don't always have access to the wines she wants in her recipes--like I can afford to cook with a Barbera or Barolo? I can't even afford to drink it. While she would not approve, I'm certain, I substitute much lower end South American wines and occasionally an Australian. These wines, in the price range I can afford, often don't have the depth and richness of their Italian cousins, but they're pretty damn good even so.

Today I'm in quest of a good beef stew and Marcella's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking has the simplest and tastiest of anything I've made. Mine will be made with (gasp!) the heel of an Australian wine, but with the best beef I can buy at the butcher's (never the supermarket). It will be a stove top stew, as I still don't have a working oven. 

I do have a recurring but as yet unfulfilled dream of getting under the stove, via the drawer at the bottom, and seeing if I can remove the element prior to replacing it with a new one. It is one of those jobs that require contortions that make my 61 year old bones rebel at the very thought, never mind the reality. But I rebel even more at the idea of forking out a hundred and fifty bucks to find out that this still won't get the oven working. In truth I need a new stove. This very pricey unit, a mere 7 years old, now has a wipe off surface finish--a soft cloth removes the enamel (enamel I always believe adhered to metal, but now I learn what powder coat really means--that wipes off). 

A stove/oven rant could easily take up the rest of the day. I've been baking and cooking in a 'toaster' oven for 18 plus months. And yes, that's too much fun.

So, back to the beef stew in red wine and happier thoughts....all I need is 2 lbs of flank steak stew meat, a 'sturdy' red wine, onions, carrots, celery, peas and olive oil. Yum.