food day / beef stew

Today has entirely revolved around food. I loved it.

I started bright and early. Last night, when I sat down to look at my schedule for the day I realized there was no way I could get everything done and time things right unless I got a very very early start. I had meals to prepare and deliver for two friends with new babies, and I had promised help to another friend who is due to have a baby this weekend make freezer meals. And I didn’t have any help lined up with the girls. And I had a mid-morning mimosa date with girlfriends. <grin>

I have this friend who, for the last several years, has worked a shift from 5-7a, allowing her to have the benefits of working while also being a stay-at-home-mom. Every time I am feeling overwhelmed with tasks I think of this friend and realize that if I just got up and worked from 5-7a I could surely get everything done. A few months ago I tried making a habit of it and was sick after about 2 days. So I gave up. But last night I was feeling inspired all over again, so I set my alarm for 5:30a, had bread dough rising before my morning cup of coffee, wine poured (for the stew of course) before any thought of breakfast, and beef browning while my family still slept.

I have so many friends who are having babies lately. I only cook beef every couple of months around here, but for some reason whenever I’m bringing a meal to a new mama, I make beef. I think I have this innate understanding of what our bodies have to heal from after giving birth, which naturally tends to the desire to feed… beef. And I think I was still daydreaming about the one-pot roast my dad made on Sunday afternoon, teaming with homegrown herbs and farm fresh veggies.

I loosely follow this recipe from Alana Chernila, but I added several large sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme while things cooked up (and then removed the stems I could find when everything was said and done). And I recommend mushrooms too, even though I forgot to add them until I was warming up what was left of the stew for my family at dinnertime.

I was so consumed with the tasks at hand, I didn’t even take a picture of it.

What do you do when your task-list is looking like a bit more than you can handle?