Beef Bourguignon in a Dutch oven

A few weeks ago, I decided to make Beef Bourguignon for the first time, so I marched myself to the butcher and asked him for the appropriate cut of beef.  He said beef chuck works best.  I said okay.  Give it to me.  He also said you have to buy chunks of bacon because that's what you brown the beef in before you add it to the dutch oven.  I said no, thank you.  That sounds delicious, but Daniel has high cholesterol.  So I skipped the pork fat part, but everything else is pretty much the same.  Oh, and I also forgot to buy pearl onions at the store, so those were missing from my BB as well.  But here are the ingredients you are supposed to use:

• 6 ounces salt pork, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 2 pounds trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes, patted dry with paper towels
• Salt
• 6 shallots, chopped, about 2 cups
• 2 large, peeled carrots, 1 chopped, 1 cut into 2-inch chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 2 cups of red wine
• Beef Stock (low sodium), at least 1 cup
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 12 pearl onions, fresh or frozen
• 1 lb fresh shiitake, cremini or button mushrooms
• Beurre manie: 3 Tbsp flour blended with 2 Tbsp butter

Preheat your oven to 325.  First, I browned the beef chunks in olive oil and butter in a very large pan for a few minutes.  Next, I added the chopped shallots, carrots, garlic and mushrooms to the mix and allowed the vegetables to sautee, then adding the Brandy to the pan.  Allow the Brandy to evaporate.  Then add the wine, tomato paste and broth and let simmer for a few minutes.  Pull out your dutch oven (we have a ceramic one) and pour the entire mixture into the dutch oven.  Add all of your herbs and gently mix.  Place the covered dutch oven into your oven at home and allow to slow cook at 325 for about 4 hours.  Resist the urge to open the oven and check on it!!!  I always have to be reminded that when I open the oven, I let the heat out! 

Anyway, after about 4 hours, you can pull it out and check on it.  The last step is to make your broth thicker by taking out a smaller saucepan and heating up 2 tbsp of butter and adding 3 tbsp of flour.  Allow to cook over low heat while stirring for about a minute.  Then scoop some of the broth from the dutch oven into the saucepan and mix.  You should have a gravy-looking consistency.  Toss this gravy back into the dutch oven and gently mix around into your stew until the sauce has thickened.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you want to add pearl onions to the recipe, you may do so after about 3 hours of cooking.  They will need to be blanched and peeled first.  I just forgot to get them at the store.  Sorry!

Scenic Sunday

Hiking on Sunday in the hills by our house

Our neighborhood!

Sunset

Contemplative Max

Pretty Chica

I love autumn!!!

Debbie's Enchiladas!

And now for my mom's enchilada recipe!  Hope she doesn't mind me sharing it.  But I have to.  It's just that good.  She made this recipe up, so I'm not sure how authentic it is for all my lovely Mexican readers out there.  But it's still really good!  This recipe will make 24 enchiladas, or two batches.  So pull out two casserole dishes "y ponganse a trabajar"!!  That means get to work, damas y caballeros!

Ingredients:

1 pound of chicken breasts, sliced into thin fillets
1/2 cup of Italian salad dressing as a marinade to the chicken (I know.  Sounds weird, but it's tasty!)
24 corn tortillas
4 chopped tomatoes
1 avocado, chopped
1 12-ounce can of sliced black olives
1 32-ounce can of Enchilada sauce (comes in green or red, spicy or mild, so take your pick.  I like mild red)
3 cups of shredded Mexican-style cheese (could be Mexican blend or Oaxaca, etc.  Whatever you like!)

Directions:

Marinate chicken fillets in a glass dish with dressing for a half-hour.  Cook in oven at 375 for about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Then shred the chicken into bits.  Place in a mixing bowl.  Add the chopped tomatoes, the avocados, half of the can of black olives, and 1 cup of shredded cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Get your two casserole dishes ready by coating the bottoms with a quarter cup of the enchilada sauce.  Now for the assembly.  Pour the enchilada sauce into a separate bowl.  Take a tortilla and dip in the sauce, and then fill with a couple spoonfuls of the chicken mixture.  Roll up and place in casserole dish.  Keep going until all your mix is gone.  It usually makes about 24 for me, but it depends on the size of tortilla you buy.  Now pour the remainder of enchilada sauce on top of the two caserole dishes full of rolled enchiladas.  Last, coat enchiladas with the 2 cups of cheese you have left.  Take the 1/2 cup of olives and sprinkle over the cheese.  Cook in oven for about 35 minutes at 375.  You can freeze one batch and cook it another night!  Enjoy!!     

Chicken tortilla casserole

My stepmom has been making this casserole for years.  It's my brother Chris' favorite!  When we were growing up, she'd ask my brother what he wanted for his birthday dinners, and it was always "chicken tortilla casserole, please!"  It's definitely not low-fat or gourmet foodie.  It's comfort food, though!  My brother was telling Soyla about it last week, and she asked me for the recipe, so I thought I'd share it with my blog community, too. 

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut up

1 can diced green chilis

1 small onion, diced

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

10 corn tortillas

sour cream

salsa



Directions:


1.  Brown chicken, set aside.
2.  Saute onions in butter until transparent.
3.  Mix soup, sour cream, milk and spices.
4.  Starting with corn tortillas, layer ingredients (tortillas, soup mixture, chicken, onions, chilies, then cheese. Repeat layers, ending with cheese) in a 2 qt size casserole dish .
5.  Bake at 350 oven for 45 minutes.
6.  Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Third-Person Posting

Someone is home alone tonight, on a Saturday, the universal date night, in her pajamas by 8:00 pm, reading and drinking wine by herself.  Erin always was a bit of a loner.  Her younger brother might disagree, having spent three out of four of his high school years cold and shivering in his older sister's shadow, until she graduated and his classmates no longer referred to him as "Erin's brother."  Then he was simply "Chris," but by no means was he simple.  He was very, very complex.  And so was the smell of his room.  It could have been due to a Daschund named George and an unhealthy obsession with Drakkar cologne. 

But enough picking on Chris. 

Erin spends the evening alone.  Her husband Daniel is at their church's annual Hafli (dinner-dance), serving alcohol to their fellow parishioners.  The Bishop is in town.  Why is Erin home alone when her husband is at a dinner-dance, you might ask?  The answer is obvious.  Erin is drowning in schoolwork, much like Edna was drowning in the ocean at the end of The Awakening, which is one of the reasons that Erin is stressing out.  Yes, she ended that sentence with a preposition.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  She must write a fresh, original paper on Kate Chopin's story, an assignment that is turning out to be quite impossible.  She had no idea that every female feminist, naturalist, existentialist-type graduate student in the United States has, at one time or another, split hairs into a paper about why Edna kills herself at the end.   

And another thing, Renaissance literature is not Erin's bag. 

This leads to an interesting question:  What IS Erin's bag?  What's not in Erin's trick-or-treat bag as of yet is the coveted set of numbers she receives every month from her adoption agency telling her where she is on the wait list.  These silly numbers happen to be the only thing keeping her sane through this adoption process.  She finds herself holding her breath each month until she receives the e-mail telling her how much closer she is to becoming a mom.  When these numbers are two weeks late, Erin begins to question.  She begins to wonder what is so complicated about adding and subtracting.  Wait.  Never mind.  Erin is horrible at math.  She could never add or subtract any number without all ten of her fingers.  If she ever lost a finger, she would be in serious trouble, not to mention her steno career would be finished.  Hmm... Don't give her any ideas.  But really, why can these adoption people not just give her the numbers so she can get through the next month like a semi-sane person?       

Another thing that is NOT Erin's bag:  Patience.  Erin has always been in a rush to do everything.  Ask her mother.  She could not wait to be taught how to read.  She picked up that Cat in the Hat and had it mastered by age four.  She rushed to get married at 21...and then rushed to get divorced.  She rushed her way through court reporting school so that she could start making money.  She hates waiting in lines, hates waiting for her Netflix in the mail, and would rather die than return an item the day after Christmas.  But if she did have to die, she would make sure it was fast.  If Erin ever went to hell, her "contrapasso" would be spent waiting for her deli number to be called for all eternity.

So here she sits, waiting for the numbers, waiting, waiting, waiting for the blessed numbers, wondering if she will EVER become a mother.     

Crunch Time

So I haven't been blogging much lately for several reasons:
1. No new adoption news to share, although we should be getting our five-month waiting list numbers anyday now.
2. I've been trying to stay on top of my work so that I will be ahead when my school starts next week.
3. I've been cooking large casseroles and soups and freezing them so I don't have to cook as much for the next 10 weeks of school. What a dork I am!
4. I've been working on fundraising projects for our adoption! So far we have raised $106 from our coffee store! And it's only been a week! We have such amazing family and friends. I feel so blessed. I have also been working on my first African-style batik quilt. Here are a couple pictures:

Here's the other side:

The photos don't do the fabric justice. It really is quite beautiful in real life. I've also started knitting again! Here's a half of one sock which I intend to keep all for myself:

I've also been spending lots of quality time with my dogs. I'll be spending nights at school, so I won't see them as much for the next couple years.

This photo was taken about 1.5 seconds before they nearly ripped each other's heads off because Chica shifted her weight in a way that upset Max.

Here's a photo of the enchiladas that I made tonight. One batch for dinner, another batch to freeze. Yum!!! I used my mom's recipe. Sooooo delicious. That's all for now! More updates soon.

Another Saturday Night, and I Ain't Got Nobody!

Yeah!!! I love Cat Stevens! Great song. Anyway, another Saturday night, and I ain't got no children, but I do have an amazing hubby and two of the most adorable dogs in the world. And a pretty cute kitty, too. We just got back from Vespers and had a quiet dinner at home. Now we're drinking Margaritas and getting ready to watch Harry Potter.

The past few weeks have been pretty uneventful. We finally decided to take our house off the market after receiving no offers. What an unfortunate time to list a house for sale. Within a week of our listing on the MLS, Obama made his speech about the Federal Government defaulting on its debt, the stock market plunged 2000 points, and the jumbo loan limit dropped 100k. Not good for us. No, no, no!

So now we are trying our best to scrimp and save for our adoption and upcoming Master's program. We need to start fundraising for our adoption, since it will probably cost about $8,000 for us to fly to Ethiopia twice, and our referral fee will be due next year sometime. On top of that, what if we are lucky enough to be referred siblings?!? Then we need to come up with another $6,000.

What is our plan, you might be asking? Well, everybody loves coffee, so we are working on setting up our own online coffee store to help fundraise. I also happen to be pretty good on a sewing machine, so I plan on making handmade African-themed batik quilts and hope I get some takers. I'm starting to feel excited about our adoption! I think I just needed to pick myself out of the dumps of infertility blues and get an attitude adjustment. Also, being 27 on the siblings wait list is good, right??

In the meantime, I've been working on my mommy skills by knitting socks and making these cute little watermelon cookies:

And check out the veggies from our garden!

The Dream of a Ridiculous Woman

These numbers signify many things. They are the number of months we have been on the wait list. They are also the first number of my address. They are also pictures I took of our actual No. 4 on our house and curb. They also are a clue for my stalkers to find where I live. Next month I will give you the next number to my address. You will be so much closer to finding me!!! They are also the number of weeks our house has been on the market. Looks like we may end up staying in our house at this rate, but I digress. Here are some more numbers: 69, 51, 27. Boys, girls and siblings waiting list positions, respectively.

Yes, there has been movement, but is it enough to get me excited and hopeful that this adoption will actually end with a beautiful baby (or an ugly one...either way, we will still love it) in our arms? Not so much. Why can I not bring myself to feel excited? Because two years is too long to hold your breath. That's why.

At my husband's insistence, I read a short story today by Dostoevsky called "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," and I can tell you that it was, indeed, ridiculous. Don't ever read that. But once again, I digress. The point of this story was that you can either accept that life holds mostly suffering, and in order to survive, you must learn how to turn that suffering into love, or you can shoot yourself in the head with a pistol. And it's the suffering of a little girl whose mother is dying that saves the ridiculous man's life because it makes him realize he has a choice to express love in the midst of suffering. He puts the pistol down and chooses not to shoot himself.

What a horrible story. But anyhow, I feel like I am at a similar crossroads. I can either shoot myself in the head, or I can accept this suffering and try to turn it into something good. I just wish I knew how to do that.

Point Reyes = Happy Dogs

We've been having open houses since we are trying to sell the house, so a few weeks ago we escaped to Point Reyes for the weekend with the dogs.

We saw the old lighthouse...

And the new one!

We took the pups to the beach.

And then to a park.

Great minds think alike...

Or maybe they just get distracted by the same things...

Happy Chica.

Happy Max!

Anxious Daniel and Erin. No offers on the house yet.

English scones at teatime

My best friend is getting married in a couple weeks, and I had the honor of throwing her a bridal shower last week! She wanted an English tea party, so of course, I practiced my scone recipe for weeks beforehand to make sure they turned out perfect for her shower. Here's the best recipe I've found so far for scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces.

Mix these ingredients together until you have the consistency of cornmeal. Next stir in:

1/2 cup of dried currants, cranberries or blueberries (I used frozen blueberries)
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)

Mix with spatula until ingredients are moistened. Gather into a ball and knead against bowl until sides of bowl are clean. Transfer to floured surface and pat dough into an 8-inch round and 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 12 wedges and place on baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Place into preheated 425 degree oven and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on rack and enjoy warm!

I now pronounce you man and woof.

Confession time. My dog Chica thinks that my husband is actually her husband. I often come home to the two of them snuggling on the couch in a warm embrace. In the evening, when I want to sit on the couch with Daniel, Chica won't give up her spot, usually leading me to sit on another couch by myself. I've described this to many people, but no one seems to believe me. Well, I've finally caught it on my camera, so here goes:

Scenic Sunday

Hiking with Chica at the Ridge.

Our Beautiful Valley.

Chica summoning her inner cow.

Potatoes Gratin Dauphinois

These are the most delicious scalloped potatoes you will ever taste! It's a foolproof recipe that always turns out creamy and amazing. It's out of the Joy of Cooking, and I'm posting it at my stepmom's request. Sorry, no photo! But just imagine creamy, soft layers of thinly sliced potatoes with a golden crispy cheese top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic, halved
1 tablespoon of butter, softened

2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced (I always use Yukon gold potatoes because they are creamy and rich)
3 cups of a combination of milk and cream (I do half cream, half milk, but you can use less cream if you want a lighter dish)
1 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of grated Gruyere or Fontinella cheese (or whatever cheese you've got laying around)

Preheat oven to 350. Rub a 12-inch glass dish with the garlic clove. Discard garlic. Next coat dish with the tablespoon of butter.

In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and bring mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until the liquid thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into baking dish and top with the cup of cheese. Bake until the top if golden and potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Enjoy!

Just to post a picture anyway, though, here is the new beret I just knit for myself!

Argentine Chimichurri

Thanks so much to all who were able to join us for our Memorial Day BBQ, especially Ramzy and Rachel, who brought the most amazing marinated chicken and pasta salad! Several people last night asked for my chimichurri recipe, so I'm posting it for you all. My dad is from Argentina, and so I grew up smearing this stuff on my sandwiches, and it is so delicious. My dad doesn't call his version chimichurri, though. He just calls it "the green stuff." He can't eat spicy food, so he leaves out the chile pepper. I think my recipe adheres to the more traditional chimichurri. You can use it as a marinade on any type of meat or as a dipping sauce for sliced sausages, etc. Sorry there's no photo. We ate it too fast! Here goes:

1 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 bunch of curly parsley
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of chile powder (in Argentina they use Aji, but if you can't find that, use Cayenne or even paprika if you don't like spice)

Throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and let it go until you have a creamy texture. If it's too thick, you can always add a little more olive oil and blend it up. It should be the consistency of hummus or yogurt. Enjoy!

How do we make the mortgage?

Hello Everyone,

I'm Daniel. This is my first post. I was just so inspired by my wife's theophantic eloquence. So here it goes:

Dominatrices

Fantasies aren't bad.

Mind if I cover your face?

Not good pillow talk.

Ok, so here's the context. After we took Max to the vet, we got a good ol' fashioned country breakfast and discussed the pros and cons of Erin taking up dominatrixing so we could pay our mortgage a little more comfortably. I was a little against the idea, but Erin explained to me that not everyone's fantasies need to be identical. I think it's a valid point. Some people might like the whole intimidation and pain thing. It's sexy, I hear. Anyway, I hope it makes sense now.

Good night; thanks for indulging my fantasy of being a blogger.

DSR

A bittersweet weekend

On Friday Max got his teeth cleaned and also got a tumor removed by Dr. Chan. Thank goodness it was not malignant, but it's heartbreaking to see the love of my life, my little furry-baby stumbling around and wimpering in pain. It was not a good weekend for Max or me, either, since I'm fighting another cold off, which I think is turning into bronchitis. So on Saturday, when I should have been at the Oakland A's game for Jesse's birthday, Max and I were at home feeling sorry for ourselves. I did manage to make some lemon marmalade, though! Ingredients: 10 lemons, 4 cups of water, and 4 cups of sugar. Ouch! Toothache just writing that! It came out delicious.

Something I've been pondering for a good while now: If infertility had to happen to someone, I'm glad it was me, because I'm open to adoption, and not all people are. I know with all my heart that I could love a child that is not my own blood as if it were my own, and I know this because that's how much I love my dog. I figure, if I can love my dog Max as if he were my own flesh and blood, adore him and appreciate him in such a way that I think only Jack London would understand, then I KNOW I can love an adopted child that same way, if not more! Now, if only this adoption would move forward! I've been reading some pretty hilarious and thoughtful haikus lately, thanks to "Cory and Molly." After this weekend's events, I feel inspired to write my own haikus, two odes to Max:

Tumor Victory
Stitches on belly
Praise God was just fat tumor
He still wags his tail

Child or Dog?
If dogs lived longer
I wouldn't want to have kids
Max is it for me

I think Max is the most adorable dog I've ever laid eyes on! Isn't that what parents think about their kids? I think I'll be a good mom.

Springtime gardening!

A friend visited us in our pool the other day! He swam around for about an hour, quacked at the dogs, and then flew away to rejoin his group.

Blossoms appeared on the apple tree we planted last year.

Our vegetables are growing well. Daniel has outsmarted the squirrels and birds by putting up netting.

The green beans have sprouted!

The bulbs are in full bloom.

My grandmother's plants have survived winter.

We welcome spring!

Eye Candy Friday

Don't you wish you were on this boat right now? Well, so do I. We took this photo on a hobie-cat in Hawaii. Beautiful! Down to business. I've got some good news, some bad news, some so-so news, depending on how you feel about gambling. This week Daniel and I made some enormous decisions.

1. We have chosen to go ahead with our Ethiopia adoption, knowing it may very well be up to 5 years before it is finalized, if ever. We had to make a decision because our FDL, dossier and home study have expiration dates, and time's ticking away. Bad news, we had to fork over another 5k in order to move onto the waiting list. I feel like I just drove to Vegas, strolled up to the roulette table and slid my 5k on red, if you know what I mean. We have no idea what's going to happen, and we won't know for quite a while. The whole thing could be a bust! But we just couldn't walk away from it all, with all the hard work we have done.

2. Since we have made this very risky/foolish/brave decision, and a baby may take many years to manifest itself, I have decided I need a distraction. For one year I have had sitting on my desk the following things: A graduate school application, writing samples, three recommendation letters, and college transcripts. They have been sitting on my desk because I have been thinking, "Anyday we will be having/adopting a baby. I can't work, go to graduate school and raise a child all at the same time!" So I have put off applying to graduate school for a year. Well, I just got a major bug up my ass this week and decided to go for it!!! Like my stepmom always says, the time is going to pass by anyway. You may as well be doing something productive. And she is so right. She is always right! So my application is sent, and I will hopefully hear by mid-summer if I will be entering the English MA program in the fall.

3. Decision No. 3, since I won't ever be carrying children in my body, Daniel and I have decided I need to take advantage of that by turning my flabby bod into a hot bod! We joined a gym in January, only 20 bucks a month, and I'm pumping iron hardcore! Besides wanting a hot bod, I need to do strength training since I'm premenopausal and don't want to get osteoporosis or heart disease. Boo to osteoporosis and heart disease!!! Will let you know how the hot bod thing is going as time passes. In the meantime, I'm trying to stay positive and looking for any distraction I can find. Any ideas?

Totally vegan roasted vegetable and barley soup

Okay, all you Lenten fasters. Here is a vegan recipe that is so filling and delicious, even the heartiest, manliest eater will be stuffed with one bowl! Do you have a blender? Good. Do you have lots of vegetables? Good, good. Do you have barley in your pantry? Let's get started!

Ingredients:

2 peeled and cubed carrots
1/2 bunch of steamed kale
1 bunch of coarsely chopped asparagus
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion diced
12 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of minced or pressed garlic
salt, pepper and olive oil to drizzle over vegetables
1 cup of barley
1 can of garbanzo beans
7 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you are not vegan)
Your preferred spices. I added oregano, basil, thyme.
**If you would like to use other vegetables, go ahead! This is just what I had in the fridge.

First things first, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast vegetables on a large lipped cookie sheet or baking pan. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables, sprinkle salt and pepper, and mix lightly with hands. Roast in oven for 45 minutes, or until potato pieces are tender to a fork.
While veggies are roasting, cook 1 cup of barley with 2 cups of water over stovetop in large soup pot for about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. When veggies are done, add to soup pot. Add broth, herbs, kale and garbanzo beans to mix and simmer over medium/low heat for 30 minutes. Transfer 2 cups of soup to blender and puree. Add puree back to soup and stir. Taste test and add salt and/or pepper if needed. Should be a thick soup, perfect for these rainy winter days!