Yum

As I sit recovering from the effects of a light dose of anesthesia (no, I will not discuss my medical condition here), I popped the movie Julie & Julia into my dvd player. It was such a good movie on so many levels. It's a feel-good film with one of my favorite stars, Merly Streep. The woman is so versatile, and she pulls off Julia Child so well. At least that's how I see it from my memories of watching the real Julia on PBS.

I love writers, blogging, cookbooks, cooking, history and New York which are all represented in this movie. It has inspired me to get her cookbook. I need to make boeuf bourguignon. I need to cook like Julie and Julia. All I have to say is Yum.

As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon. Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man, and can well be the main course for a buffet dinner. Fortunately you can prepare it completely ahead, even a day in advance, and it only gains in flavor when reheated.

Vegetable and Wine Suggestions: Boiled potatoes are traditionally served with this dish. Buttered noodles or steamed rice may be substituted. If you also wish a green vegetable, buttered peas would be your best choice. Serve with the beef a fairly full-bodied, young red wine, such as Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône, Bordeaux-St. Émilion, or Burgundy.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

Kitchen Supplies:
9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole dish , 3 inches deep
Slotted spoon

Boeuf Bourguignon:
6 ounces bacon
1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti
2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
Crumbled bay leaf
Blanched bacon rind
18 to 24 small white onions , brown-braised in stock
1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter
Parsley sprigs

Directions: Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmersvery slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the melt is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Covet the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

Copyright © 1961, 1983, 2001 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted by arrangement with the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

Ten on Tuesday

10 Songs I'm Embarrassed to Like:

1. Every Morning by Sugar Ray
2. How Bizarre by OMC
3. It Never Rains in Southern California by Albert Hammond
4. How Long by L.V.
5. Save a Horse by Big & Rich
6. Hooked on a Feeling by Vonda Shepard
7. Woman in Love by Barbra Streisand
8. Mandy by Barry Manilow
9. Said I Loved You but I Lied by Michael Bolton
10. Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest

International Motorcycle Show - Rosemont

We headed to the International Motorcycle Show early Saturday morning. We took our time heading towards Chicago. The weather was decent enough to make it an easy road to travel. No snow, no sub-zero temps like the last time we attended this show. We got to Embassy Suites and checked in to our room. It was a lovely room, quite large and clean. I define clean as a non-smoking room that really feels like no one smoked in it. The air was fresh in this room.

We unpacked our things, hung up our dress clothes for our dinner plans at Morton’s and headed over to the show. We walked through the skywalk to get over to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. As it turned out, the skywalk was a very round-about way of getting there. We could have easily went out the front of the hotel and over to the show which was a much more direct route.

We handed over the tickets we bought online glad to know online ordering was not only a cheaper deal, but also more convenient based on the long line of people waiting to buy their tickets.

We got inside and immediately received a Progressive Insurance tote bag to store all that fodder we knew we would pick up along the way. We stopped at booths that had tire changers, exhaust systems, batteries, trailers, chocks, GPS holders, electronics devices, and custom painted bikes. There were plenty of vendors selling helmets, jackets and chaps, boots, and other clothing. We looked at some items made to protect in colder weather, but we already have everything we need at home, it was more of a fact-finding mission to see what new things are available.

We stopped to grab a pretzel and beer while perusing the leather goods available for bikers. We looked at jewelry and scarves found in a section of the convention center dedicated to women bikers. There were also displays of antique bikes – and not just Harleys, many brands, including some I’ve never heard of were there. Most major bike manufacturers, Indian, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Victory, and Harley were all there. Not only could you sit on motorcycles, you could also check out the ATVs. There were quite a few to choose from.
My favorite thing is to pick up information on rides. Most pre-planned rides are charity events and we like to use them as opportunities to see new parts of the Midwest. I got brochures on a brain tumor ride in Madison in August, and Illinois Veteran Memorial ride in June, a disabled children benefit ride in Elgin in May, and a homeless Veteran benefit. It’s good to have options.

We didn’t buy much. Jeff got a set of stretch rubber luggage straps. I thought about buying a scarf but nothing really held my interest. After going through the entire event a second time in case we missed anything, we headed back to the hotel. We put on our swimsuits and headed to the pool. The hotel hot tub was horrible so we swam some laps in the pools to stretch our legs, dried off, and then went back to the room to change. The hotel has a free happy hour and we met some friends there. It was nice to share the day with friends from Milwaukee. We had a few margaritas and shared shopping stories. It was hard to imagine that we wouldn’t run into each other at the show. There were lots of people there, but even though the place is big it’s not that big - I mean we walked through all the aisles twice.

After happy hour which was actually two hours, we went back to our room to get dressed for dinner. Morton’s has a dress code so I put on a nice skirt and we walked through the back of the parking lot to get there. It was a mere 300 yards away and that was a good thing since I was wearing high-heeled boots. The place was fantastic, we were treated like royalty. My Morton’s review can be found at www.sunshinekaty.yelp.com .

Sunday morning we got up and went back to the pool to swim lots of laps. Morton’s was so good it put us in a food coma for the rest of the evening. Now was the time to work off the calories. We stopped for coffee at the breakfast buffet then went to the pool where we spent 45 minutes swimming laps and every lap felt great. It was like we were renewed and ready to start the new day. We got dressed and met our friends for breakfast. Embassy Suites includes a nice hot breakfast that includes fresh made omelets. It was a good start for our drive over to IKEA for some shopping. IKEA is a fun place filled with inexpensive, sometime cheesy housewares. I like to think of it as an adventure in home accessorizing because you never know what kind of deals you will find. I spent $95 on cute things, like serving dishes and votive candles. Jeff bought a new cutting board for the kitchen since mine cracked.

After all that shopping we were still home by 1:30 Sunday afternoon. It was a good weekend that we will repeat again next year.

Meet Chloe

We have a precious new granddaughter. Her name is Chloe Evelyn Smith. She was born today at 5:26 pm weighing in at 8 pounds, 7 ounces and she is 20 1/2 inches long. She had chubby cheeks, a result of being born to a diabetic mother. She is about 3 hours old in these photos. As you can tell from the photo above, she is pretty bruised up from a tough and stressful birth.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Obviously, Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the worst films ever produced. But experiencing it with a live cast and an interactive audience is something one should not miss. With that said, we went to the Oriental Theater last night to see the midnight showing of this classic (it only shows at midnight every second Saturday of every month). Because of Valentine's day, this showing included a lingerie contest for both the men and women in attendance.

After a parade of men in silk boxers, Iron Man briefs, garters, corsets, and various lingerie-like attire, a male winner was chosen followed by a long line of female participants. I was horribly surprised by the thick bellied belles strutting their extra-large "stuff" across the stage. It was very Wisconsin-like. Both the male and female winners were given a free Rocky Horror t-shirt, a bumper sticker, and a free movie ticket to use on another day.

The contest was followed by cast introductions. After that, all the RHPS virgins went through a ritual where they all lined up to crawl across the floor while the cast paddled them as they went by. It was hilarious.

Then the movie started. The audience had their props ready. There was rice to throw during the wedding scene, newspapers and squirt guns for the rain scene, and unbuttered toast to throw during the dinner toast. I don't want to give it all away, but those were my favorite audience props.

The audience was a wildly mixed group, many were in Rocky Horror costumes while others were the leftovers from the lingerie contest. I felt somewhat out of place in plain old jeans and a sweater. The cast was great, acting out the scenes in front of the stars on the large screen which was the only thing that made the movie worth watching - that and the audience participation part. It was obvious that many of these people had done this before. They knew the script so well they had all the queues down for adding their own lines to the movie.

This was the craziest, most well trained audience I had ever seen. It felt like everyone in the theater was part of the same team, like they rehearsed together before the movie. This is one movie you should never rent, this is the only way to see it. At least it's the only way you will ever be able to see it all the way through.

Senseless crap

I got this email from an acquaintance, someone I knew from a group I used to belong to. Once I read it, I laughed. I first thought how pathetic it was that someone I hardly knew had to dig me up from her archives just to come up with 10 emails. (Yes, like the instructions say to do, there were exactly 10 email addresses that got this.) Then I thought about how absurd it is that anyone believes these stupid chain emails. I considered the source, and it made more sense. The woman who sent this is not the brightest crayon in the box.

As I went to hit the ‘delete’ button it occurred to me that these types of emails are really better addressed to one’s enemies than friends. Wouldn’t that make more sense if one believed this crap? Here it is in its original form, I wanted to correct all the grammar, spelling and punctuation but I chose to leave it in the moronic format as delivered. . .

Read Alone...... Especially the Poem. I believe whatever is in store for us will be for us. The poem is very true, unfortunately. Make sure you read the poem!

CASE 1: Kelly Sedey had one wish, for her boyfriend of three years, David Marsden, to propose to her. Then one day when she was out to lunch David proposed! She accepted, but then had to leave because she had a meeting in 20 min. When she got to her office, she noticed on her computer she had some e-mail's. She checked it, the usual stuff from herfriends, but then she saw one that she had never gotten before.It was this poem. She simply deleted it without even reading all of it.BIG MISTAKE! Later that evening, she received a phone call from the police.It was about DAVID! He had been in an accident with an 18 wheeler. He didn't survive!

CASE 2: Take Katie Robinson She received this poem and being the believer that she was she sent it to a few of her friends but didn't have enough e-mail addresses to send out the full 5 that you must. Three days later, Katie went to a masquerade ball. Later that night when she left to get to her car, she was killed in that spot by a hit-and-run drunk driver.

CASE 3: Richard S. Willis sent this poem out within 45 minutes of reading it. Not even 4 hours later walking along the street to his new job interview with a really big company, when he ran into Cynthia Bell, his secret love for 5 years. Cynthia came up to him and told him of her passionate crush on him that she had had for 2 years. Three days later, he proposed to her and they got married. Cynthia and Richard are still married with three children, happy as ever!

This is the poem:
Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
'Tomorrow' I say! 'I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him.'
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
'Here's a telegram sir,' 'Jim died today.'
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

Remember to always say what you mean. If you love someone, tell them. Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late. Seize the day. Never have regrets. And most importantly, stay close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person that you are today.You must send this on in 3 hours after reading the letter to 10 other people. If you do this, you will receive unbelievably good luck. *NOTE* the more people that you send this to, the better luck you will have. SMILE, even through your tears!

Groundhog Day

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this year, thus declaring 6 more weeks of winter. From my vantage point, it doesn't matter because there would be 6 more weeks of winter at minimum anyway. Here in Wisconsin, 6 weeks would be a relief but being a realist I expect that winter will hang around a lot longer than that.

Now that I think about it, Phil is just as accurate as our weathermen, only Phil is so much cuter.