Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
Well, yes, I missed last week's Try It. I actually didn't forget, it was a decision based on priority. I decided it was more important that we have some food made up/stored, batteries on hand, water in clean food buckets, lanterns charged and ready, flashlights prepped and sand bags bought than to post to T.E.G. It seemed like we waited and waited, but, indeed, The Blizzard of 2011 *did* finally hit last Wednesday. When it kicked off, I was definitely glad I had used my time to prepare for the storm. We had been told to prepare for 3 days without electricity or water. I'm not sure I was totally prepared for that, but I did feel like I'd done what I could. :-) It was a pretty comical moment, though, when I realized "no electricity" meant "no washing machine." Meg and I rushed down to the basement and started working on the laundry. I have a laundry schedule worked out so that we run out of underwear on the right day (i.e. the day whites are on the schedule), but missing 3 days of laundry would definitely throw all that out of whack. SO. I washed clothes until I dropped. I also vacuumed, since, well....my vacuum cleaner also runs on electricity. And we still have cedar needles planted like daggers in my bedroom carpet. OUCH!
I'll move on to the Try It, but I will mention that the snow was/is a sight to behold. We had drifts approaching 3 feet and all over it was around 2 feet deep. And, we didn't lose electricity. LOL! For which I'm thankful. I believe the snow is going to be around a while. It's 3 degrees outside now, and not supposed to warm up much for days. Oh, and the Weather Service is forecasting 1-3 more inches of snow tonight. It's getting kind of funny. Maybe in the "strange" way, if not the "ha ha" way. :-)
Alright, last week's Try It was Slow Cooked Broccoli. Here's our review:
Annie:7.5!! of 10!! "Pretty good, needed some salt. Other than that, the flavor was good. I mixed my cheese in, which made it quite a bit better. It's like Broccoli Cheese Soup. Broccoli Cheese Soup-erole! :)"
Meg: 5!! of 10!! "Broccoli was too mushy. All the cheese needed to be mixed in. Needed a little salt. But, I wouldn't mind having it again."
Claire: 7.5!! of 10!! "It was pretty good. All the cheese needed to be mixed in. Maybe a little salt."
Amy: 7!! of 10!! "Thought the broccoli was too soft. Would have preferred cream of chicken soup to cream of celery. I agree that all the cheese needed to be mixed in and that a little salt would have helped."
Adam: 9!! of 10!! "I liked that it was soft and easy to chew. I liked that it wasn't too cheesy."
Hannah: "I liked the kind of crunchy things. I like that Crunchy Casserole!" (I do; I like it, Sam-I-Am! I like that Cruncy Casserole!! hahaha)
Tonight's Try It:
Indian Beef and Spinach Curry (for the crockpot)
1/3 cup canola oil
3 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1(2 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and grated (I used 2 t. dried, ground)
2 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t cayenne pepper (I used 3/4 t, since we have Littles)
1 1/2 t ground turmeric
2 cups beef broth
3 pounds stew beef
1 t salt
6 cups baby spinach
2 cups plain full-fat yogurt
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat (I use medium, lest I smoke up the house, lol), warm oil. Add onions and garlic, and saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, cumin, cayenne and turmeric and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in broth, raise heat to high, and deglaze pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom. When broth comes to a boil, remove pan from heat.
Put beef in slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt. Add contents of frying pan. Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.
Add baby spinach to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes. Just before serving stir in 1 1/3 cups yogurt. Season to taste with salt. Serve over rice. Pass remaining yogurt to add as a garnish.
Ok, F.O.T.E.'s, gotta run. Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe
