Christmas Tree Hunting

Christmas Tree Hunting with the Witters and the Murrays!

Evidently, Lowe's is not where Christmas trees grow.

I have always gone to the nearest tree lot, Lowe's or Walmart for my tree. Since I made Nevada my home I have discovered this magical place called the forest. I did not know of such a place, did you? Apparently what you are supposed to do is take the short trek to the forest and cut your own. This was news to me and for the third year that's exactly what we did.

This time around was a little different. We went on our hunting expedition with the Murrays and the Witters. It was lots of fun having them there and nice to have other men there to help each other with tree carrying duty.

MJ is totally stoked because Dad let him drive the back roads.

Mark choosing out his weapon of choice for the hunt!

There was another difference this year, no snow!



<~~ Last year

This year~~> 



Last year, Mark had to haul the tree
about a mile to the truck. This was
after he carried MJ and the Chain saw



This year the tree was conveniently located next to the road!





And here it is. It's a beauty!

Time to get to work!

This is what was going on while Mark and Randy were hunting trees.

                                                                                           

Kristen read a story to the kids. She found the book just laying on the ground.

 



The Men have returned victorious so time to eat!

And have a little camp fire with our hot dogs!

We didn't have a permit for one either.

Family time and some relaxation.

Well, that was our day in the forest. Big thanks to the Witters and the Murrays for making it so much fun!

p.s. Yes, I was there too. Pictures don't take themselves!

Easy Almost Homemade Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese Sauce

Italians call it a ragu` and French call it bolognaise. I call it GOOD! It's a meat based sauce originating from Bologna, Italy(I wonder if the deli meat is from the same place?). Anyway, I have been making this for years, because it's easy to throw together and it is very versatile. You can put this on just about any pasta, from spaghetti to cheese raviolis. I make this two ways: one is from all fresh tomatoes and the other is half can/half fresh tomatoes. The difference other than a variance in taste, is the all fresh tomatoes takes about 3 hours and the half canned takes about an hour. I have also made this w/o meat and it's still very tasty.

Ingredients:

8-10 Roma tomatoes,1-28oz can WHOLE tomatoes, 3 Celery Stocks chopped, 1 Onion diced, 4 Garlic cloves chopped, 2 Carrots chopped, 1lb Lean Ground beef, 1lb Italian Sausage, Fresh Parsley, Fresh Basil, 2T Pepper flakes, 2T Olive oil Salt/Pepper to taste, White wine (optional). If you are going to make this from all fresh tomatoes, then you will need about 6-8 lbs of tomatoes.

First things first. You want to get all your veggies chopped

Chop your celery, onions, carrots and garlic, place in a bowl and set aside until time to use.

Next you are going to rough chop your roma tomatoes, basil and parsley. This is going into the food processor, so it doesn't need to be chopped small.

You're gonna need a big pan for this. If you don't have a really big one, use a stock pot. Add about 2T olive oil to a pan and let get hot.

Then you are going to add your sausage and beef. They do have the sausage in a ground form, but were out the day I went to the grocery store. Break it down with your spoon and brown.

It will take about 10 minutes then it will look like this:

When your meat is browned you are ready for the veggies you set aside

Add to your browned meat a mix in.

Let the veggies cook down for about 5 minutes. At this point if you want to add about 1/2 to 1cup of white wine, this is when you do it. If you do let cook for another 3-4 min. to let the wine reduce and the alcohol taste is gone.

While the meat is browning, get your food processor and add your canned/fresh tomatoes, handful of fresh parsley and basil, pepper flakes and salt.

Puree it until it is the consistency you like. I like mine a little chunky.

YUMMMY!

Add your tomatoes to the party and let simmer for about an hour.

After an hour this is what you end up with.

Pull out a loaf of bread, toast and spread this right on top. That's what I'm going to do right now!

Starting the Weekend off with Monster Trucks & Top Shot

MJ is a very happy boy this weekend. Papa finally has a couple of days off and they both decided it was going to be a manly weekend.

Our weekend started on Friday with the Monster X Tour featuring the Metal Mulisha!

We all had a good time. I think MJ was just happy to have his Papa home and quite frankly so was I.

He has been spending many days/nights in his stores in California and working 6 day weeks in preparation for the Christmas season. We operate much better when he's home every night. I miss him when he's gone for too long.

Evidently the black and green tape going around the trucks meant we weren't supposed to be getting on the trucks. Well, we didn't pay any attention to that.

We were taking pics of the Monkey on all of the
trucks until the announcement over the loud speaker
said that kids are not allowed on the vehicles. So we shot a couple more pictures.

MJ doing the used car tire kick!

One last picture before we get booted for letting him
to close to the trucks!

Weren't supposed to be on the bikes either unless we asked first. MJ just climbed on one before we were able too. They were a friendly lot and didn't mind.



MJ and Papa enjoying the show!

Funny, this doesn't look like Tahoe!

We were thinking of taking a hike up Mt Rose and head to Tahoe. We ended up going to the Indian Reservation to play Top Shot. MJ's new favorite thing is shooting with the pops. Kinda the same thing, right?

Here are a few pics I took while they were shooting targets, clays and of course pumpkins.



MJ setting up his pumpkins



He did inquire a couple of times where his bud Mitchel was.

I guess kicking shot gun shells alone isn't as fun.



Of course, after every round they MJ had to go check his work!



MJ is now napping from his morning adventure and I am off to a craft fair. Being out numbered by my two men, I gotta get the girls stuff in when I can. Probably taking MJ to the movies tonight. 

Tomorrow  NASCAR and NFL all day! 

I will be busy baking for a baby shower on Monday.

~Life is Good~



Chilly Weather is Stew Weather!

Beef Stew

With the weather getting cold out I thought it would be a good time to break out the soups and stew recipes. One of my favs is beef stew. It is such a comfort food. The beef and taters fill your tummy with yummy goodness. I also love any food that you can cook in one pot. I still have not mastered the slow cooker. Word on the street is once you master it, you will never use the stove top again for soups/stews. Well I'm not there yet. Besides I love my dutch oven.

Ingredients:

Cast of Characters



3lbs stew beef or chuck roast

1 large yellow onion

3 carrots

4 celery ribs

3 garlic cloves

6 roma tomatoes

6 to 7 small red potatoes

6c beef stock

1/4c flour

3bay leaves

2T Worcester sauce

1T paprika

1T pepper flakes

1t thyme

1/4t cloves

salt/pepper to taste

First thing you want to do get all your chopping done. So chop your celery, onions, tomatoes and garlic, but in a bowl and set aside. Don't chop the carrots or potatoes just yet you are not going to need them until your stew has been cooking for about 2 hours. If you decide to chop them now keep them separate until it's time to use.

Trim the beef of all the big chunks of fat. Icky to bite into, but don't take off all the fat. Fat=Flavor. Remember this line when you think you are getting soft in the belly. It's not fat it's FLAVOR!

Season your beef with salt and pepper and place in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the flour on top and mix so the beef is fully coated with flour. This is going to be the thickening agent for the stew. There are other ways to do this including using corn starch, but I like this method best.

Next get your pot with about 3T of oil very hot. Then add your beef. I do mine in batches (this took 3) so I can get the meat a nice and crispy. Once the last batch was finished I put all the beef back into the pot.

I could have just stopped here and ate this with a loaf of bread!

Then add all the fresh chopped veggies except for the carrots and taters.

Cook the veggies down for about 5 min. Then everyone else in the pool, except for the carrots and potatoes!

Make sure you use the spoon to scrape all the crusty goodness from the bottom!

Should look something like this. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 2 hours.

Check in on it from time to time and give it a stir. Make sure you scrape the bottom again.

After about 2 hours the meat should be very tender. Add the potatoes and carrots. I would love to say that baby carrots taste better, but the truth is I use them in soups and stews cause I don't have to peel and chop them. I put in a small bag of baby carrots (1lb) instead of 3 regular carrots.
Give it a taste and this is where you will add more salt, if needed. Don't go crazy and add a lot in the beginning. Just a little, stir in, then retaste in 5 to 10min. Whenever you add salt you don't taste it as soon as you have added it. You need to wait at least 5min so the salt can break down and absorb in the food. If you taste right after adding, you may add more cause you think it needs it. Then when you taste it later, it may be too salty.
Anywho, after you add the taters and carrots let it cook another 35-45min so the taters are fork tender, but not mushy!

And there you have it Beef Stew. Time to Eat!