Beef Stew...

For some reason, while soups and stews strike me as winter fare, I rarely make them in the winter, but often find myself making several different soups in the spring, and even summer.  And Beef Stew is no exception.  Having recently made it, I decided I needed to put the recipe here so I don't lose it.  

Last week I was taking a meal to someone recovering from hand surgery and stew seemed an obvious choice since she would be temporarily one-handed.  Then I found out that this person was on a no-added-salt diet.  Eeek.

I was a little worried about how to make this stew tasty without salt.  But the recipient was thrilled with the idea of beef stew, and since I was able to find no-salt beef broth (which was actually low-salt, but the recipient said it was okay) I figured Beef Stew was probably the easiest of recipes to adapt in this way.  I bravely plunged ahead.  

The written recipe below is made the way we enjoy it, but below the recipe, I've written any adaptations (both to the original recipe I have used as a template, and to my version). 

Truthfully, I don't measure much, but simply add things to taste.  I also tend to make my batches of soup larger by adding more of the ingredients, and for that reason, the measurements listed in the recipe seem pretty sparse to me.  So...  either follow the written recipe exactly, and you can always add more seasonings, or just consider the measurements below (that were pulled  from the original recipe) as suggestions.  Just know, if you cook like me, you may find yourself wanting more or less of anything.  If you cook like me, you're probably already planning how you will tweak the recipe.

Beef Stew

2 lbs stewing meat (I never measure, but these days I just put in as much meat as I can justify spending money on.  Truthfully, I'm sure I've always used at least 2 lbs of cut-up chuck steak, or stew meat.  Beef is the point, afterall.)

1-3 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I used freshly ground pepper)

3 Tbs olive oil (or avocado oil)

1 onion chopped

At least 6 cups beef broth (I usually use two complete containers of beef broth, so that's typically 8 cups.  Save back 1 cup for the thickening step.)

1 lb of potatoes, peeled and cut into largish chunks

4 carrots (I probably use 6) cut into chunky pieces

1 tsp dried rosemary  (if you're fancy, use a fresh sprig - I assume you fish it out later?)

2 Tbs cornstarch

3/4 cup peas (or half of a small frozen package)

Lastly, I tend to drop in a beef bouillon cube at some point.  (Taste before you do this, though.)

Heat oil in a pan or pot and cook beef and onions until browned (I add onions and minced garlic toward the end of browning the beef - you don't want these to burn). That said, be sure to get some browning on the beef and pan/pot - this will add flavor.  And if you burn some onions, I'm sure it will be okay.  I have, and it is.

If transferring beef to a large pot, add beef, and all but 1 cup of beef broth.  If using a pan to cook the beef, onions and garlic, use some broth at this point to deglaze the browned bits in the pan and add this to larger pot.  This is tasty stuff.

To the larger pot, add the salt, pepper and rosemary. 

Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and simmer for at least an hour - until the beef begins to be tender.  Stir often.

When close to an hour of simmering, I sauté the carrots in some butter or olive oil.  I'm convinced this adds to their flavor.  

When I figure I have 20-30 minutes more of simmering time, I add the potatoes and carrots to the pot and continue simmering until the vegetables are soft-ish.  Not too soft.

After the carrots and potatoes are suitably soft, it's time to thicken the stew.  Turn up the heat to a low boil. Working with 1/4-1/2 cup of the saved-back beef broth, add 1 Tbs of cornstarch to broth, stir until smooth, then add to the slightly boiling pot.   If this doesn't thicken the stew enough, do this again with the remainder of the beef broth, otherwise, simply add the remainder of the beef broth to the pot.

Shortly before serving, add the frozen peas.  I didn't have peas the last time I made this, and found it was fine without them.

Serve with a salad (if you like) and a warm roll or some crusty bread (a must - unless poor you is going bread-less). Actually, I've cut way back on bread, and all kinds of refined carbs, but I make exceptions for something like this.  You do you.

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This section is a combination of adaptations to the original recipe, and adaptations for making this a low-salt stew:

First of all, I skip the traditional dredging of beef cubes with flour before browning.  While this can add to the flavor and thickness of the stew, I first left it out when making this for someone who is gluten-free. It was then I happily realized this is an unnecessary step for creating a perfectly good beef stew.

Skip the salt

If skipping salt, try adding more rosemary for more depth of flavor.  I added quite a bit more on the no-salt version.  Taste test, though.  Rosemary isn't a shy herb.  

I prefer using fresh minced garlic, but will sprinkle in some dried ground garlic later if the stew needs more.  Because I don't measure much, and I often use more broth than called for (because I typically use more of all the solid ingredients than called for), I often end up adding seasonings at some point and taste-testing it.  And as mentioned in the ingredient list, I'm also not above dropping in a beef bouillon cube to boost the flavor.

Other things I do not use in this recipe:

celery

wine

tomato paste 

and rarely, do I add water.  If more liquid is needed, I typically use more beef broth.  That said, if it just needs a cup of liquid, and I don't want to open a new container of broth, I'd use water.

If making this for someone who is on a low-salt diet, there are some low salt beef broths available.  I will not kid you...  they are expensive, but they are available, and will make this stew edible by pretty much anyone.  If anyone knows of other no-salt flavorings that would go with beef stew, I'm open to hearing about them. Especially, if they aren't expensive.  While I was okay with the flavor of the no-salt version I made, I much prefer this with salt.  The gal I made it for, said it was good, her taste buds being trained to less salt.

While it's an easy recipe, Beef Stew isn't exactly a quick meal.  When I plan to make it, I almost always do some prep the day before cooking it.  This last time, I actually browned the beef and froze it in a large baggy almost a week before.  But typically, I will brown the beef, and/or cut up the carrots and onions the day before assembling this recipe. 

I think I've exhausted my tips, suggestions, additions and subtractions.

If you make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

A fairly productive week...

Last week went fast!  Busy with productive things and socializing, but still plenty of time to craft. That's a pretty perfect week in my estimation.

The strawberry plants finally got uncovered, and the garlic I planted amongst the strawberries last fall appears to be thriving.  

I'm thinking some garlic cloves must have not sprouted, though, as I only have about 50 plants (between the strawberry bed and another small spot in which I planted about half as many as above).  For some reason, I thought I planted around 90 cloves.  Or maybe I'm dreaming that.  To be completely honest, I don't get great sleep, and I've been having a lot a weird dreams lately...

I've dreamt weirder things than planting 90 cloves of garlic, that's for sure!

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And look at what bloomed this weekend!

The amaryllis my neighbor gave me last Easter, I brought out of the garage into the sunroom in February to bring it out of dormancy.  It was so top-heavy, I scrambled to find something to hold it up before it toppled right over.

We crafty folks are resourceful.  

To the non yarn-crafty reading this, that is a 

knitting needle serving as a stake.

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A friend and I got together for a couple of hours one afternoon and mod-podged spring/Easter eggs - using flower designs cut from pretty tissue paper. 

It was messy, and I'm not sure I ever want to do it again, but  the finished eggs are kind of cute:

The eggs were inexpensive ones from Hobby Lobby, and are probably even more deeply discounted this week - in case anyone reading is inspired to do this. The eggs I bought are made of a ping-pong-ball material, packaged in a half-an-egg crate.  

If my friend wants to get together one more time to finish the job, I'll decorate the last three of my dozen...  Otherwise, those will be donated to a thrift shop and I'll be happy to call this done.  I've concluded I'm better at mod-podging flatter objects.

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At some point, these Tunisian-stitched hotpads were finished.  Made with a sturdy cotton yarn, they are a decent thickness for hotpads:

The one below (crocheted with a softer cotton yarn) is a little flimsier, so it will likely become a washcloth:

I like these a lot.  And they are not the least bit hard to make, but my arthritic thumbs grew pretty weary holding the long Tunisian hook in one hand, and the cloth in the other.  I think I'm done doing Tunisian crochet with cotton yarn.  

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And lastly, having recently enjoyed making some dishcloths using the moss stitch (aka linen stitch), I gave making moss stitch granny square cloths a go, and I am a little bit in love.  These fast projects made with colorful yarns are fun to make, and hopefully will be fun to use:

The orange one on the left was made with a sturdy kitchen cotton (like Sugar n' Cream or Peaches & Cream). The others are made using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton Yarn in various prints.  This soft cotton yarn makes super drapey cloths, and the cotton "prints" work well in this stitch pattern.  

Though, the perfectionist in me did finagle a bit to get the colors to go 'round and 'round in a pleasing way, instead of congregating on one side, as they tend to do if you change directions each round.  Changing directions with each round keeps the squares from skewing.  To overcome the colors' tendency to pool when doing this, I did a lot of snipping and magic-knotting. In fact, I'm something of a pro at this now.  I've never before trusted the magic knot, but I figured dishcloths that will get abused and washed many times will be a great test of its reliability.

The video tutorial below was, by far, the best one I found for making these:

I hope those of you who observe and celebrate have had a meaningful Lent and Easter!

In the pink...

Recently, I pulled out a bunch of pinkish fabric scraps to make some patchwork, and I was both tickled at what I came up with...

... and confused by how I managed to turn what was supposed to be one-inch squares into rectangles.  I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me quite a while to figure out what I had done.  But the important thing is that I did eventually figure it out, and (while I'll spare you the tedious explanation) in the end, I learned from the experience.  And was still able to create some cute stuffed hearts in spite of my absent-minded cutting and piecing:

And no one but me will ever notice that the corners don't match up, and I completely missed sewing one quilting line, right?  

Having seen some fun creations that use improv piecing, I think I need to give that a go. Precise measuring isn't required, but a good eye and understanding of how to piece this way is.  We'll see if I pursue that.  At the moment, I'm still in the enjoying-watching-others-do-it stage...

Then I turned my hand to making some Tunisian stitched potholders.  I got one done, but am still tackling the second one:

I made some years ago, but I had forgotten about the curling.  I had to steam it to get it to lay as nicely as it does above.  And I don't remember that this was hard on my thumbs years ago, but it is now.  Maybe I need to try tunisian crochet with something less stiff than cotton...

While giving my thumbs a rest, I crocheted a moss-stitched dishcloth.

A bit mishappen, but maybe that's user error.  I do like this change from knitting dishcloths, and this stitch produces a drapey cloth, much like knitting does.  

It's nice to have another pattern at the ready for when I need (or want) a mindless little project to work on. I followed this tutorial: 

Though, I think I might prefer this one:

I think I'm going to try making some other moss-stitch cloths - maybe one that looks granny square-ish next.

This was a long time coming...

Fixing the damaged partridge in a pear tree ornament, I was highly motivated to get the three other ornaments in the 40-something year-old crewel kit sewn up.  I had finished embroidering the last one in January, but as of last week I still hadn't sewn them all up and gotten the job completed.

Some may recall the video I posted a month ago, called The 10-year Window.  This project felt like that. When I finished these ornaments I felt both elated and, at the same time, sad that I had tucked these away for decades partially completed - instead of finishing them years ago and enjoying them every Christmas since.

I have no idea if our sons will someday want any of the handmade Christmas ornaments we've used over the years, but I hope they choose to keep some that they remember from their childhoods. Whether they've given it any notice, they've had many opportunities to see the partridge ornament, but the three last ornaments will hold zero memory for them. 

That said...what can't be undone shouldn't be lingered on for too long I'm learning.  But I'm tellin' ya'...  if you haven't yet watched The 10-Year Window video, I highly recommend you do so.

And if you do, please come back and leave me a comment!

A fine fix ...

Many years ago, (sometime in the '80's) I stitched up this cute little "bag" (which was from a Creative Circle kit), and it has served as a tree ornament ever since:

I love the colors and the folk art design. 

Well... at some point over the years a stain appeared on the back.  I was disheartened about it, but no one could see it when it was hanging on the tree, so I hung it and didn't think about it.  And then after Christmas, I packed it away with the other decorations and I didn't think about it some more.

The stain was caused by potpourri I had originally added to the fiber fill when I stuffed this.   Who knew potpourri could stain fabric?  I didn't.  Not back then.

Anyway, this past Christmas, for some reason, I decided I was not going to pack it away, but I was going to finally fix it.  I thought the easiest solution would be to cut off the back, and add new fabric.  The fabric in the picture above was what I was planning to use.

As I started to rip one seam open, I discovered that I had double stitched the seams, making it challenging to unpick without shredding this somewhat loosely woven fabric.  I finally got the seam opened, but when I went to start unpicking the other seam, I saw there was a messy mangle of threads where my sewing machine had hiccupped or barfed or I don't know what you call it, but sewists know what I'm talking about when this happens sometimes at the beginning of one's stitching.  Maybe one of you will tell me what this is called.

I was never going to get that undone, so I stared at this pitiful, stained, but adorable little crewel stitch that younger me had made and I contemplated what my options might be.  At first all I could come up with was to just cover the stain with a bit of patchwork. That didn't really sit well with me as I didn't think it would match the vibe of the front of the pillow.  

And then it dawned on me...  I had some wool left over, and I could, perhaps, embroider (on top of the stain) something on the back that would go with the front.

Since pears seemed the obvious choice, and because of their simple shape, and  I had what looked like just enough yellow yarn left, I decided to go for it.

Drawing simple pear and leaf shapes and using a very small hoop on this half-opened little sack, I set to work.

I'm torn over whether I should have done this in satin stitch rather than short and long stitches, but at the time, it seemed too large a shape to do in satin stitch.  And now that I think about it, there might not have been enough yarn to do it satin stitch.  Regardless of what might have worked best, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  

With fresh stuffing, and a new red tie, I'm happy to have fixed it in this way.  Truth be told, there is more staining, but the worst is on the inside.  The pictures don't show it, but on the outside any bits of discoloration just appears to me as looking like age has had it's way.  It doesn't bother me.  I feel satisfied that I bought this little ornament some more time before someone decides it's seen too many better days.

Next on the docket is to sew up the rest of the set:  

I did actually finish the crewel work on the above in January, but I got sidetracked by life and I didn't get back to them until... ahem...yesterday.  I wanted so badly to finish them so I could show them today, but when I tried to press them it became apparent it would take more than my steam iron to get those 40-some year-old creases out.  It required wetting them all down and then the iron could do its magic.  But wetting them down meant they needed to dry before being sewn up and finished.  And I wanted to get this post published while it was still Sunday.

So...  no promises, mind you, but I see no reason why these can't be finished this week!

Autumn Leaves Blanket details...

A few readers commented on my last post that they either had found the book that houses the pattern I used to make the Cinnamon Latte Blanket, or they were going to look for it.  I'm delighted, and I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I have.  That said, I'm thinking it may be helpful for me to write an addendum to my last post.

I've written some of these additional thoughts in comments over the space of a couple of posts, but I'm thinking it is a good idea to put all the information in one spot.  So here we go!

This was what I wrote in my last post about the pattern and yarn I used for The Cinnamon Latte blanket:

Pattern is called Autumn Leaves and is found in the book, Weekend Afghans (ISBN 0806964863). I started with a chain of just over 200, and undid the unneeded chains once I had it wide enough.  [I've snipped the yarn info -use whatever worsted weight yarn you like]

What I want to add is everything below:

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and a size K hook.  While that may work great, I have always made this blanket using worsted weight yarn and a size J hook.  The designer meant for this to be a very drapey blanket, but I have found it plenty drapey using a size J hook.  Your mileage may vary. Experiment and see what you like.

The slanted triple crochet stitches require a very smooth hook.  When I started my latest blanket of this pattern, the hook I started with would occasionally snag on the yarn, but once I switch hooks it was a pleasure to crochet.  

Because I use a smaller hook, but also because this is a "throw" size, and I generally like my blankets larger, I starte with a chain a lot longer than the pattern recommends.  I always begin with a chain of around 200 (though, this time I may have chained more), and I work Row 1 as long as I want it to be (undoing the extra chains later).  Doing this, makes the ending instructions on Row 1 a little tricky for me, but I seem to always figure it out.

Also... Row 3 of this pattern is confusing, and I've concluded it is a typo.  Right after Row 2, the pattern says to "Repeat Row 3 until work measures" [really, whatever length you want the blanket to be].  But there is no Row 3.  I'm sure it means "Repeat row 2".

And in case this isn't clear to someone else (because I'm just now realizing I've done the last step intuitively - I'm sure out of confusion over the way the instruction is written - here's what those last two sentences mean:

For a scalloped finish on the beginning edge, hold the beginning edge of the blanket so that the skipped chains are to the left of each triple crochet "shell" (beginning yarn tail will be on the right, I believe).  Join a new length of yarn with a standing triple crochet, then crochet Row 1 across. I, then, tend to use the ends of my yarns to make the corners a bit rounded on this end as I sew them in.  I just make this part up.  Again, your mileage may vary.

If you give this pattern a go, and think anything I've written here is confusing, please let me know.  I've finally written this all down here as much for my benefit as for anyone following along since I seem to have to figure these things out every time I've made this blanket.  Easy enough to do, I guess, since I've made this four times now.  

Just for fun, I went looking for pictures of each of the blankets I've made with this pattern.

A terrible picture, but my first Autumn Leaves was made using Premier Anti-Pilling Everyday Yarn in Aubergine.  Date finished: March, 2015.  This blanket hasn't gotten much use, so it's still in pretty good condition. 

In May of 2015, I made it again for a friend (an almost second-mother) whose husband had recently passed.  Yarn was Premier Anti-Pilling Everyday Yarn in Orchid.

A year later, in May of 2016, I made one for our living room. This time using Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in the color Sea Blue.  Now, ten years later, using this blanket as my reference, its shabbiness has become painfully obvious to me.  I'm toying with replacing this one with a fifth blanket - in another color, perhaps.

And Cinnamon Latte, made in several different worsted weight yarns, in five colors.

On another note...  on the chance that anyone remembers a blanket I made (twice) in shades of pink and pink-red that I named Sweetheart Blanket...  That pattern is actually called Corn on the Cob and is from the same book that has the Autumn Leaves blanket.

And for that matter, years ago, I made the Kitty-Cat Afghan, and that pattern (by a different name and designer, and in a larger size) is in this book, as well.

I hope this post is useful for someone.  I think it will be helpful for me to refer back to.  And it was kind of fun to take a trip down memory lane...

"Shades of Brown" got a new name...

After weeks of spilling my angst here over this project, let me introduce you to...

The Cinnamon Latte Blanket:

I came to terms with the colors as the blanket grew.  And at some point, being finished began to feel more important than how I, personally, felt about the colors.  TB, totally reframed the colors for me into imagining a cup of coffee. I told my friend this and she dubbed it Cinnamon Latte.  Perfect!

And you know what...  while I questioned the colors most of the time I was crocheting this blanket, at my friend's house, with her warmly painted walls, it looked great!

I have to admit... I'm loving the cozy vibes.

What I especially love about the pattern is that when it's finished, it's finished.  The pretty edges eliminate the need for a border, and I've never had to block any of the four blankets I've now made from this pattern. That said, I was actually surprised, using five different colors, and slightly different types of yarn that I did not need to block this to make the edges lay pretty and even.

With the Cinnamon Latte finished and delivered, progress on some other projects began immediately.  My colorful large granny square blanket is once again being worked on.  And I've been motivated to get back to working on some Christmas stitches.  Hopefully they'll show up here finished soon.

Pattern is called Autumn Leaves and is found in the book, Weekend Afghans (ISBN 0806964863). I started with a chain just over 200, and undid the unneeded chains once I had it wide enough.  Yarns used: Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in Cinnamon, Almond Toast, and Latte; Yarn Bee ID in Fawn, and Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek in Tobacco (this is my new favorite yarn - so squishy.  I just wish it came in more colors)

A little Valentine's stitch, a little late...

Late last week I was feeling the need to take another short break from the "shades-of-brown" blanket. Fortunately, I had this sweet little cross stitch waiting in the wings to be finished:

I enjoyed using a variegated floss and somewhat strategically working out where the light and dark shades would be on the design.  And then twisting the variegated with a solid red floss for the trim.  You can perhaps see the different shades in the lighter floss of the cording in this close-up:

And just look at the sweet fabric on the back:

I'm so glad I snatched up this pretty "Valentine's" fabric (from the tiny holiday section in Hobby Lobby's fabric department) when it was first discounted right after Christmas. I think it was gone by January.

To be honest, what I like most about the fabric is that it's not overly Valentine-themed. I'm already imagining other uses for it. 

While I mentioned this the first time I showed this project in progress, I'll note again (mostly for myself) that the cross stitch pattern was found in the February 2015 Just Cross Stitch magazine.  The variegated floss is DMC 48, and the solid red used in the cording is DMC 321.  To get this size cording, I used 4 lengths of each color (solid and variegated, all six strands in each length).  And the length of each color used was 5 times the perimeter of the square pillow.  I'm so glad I tried making my own cording again.  Using my Kreinik Custom Corder was a cinch this time.