Just to catch up

Sometimes I post comments on forum related to beading, another love that allows me to express myself.  I dared to respond recently to someone's post about starting a blog by offering "my insights" and realized that I hadn't actually done any blogging in quite a while.  Here is it Christmas time again, and I never even had a chance to finish sharing the delights of last year's presents.  Time flies, and elder care can be fairly time consuming even when it doesn't seem that I am doing all that much.  For writing, it's the interruptions that take their toll.  Come to think of it, I haven't been able to do much beading either.  Interruptions, again.

All is quiet right now.  My Prince has arrived to spend a week with us and share our Christmas celebration.  Mama is resting--for now.  And I really ought to take this opportunity to catch up a little.  Who knows when there will be another chance to do this?

So.  The aforementioned Yoshi blade (ceramic knife) has actually been quite the boon this past year.  I have used it almost daily for cutting vegetables, meats (even semi-frozen), and tomatoes.  I have to say, tho, that the special tomato slicer (oddly serrated knife) that I picked up at a dollar store is even better for those tough old tomato hides.  Still, I love the ceramic blade so much that I have asked Santa to bring me another one (or more).

I never had a chance to blog about my favorite new toy from last year:  An immersion blender (Quisinart Smart Stick).  While I haven't had as many opportunities to use the stick blender as I have the ceramic knife, I have to say that it works a treat.  I feel all Top Chef-y when I use it, chortling like a mad woman as I turn those veggies into a puree.

This year, Christmas is a quite a bit tamer.  Even though I had already scaled things back in 2010, working hard to be "smarter" and more relaxed about it all, there was still too much activity for one person to do.  My Prince is indeed a prince, but he's more a watcher than a doer when it comes to Christmas.  Mama gave up doing a long time ago, but she is still the focus of all our celebrations.

This year I have pretty much called it quits on anything that involves anyone else besides Mama and My Prince.  We did have three friends over last week to sing carols and share a pot luck dinner, but this week has been (and will be, I hope) very quiet.  So far, Mama and I have driven around the neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights.  Tonight we had an old family favorite for dinner.  Saturday--if the turkey thaws out--I'll cook it.  We'll have a quiet Christmas Eve, a relaxed Christmas morning, and hope for some magic in the kitchen (I'm thinking elves here, not a sudden improvement in my cooking skills).  Whatever happens, we won't starve.

Tonight's treat was Corned Beef Stew.  This was something my late father cooked.  It was always a treat.  I have changed the recipe slightly to lower the carbs (a little).

• Corned beef (canned is "traditional" at our house) - the meatier the dish, the less need for carbs.  Tonight I only had one can of corned beef in the pantry, so we here heavier on the carbs.
• Potatoes - I used red potatoes to reduce the starch a little; Daddy used Irish potatoes.  Quantity depends on how far you need to stretch the soup and how many carbs your table-mates can handle.  
• Onions - I used white onions, halved and sliced.  Actually I load up the stew with onions; suit yourself.
• Salt and pepper - I favor coarse ground pepper.  I have to go lightly on both because of assorted dietary needs (and people-who-get-cranky-about-too-much-pepper), but the stew can handle a heavy hand on the pepper.

Throw it in a pot with some water (cover the vegetables, add more if you need to stretch the stew).  Cook the vegetables until tender.   Since I am lazy about chopping the potatoes (and never peel them anymore), just quartering the smaller ones and hacking up the bigger ones, I use a potato masher to smash the potatoes once they are cooked.  This releases a little starch into the broth, but that's pretty much in the nature of potatoes anyway, I reckon.

My father thickened the broth with a flour and water paste.  I stopped doing that long ago, wanting to cut down on carbs wherever I could.  I don't think he really liked my version of the stew without that extra dose of starch, so you might want to try it both ways.

Traditionally, we serve this with cornbread.  It's yummy to crumble your cornbread into the stew, soaking up most of the broth with the bread.  Since I have to worry more about carbs, I have started eating the stew without any bread at all.  It turns out that that broth is quite yummy, and I don't miss the cornbread at all.

Tomorrow, we'll have another Christmas favorite:  Tamales.  Those we will have to buy.  I think if you remove the corn husk tamales don't actually have any carbs.  Right?


Merry Christmas!  Happy Hannukah!  Safe and happy holidays!