Country Roads

The evening started at the piano with --
Christmas carols?  

We had the pleasure of hosting a handful of special visitors yesterday evening. :) We'd asked permission of the bishop to show our gratitude to the seminarians who helped us move by inviting them over to dinner, and he not only permitted it, but we got a couple extra young men from the seminary thrown in for good measure. Our good old friends, Fr. Carlos Borja and Tim Geckle, (recently ordained to the deaconate) got to come, as well as Frater Augustin, and Seminarians, Jeremy and Stephen our good old friend, Nathan -- and of course, our own Frater Philip.  

The girls and I served Hobbit Stew and freshly baked rolls, with a spinach salad and iced tea.  For dessert, we got the seminarians a selection of ice creams (because they don't get ice cream very often -- and who doesn't like ice cream, right?).  Watched a little Ollie and Stanley.  (Naturally.)  Then, as if the ice cream (and Cathy's homemade salted caramel) hadn't been enough sweets for one evening, we busted out the marshmallows, too, and Gabe lit us a campfire.  Somehow a guitar appeared and was handed to Tim...  and a campfire sing-along broke out.  So much fun! 

(The following video is very dark -- because, well, it was dark outside....  And, my Nikon is in the hospital, so this was filmed with the itty-bittiest little digital camera I borrowed from Theresa.  Not bad, considering... ?) 

Our thanks to our seminarian moving company once again!

And our great thanks to Fr. Borja for blessing our house for us!  We had such a great time, enjoying everyone's company so much, we feel like we should send each of the young men a thank-you card for coming.  Consider this a thank-you card!  Along with our continued prayers!

Hobbit Stew

about 2 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs flour
salt and pepper
2 pounds beef chuck (or stew beef), cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 pound celery, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 pound whole mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters
6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into good-sized chunks
2 large white onions, cut into large chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced (more if you like garlic!)
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup molasses (optional)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 12oz bottle Irish stout (i.e., Guinness)
half a stick of butter (optional)
1 Tbs cold water
1 Tbs cornstarch

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss beef cubes with flour, sprinkled with salt and pepper; coat, then fry in the hot oil until browned. 
2. Veggie cooking option number one (how we did it): Saute the onions,garlic, and celery together in butter, until slightly soft.  Saute the carrots in butter until slightly soft, then toss with the molasses until glazed. Add onions, celery, and carrots, together with potatoes and mushrooms in a large slow cooker. 
3. Veggie cooking option number two (quicker and easier):Dump all the sliced and diced vegetables into the bottom of the slow cooker, without sauteing at all. Place the meat on top of the vegetables. Mix together the beef broth and tomato paste and pour into the slow cooker along with the beer.
4. Cover and cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 8 hours. If you like a thicker gravy, during the last hour before serving, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water and then stir into the broth. Simmer on the High setting for a few minutes to thicken.
5. Enjoy!