Home made stew with beef, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery

Today I had the urge to create a satisfying dish complete with meat and veggies, but without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. I love my kitchen and I feel creative there, but today I felt like I needed a change, so I decided to spend the Spring day, with its lovely mild temperatures – entirely outside the house enjoying the sun with my family.  I wanted to cook, too, though, that was my dilemma. I looked to my cookbook, “Miss Vickie’s Kitchen”,  for inspiration and found it on page 46 – my recipe “Irish Canadian Beef Stew,”  pictured below. It was featured in Entertaining and Lifestyle in March 2015 issue of Hello Canada!

Thank you, Hello Canada!

I turned on my slow cooker, browned the beef, chopped the veggies, placed it all in the pot and covered it with water, wine and beef stock. I set it to 6 hrs on low heat and then drove to the park to play with my granddaughter.

Vera’s just a year old and a novice toddler who loves touching and tasting sand and is curious about everything and everyone. She’s become an expert at waving her tiny, dimpled hand, greeting stranger and friend alike. Recently, she added Hi to her vocabulary. She talks! “hi!”
Watching her smile on the swing while my daughter pushed her, brought back memories of me pushing my little ones on swings many years ago in a playground miles away, in small town Ontario, Canada.

It was a sweet moment to cherish because it reminded me that life is a circle and, although we sometimes think our lives will never change, they will change and they DO change. Change can come in an instant. Sometimes change takes a slower, more subtle course. But life is about change. The more years that pass, the more we should welcome and embrace change.

When I look back I can truly treasure the moments spent playing with our children when they were small or sharing a tender moment with a loved one.

I held my giggling granddaughter’s tiny hands as she slid down the slide, I remembered that only a year ago she was a newborn infant. Change comes whether we are ready or not!

I suddenly realized it was almost suppertime, so we gathered our things and headed home, tired and hungry but mentally and emotionally reconnected, renewed and refreshed.

We had changed.

Now back in my kitchen, the slow cooker had been doing all the work while I played the afternoon away and the beef stew was ready and waiting…6 hours later.

“A change is as good as a rest”, was one of my Bill’s favourite sayings. Maybe there’s a lot of truth in that.

 

Preparation:

• Dredge 1 1/2 lb stewing beef in flour
• Cook beef in pan on medium in olive oil until all sides are brown
• Remove beef to a hot slow cooker
• Add:
• 1/4 c wine
• 1/2 c water
• 1 tsp Worcestershire
• 3 cups beef stock
• 4 medium potatoes, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• stalk of celery, chopped
• onion,chopped
• Add dash or thyme, salt & pepper
• Set slow cooker to low heat for 6 hours.