Fall recipes! And, my assistant has issues
Yum, Fall!
As I sit here at world headquarters (my bed) my assistant (my dog), is snoring loudly. She isn’t very helpful. She doesn’t “assist” with much as it relates to pretty much anything. But, she is very good at barking frantically when she hears what might be someone at the door. And she is very good at barking even more frantically at whatever is standing in the doorway (person, package, passing dog, nothing) when I open the door.
My assistant has a habit of making little licky noises while she lies next to me. It’s hard to focus when she does this. Sometimes I look over at her and think “ I really wish she’d stop licking her lips and making weird arhythmic noises. I can’t focus with all that going on.” I like to work in my bed and she likes to be near me, adjacent to me, sometimes touching me. Which I don’t like.
I look at her all curled up like a boiled shrimp, but in white, gray and black, she’s like a fury undemanding baby. I put a sweater or blanket over her to keep her warm. It’s freezing in our bedroom. It occurs to me that she enjoys walks outside and then I think, “that dog has been walking on the same bricks that all sorts of unspeakably icky things have scampered across or been dumped on by who knows what and now she’s got her paws on my husband’s pillow.”
He’s downstairs and doesn’t see what she’s up to, when he comes upstairs he shovels her back near me. What am I to do? Wash her paws every time she comes into the house? That’s actually a great idea, and I do think about that as I approach the front door. But then, like so often, I completely forget what I was thinking about. I get to the steps, unhitch the dog from her lease and put the key in the door and…and, well, there I go again. What was I saying? Leash, steps, key, walk….shoes, paws, dirty. Got it.
I’m sure some of you think it’s really gross to have a dog on your bed. Some of you are thinking…”especially a city dog”. You might live in the non-city, like the suburbs or the country. FYI: Your dog is icky, too. Let’s be honest, all dogs lick their bottoms, even your precious non-city dwelling mongrel. Dogs are pretty gross and they make terrible assistants as far as that goes but very good bed warmers and warning devices.
Meet me in the comments!
Do you have a dog on your bed? Thoughts?
A Recipe You Won’t Hate!
It’s Fall! Get Cookin’!
Pot Roast!
Prep Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 4 hrs 25 mins
Servings:8
Perfect for pot roast recipes, inexpensive chuck is one of the most flavorful cuts of beef. Simmering it slowly and gently in the oven results in a wonderfully tender pot roast. Vegetables like onions and potatoes give the pot roast recipe even more comforting flavors.
NOTE FROM KIM: There are three REALLY important steps to make any beef dish taste delish….
Tomato paste: use more than recommended and toast it in the/a pan before you mix it in.
RED WINE! old, new, cheap, whatever…I use about a half bottle in my stews and pot roasts. Forget stock, use wine.
Be sure to really brown the floured meat. It makes all the difference!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 5-pound beef chuck roast
Salt and pepper
2 cups beef stock or reduced sodium canned beef broth (I say, use wine!!)
½ cup red wine (optional) (no it is not optional)
3 medium onions, cut into large wedges (or, use little pearl onions)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste (maybe more? be sure to brown in a pan first)
2 pounds carrots, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks
2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle roast all over with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place in pan, and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. (You can make this on your stove top, too)
Turn meat fat side up. Add stock, wine, if using, onions, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Stir in tomato paste. Bring to a simmer, cover; put in the oven, and roast for 3 hours. Add carrots and potatoes, and cook until vegetables are tender, about 1 hour more.
Transfer the roast, carrots, and potatoes to a platter. With a spoon, skim the fat off the surface of the cooking liquid. Cut the roast into thick slices, and serve with the vegetables. Pass the pan juices separately.
Fancy Banana Bread
Isn’t this gorgeous? It’s so easy. Go to Trader Joes and buy the Banana Bread Mix that looks like this:
On the back of the box are the directions to make this tasty, pretty cake. Basically, you need butter for the bottom and sides of the pan, 1/2 cup, brown sugar to coat the bottom and sides, 1/2 cup or so, then you take all those brown-black bananas you keep in the freezer, thaw them and slice them lengthwise to create the design that will be on the top of the cake. The brown sugar and butter create a delicious and pretty caramel top.
Extra bonus: put a banana or two into the mix for a lush banana taste. Takes about 45 minutes!
As I sit here in World Headquarters I wonder...do other people sit in their bed and work? I do get a lot done and the pets are happy to have me here...
I loooooooove the Martha pot roast and fancy banana bread. I love working from bed--it's SO my office! 😂 When we had our Yorkie, Edgar, he would assist me by tucking in right beside me, snoring and snuffling. It was highly productive.