spring cleaning and cooking

Lots of busyness around Comfy House lately ~ handyman stuff, picking up the 

hardwood flooring for Tim's room, cleaning out closets, running a lot of errands,

making appointments, and today - starting to do a little cleaning in the garage.

It was a little warmer again today - about 50F - so I got out the leaf blower and went

to work on blowing all the dirt and crud out of the garage. It's amazing how filthy

 a garage floor gets over the winter. It was covered in dirt, dead leaves, and road salt. 

 In the meantime, I opened up the back window in the house and let the cats enjoy 

the hint of spring air. You can see the snow that's still on the ground. 

I had to run into Joann Fabric a few days ago and thought I'd pass along

this cute find to you all ~ Mason jar "jewelry"!  There were several different

items to transform your jars, but I liked the frog lid inserts and the jar toppers

the best. I didn't buy anything this time, but think I'll go back for the frog lid inserts

later. I can picture Mason jars full of flowers from my garden this summer.

 

One of the more yummy dinners I made this past week was beef stew in the

Crockpot. As I tell people who are dubious or new to cooking, you really can't 

go wrong with food that you throw in a slow cooker. Sometimes I don't even

follow a recipe. For instance, this was just beef stew meat, carrots, onions,

celery, and potatoes - throw it all in your slower cooker and then add the 

ingredients for the gravy: beef broth, a little red wine, tomato paste, fresh garlic,

salt, pepper, some oregano and parsley. In the last half hour of cooking, mix up

3T. flour with enough water to make a thin paste, then add to the stew and stir.

Pop the lid back on and let it go for another half hour. The flour mixture thickens

up the gravy. 

I made mini Irish soda breads for St. Patrick's day yesterday. I find them more

like a drop biscuit with raisins in them. Good on their own (with butter!) with a cup

of tea or coffee, or would be a good accompaniment for soup or stew. They

were so easy to make, too. You can find the recipe here.

Still looking for those elusive robins...