Working on a Wet Wednesday

I awoke five minutes before the alarm was set to go off. For some reason, this always ticks me off. It's like I got robbed of sleep or something...

Anyway, I posted the Blog entry, shaved and showered and then got dressed for my half-day at work. When I went outside, I began to rethink my decision to postpone cutting the grass. Why? Because it was still sprinkling and, according to the puddles, we had a hard rain overnight.

But, it was definitely warmer (I just used my light rain poncho coat today) and hopefully, it will clear up and allow me to mulch the leaves (it's supposed to reach a high of 72 degrees F. this afternoon!)

I left work after four hours (and, a busy four hours, I might add) and got home about 11:15 AM (I start at 7:00 AM). I treated the cats, changed clothes and then called my daughter, Melissa, to wish her a "Happy Birthday" but just got their recording. I told her she didn't need to call me back, I just wanted to wish her a happy birthday. I assumed on her birth day, she will be busy... She's the big "40" today, but she probably didn't want me to say that. It's weird to have two daughters older than the chicks I want to date, lol...

I checked the rain gauge (walking out on the still-soggy leaves on the patio) and we had just over a half-inch of rain last night, here in Redford. The sun is now out and I hope to Christ it dries out enough to cut the lawn at maybe four or five o'clock.

Since my leftovers are now all gone, I decided to make a slow-cooker beef stew. Now, there are three things you should know about me and beef stew: One, I have my own personal recipe for beef stew (see Recipes) that is fantastic, but very time consuming. Two, I hate beef stew that uses any kind of tomatoes in the sauce. And, three, I like to add the odd ingredient and see what happens (last time I think I put in one of my favorite root veggies: parsnips. It was a disaster! The heavy taste of the beef completely wiped out their light, nutty flavor).

So, here's what I did today. I got out the plastic cutting board (I only use the wood cutting board for herbs and veggies) and cut up two pounds of stewing beef into one-inch cubes. They went into the smaller slow cooker. I mixed together 1/4 cup of flour, one teaspoon of kosher salt (one-half teaspoon if you are using ordinary table salt) and a half-teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper in a small bowl. I added that to the beef, a little at time and stirring it to incorporate.

Then I added three smallish russet potatoes, cut in chunks, a medium-sized yellow onion, cut into chunks, three big carrots, diced large, one stalk of celery, chopped and today's mystery ingredient, a medium-sized sweet potato, also cut into chunks.

Then I added 1 1/2 cups of beef broth, two garlic cloves (minced) two bay leaves, one teaspoon of paprika and one teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. I mixed that all up and turned it on high. I normally like to go low and slow, but I should have got this all done this morning for that.

I topped it all off with three sprigs of fresh thyme and two sprigs of fresh rosemary. If I had more room (and I don't) I would have added some fresh mushrooms to the mix.

I checked outside. It's about 1:30 PM and things are still too damn damp. So, I went and watched a movie.

Lu returned my call about 2:00 PM. She said she would like to have the one picture, but not the other, in the office (I had to make room for the picture and crucifix from Mom's house).

So, I went back and check around 3:30 PM. The front yard is dry enough to cut, I believe, but not the back (there's way more shade out back). So, I blew the leaves off the porch. Then I used the line trimmer to cut down the perennial plants in the front garden and raked that mess (along with still more leaves) onto the lawn.

I gassed up the lawn tractor and checked the oil, then fired that bad boy up. I carefully cut the lawn so as to blow the clippings and mulch away from the driveway and gardens.

I finished up just before 5:00 PM. I checked the back yard one more time (nope, still too wet) and then put the mower away.

Inside, the stew had settled down enough that I could fit the small tray of button mushrooms in. So, I thick-sliced them and laid them on top.

I ate dinner about 7:00 PM. The sweet potatoes added an interesting element to the stew. My daughter Melissa (the birthday girl) returned my call at 9:30 PM.