Beef Stew

2-1/2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1-3/4 cups sliced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
2 cans beef broth
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 bay leaf
4 cups cubed potatoes
3 cups diced carrots
2 stalks sliced celery

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 1/3 cup of butter or margarine in a large stock pot over medium-high heat.
2. Toss to coat beef with flour.
3. Place coated cubes in the pot and fry until well-browned on all sides; remove from pan and set aside.
4. Cook onion and garlic in same pot until tender.
5. Return meat to pan with water, parsley, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed.
7. Stir in potatoes, carrots, and celery, and continue cooking another 15 minutes.
8. Remove the bay leaf, and thicken with cornstarch and water, if desired.
   

It's raining, it's pouring

It's been raining steadily for a while now. The flooding has been intense.

Been a really, really long time . . .

I kind of miss blogging. I was looking at some of my old stuff and realize that I should have kept it. It was a trip reading through the old entries. I needed to be reminded of what things were like back then. I needed to be reminded of who I was back then.

Just kind of dropped off the net about two years ago. I was sick of the spam comments and had too much going on with a new job. The job is still stressful and life is still hectic--not sure what's different between now and then except that the urge to do memes seems to be back. Not much of an explanation, I know. Oh well. :)

I'm back.

Without further adieu, the latest from Unconscious Mutterings

1. Unorthodox:: methods
   


2. Skate:: -ing rink


3. Hold on:: tightly


4. Europe:: Asia


5. Reminder:: gentle


6. Gold:: mine


7. Calcium:: magnesium


8. Rated R:: XXX


9. Saturday night:: live!


10. Tell:: me no lies

Just another test

This is what happens when the links are removed

I miss Fu Man Chu. He was a very strange cat. 

Testing

Testing, testing, testing