This is what this blog is all about!
Weeknight dinners home-cooked by my hubby are delicious, and I’ve been posting photos of them to my Instagram account. “Chef” Yianni dinner posts are a success with more engagement than any of my others. I’ve embedded some of the most popular ones here for you to see, if you’re not on Instagram. After a hard day’s work, this is what I come home to. I am a lucky gal. #nomnomnom
Follow me on Instagram. I follow back.
After 25 years, we are moving from our home on 2939 Lanergan Drive.
I have sweet memories of 24 celebrations of Christmas,
many roast turkeys,
25 years of gardening,
abundant fresh herbs,
and dozens and dozens of koulouria.
But more importantly, I am grateful for how this house has served my family for all those years. And I hope these guys feel the same…
Kalá Christoúgenna, which in the Greek language (spelled phonetically) means “Merry Christmas.” Here’s the holiday photo of all my Hammond men and me. On Christmas day and through out the New Year, may your life be filled with health, happiness and joy!
My 2 little Yorkies, Stanley and Stella are ready for their close-up, and they too wish you a Kalá Christoúgenna. 😀 😀 😀
So I’ll post once again, just to make sure it’s clear, my family and I wish you the merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year!!! 
😉
Want to bake my Mom’s Greek Christmas cookies? Here’s the recipe!
This blog post is about a beef stew recipe that I created after a bit of online research, and how I made a beef stew for Sunday dinner. Google “beef stew” and read through a few recipes. You’ll get a sense of the measurement of the ingredients. Pick your favorite recipe or a combo of a few. It’s pretty easy to come up with your own take on this hearty recipe.
TIP: Always read all of the way through any recipe(s) and get your ingredients ready before you start cooking.
Here are some of the fresh ingredients I used; 2 pounds of beef, 3 medium size carrots, 3 celery stalks, one 24 ounce package of fingerling potatoes, 1 large onion, 5 cloves of garlic…
… and 4 cups of broth (beef or vegetable), 1/2 can of tomato paste, and 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil. You see how I diced all the carrots, celery and potatoes to be pretty much the same size. That’s so they cook evenly.
Here are a few more ingredients; 1 teaspoon of salt, fresh ground black pepper to taste, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of paprika, and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce.
You’ll want to dice the onion and the cloves of garlic. You’ll need a large pot, or a dutch oven. Add your olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot, heat the oil, and brown the beef.
Once browned, remove the beef from the pot, and throw in the onions and garlic, and cook until softened, a few minutes should do it.
When the onions and garlic are translucent, add the tomato paste and stir, then pour in the broth and continue to stir until all the ingredients are mixed well.
Oh! I almost forgot! I added a bottle of Bells Oberon beer too. Pick your favorite bottle of beer. Return the beef to the pot, cover and simmer on low heat until the meat is tender, 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.
Add the veggies and continue to simmer until the veggies are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
This is where I embellish my recipe just a bit. I add frozen pearl onions and Lima beans. Keep simmering another 5 to 10 minutes, until the frozen veggies are cooked through. If your broth is too thin at this point, remove a cup of the cooking liquid from the pot to a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well. Try to mix out all the lumps. Add that mixture back into the pot and simmer for 10 more minutes. That should thicken it up.
Serve with a big crust of bread, or with croutons, which is the way I like to serve it. I think beef stew is the perfect comfort food for Autumn.
Enjoy! 🙂 🙂 🙂
