Good Heart and Then Some

Today I am very proud of my son, Jaden.

I had one of those moments you always hope will come this morning when a friend of ours, Claire Taylor walked up to my car as I was dropping the kids off at school, and told me how proud she is of Jaden. Apparently her daughter told her that one day several boys were picking on another boy at school, and my son walked up, took this boy by the arm and said "come on". He walked the boy away from the bullies, and made him feel better. I don't know all of the details, but I know that I am so proud of my son. This isn't the first time something like this has happened either, Jaden has a kind heart and really cares about the people around him. I love this kid! I don't think words can begin to describe the depth of love this proud father has for his 9 year old son!

The Irish in Me

This is by far the very best stew recipe you have ever tasted, I promise, or your money back! (well, since you didn't pay anything you won't see a dime, but I promise this is not a case of "you get what you pay for", this stew is DANG good).

Our family tradition for St Patricks day is to make this stew and watch Darby O' Gill and the little people as a family. Good times, except of course for this last year when I was in China for St Patricks day, the tradition was broken, but it is tradition (break into Fiddler On The Roof ballad).

Anyway, here it is, it is not an easy recipe, it takes time and patience to get it started, but once started it cooks itself in a crock pot, and I promise it is sooooo worth every up-front minute.

Irish Beef Stew

2 lbs lean beef stew meat

1/3 c. flour

Black Pepper to taste

3 medium onions chopped into bite size pieces

4 cloves garlic cut into slices

6 oz tomato paste

1 can Irish Stout beer (Guinness beer, can be purchased at Walmart (DO NOT omit the beer, it is one of the most important ingredients, I promise this recipe will be only a shadow of what it can be if you leave it out, and make sure you use the beer I tell you to, this is an Irish stew after all, for those of you worried about the alchohol, it cooks for 8 hours, which is plenty of time for the alchohol to be neutralized and cooked out, I know, I researched it)

1 c. beef stock

2 c chopped carrots (I just used a few handfuls of the baby carrots you buy in bags in the produce section, much easier, and this is already a lot of work, plus they look so perfect, do your really want to sand the ends to get them nice and rounded like the baby carrots you buy already are?)

½ tsp thyme

1 pinch cayenne pepper

4 diced potatoes

½ chopped green pepper (bite size pieces)

3 bay leaves

¼ c. brown sugar

1 tbsp worschestershire sauce

6 slices bacon (you can cheat and use some more for good measure, I usually do, after all who doesn't like extra bacon?)

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat your crock pot. Coat beef in 1/3 c. flour, cook bacon slices in a pan with butter and olive oil (I know you are thinking, "add fat to already fatty meat?" but trust me, do what it says!, crumble and set aside. Saute floured beef in bacon drippings, adding chopped onion for the last 3 minutes. Add Bacon pieces to the beef/onion mixture and place in the bottom of crock pot.

Deglaze the pan you just cooked the meat in with 1 can Irish Guinness beer, 1 cup beef stock, and worchestershire sauce. (for those of you wondering, I had to look up the definition of "Deglaze" the first time I made this, if you are still wondering, I'm gonna make you do the same :) Pour broth to the meat in the crock pot.

Layer the potatoes, carrots and peppers on top of the meat and broth, then add all the rest of the ingredients and let cook on high in crock pot for 6 hours, or on low for 8 hours. Stir occasionally after about 4 hours.

Serve with warm bread, while watching Disney’s “Darby O’ Gill and the Little People” with your family.

ENJOY! (you are welcome in advance, after all, I only post my best recipes :)

Dragon Spunk

During my first visit to China I had a friend on Facebook mention that she saw a painting of a Chinese Dragon in my future. I thought it was a good idea so here is my version of a Chinese Dragon. I chose a pic I had taken while visiting one of the Buddist temples, and used it as inspiration for my own Chinese Dragon.

Originally I was going to really "Jeff" it up with lots of filigree and ornamentation, but when I had the dragon itself painted, and it was time to add the filigree, I decided there is beauty in letting this painting just be itself. I did curl the whiskers, so that will have to be enough "Jeff" for this painting. Sometimes too much is too much and simple is better.

This is the pic I used as inspiration, the painting is done with Acrylic paint, chosen because I didn't want to worry about whether oil paint was dry enough to pack into my suitcase.

Snickerdoodle Heaven

I have had a few requests for my snickerdoodle recipe, which by the way is not my snickerdoodle recipe, my wife, Sara tells me it is actually the Farley's recipe. (I actually have a really great Lemon Snickerdoodle recipe I have made by altering this recipe, it is really good, but that is not the recipe I was asked for so here is the normal Snickerdoodle recipe) According to Sara when she lived with the Farleys, Chad Farley used to love snickerdoodles and this is the recipe he would make, so now credit is given where credit is due.

This is a great basic snickerdoodle recipe for anyone who loves a great snickerdoodle:

1 c shortening (vegetable)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 c sifted flour

Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs together. Add dry ingredients, and mix well.

Chill dough and roll into balls the size of a small walnut (I personally like much larger snickerdoodles, so I make bigger balls, like the size of golf balls). Roll in a mixture of 2 Tbsp Sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.

Bake 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, should be barely golden brown around edges, do not overcook, or they will be to crispy, the secret of a good snickerdoodle is getting the baking time right so they stay soft, crunchy snickerdoodles are just not right.

There you have it, enjoy!

Jeff (the rocketman) Goodsell