November 8th

Rich beef stew in the stoneware baker in the oven.  Oh I love my stoneware; seriously I think I use it more than anything else in my kitchen.  I'm even thinking of possibly hosting a Pampered Chef party just to get more stoneware.  It's an addiction.  I want this one, oh and this one, oh and THIS one, too.

You know what I'd really like?  If price wasn't at all an option?  This.  Of course I will never be able to afford it, but oh...

Anyway.

The beef stew recipe came from an old cookbook from 1982 called Kitchen Technique: A Complete Guide to Practical Cookery.  It's supposed to be the filling for a pie, but since we're eating as little refined white flour as possible these days, I skipped the pastry part and made it a stew.  It went over really well for lunch.

Feel terribly productive this morning because I finished the quilted placemat I'd promised to make for someone, sewed on the felt monogram this morning, and mailed it off without a problem.  I wish I had a camera right now so that I could have taken a picture.

I've also noticed how observant and prone to mimicking Samuel is becoming.  I want to take advantage of this stage before it passes, and so we're trying little 'dates' to teach social skills.  Today we went to a tea shop to practice how to behave in a restaurant.  Samuel had a hot chocolate and I had a cup of tea and we just had a nice time.  We talked about how once you're on your chair you don't keep hopping off, how if you spill something by accident it's ok, just use your napkin, don't fiddle with the sugar packets, etc.  He was so attentive and sweet and even held the door for me.  After our drink we went to look upstairs from the restaurant where they have a little art gallery, and when we came home that was the part that Samuel wanted to tell David about first; he'd seen pictures.

Our big vegetable pack that I ordered several weeks ago came in today.  It cost $25 but I've split the cost (and the produce) 50/50 with a friend.  The pack is 55lb of carrots, onions, cabbage, potatoes and squash, all locally grown.  Another way we're cutting food costs!  I also ordered us another freezer meat pack, which I'm very excited about.

Look at what I unpacked!