Winter Day at Home; Cooking—Beef Stwe; Sewing—A Quilted Heart

After retiring from a busy, demanding career as a RN, and after my 5 children are grown and have their own careers and children, I realize that retirement is an ongoing journey of changes and adjustments. I will share some of my experiences and welcome others to share what makes their golden years of retirement enjoyable and fulfilling.
Today is a cold day in January. I am staying warm inside and cooking beef stew for lunch and sewing some quilted hearts. A good day to work on projects.
Let me know how the weather is where you are and if you put different vegetables in your beef stew.
Thursday I’ll be cooking chicken gnocchi soup and watercolor painting a Valentine card.

BEEF STEW
1 cup cut up stew meat
1/3 c. flour
1 T. garlic/pepper seasoning
1/2 onion chopped
2 medium size potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
10 baby carrots, sliced
1 rib celery
1/4 c. cooking oil
1 whole bay leaf
2 1/2 c. water
In a stock pot, heat oil. In shallow bowl, mix the flour and seasoning. Put stew meat in flour mixture and completely coat the meat. Carefully drop the meat into the hot oil. Turn heat down to medium and constantly stir the meat until a dark brown. Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes, onion and slice the carrots. When the stew meat is to the desired brown, add the vegetables and 2 c. water. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer. Add the bay leaf and celery. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, until meat and potatoes are tender. Stir frequently to prevent sticking to bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot with biscuits or hot crusty bread.

BISCUITS
1 c. self rising flour
2 T. lard or shortening
Enough buttermilk to make a stiff batter, about 1/2-1 c.
Blend the lard and flour together. Add buttermilk and stir just until combined. Turn out onto a floured surface. Fold over 2-3 times but do not knead the dough. Pat to 1 inch thickness. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease a baking pan with lard or shortening. Cut the biscuits into 2 inch squares. Place close together in the baking pan. Bake in hot oven for about 20 minutes, until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and turn over on a paper towel so bottom of biscuits don’t get soggy. Serve hot from oven with butter. ENJOY.