A backwards picture for a backwards day... with Sharpie on her face. It's 10pm on New Years Day and I am still in my PJ's... from this morning. What a great day :) Heff and I called it a family day and watched football, cooked up some dinner and were entertained by the little Francie-doo. The two of them ventured out to Willow Market for some rations, but I haven't much left the confines of the house. Francie was in her PJ's all day too, but I finally just gave her a bath and put a new set of PJ's on her (to give myself an excuse, we were out until 2am last night). Heff made a delicious English Stew for dinner and read up on the great Alaskan hunting trip he got a "hall pass" to go on for Christmas :) I caught up on a few naps, my favorite blogs, Real Housewives of The OC and read Good Dog Carl about a dozen times. What a way to start the New Year :)

We played and colored a lot all with TWO Tu-Tu's on! (Thanks Isabel)

Speaking of my blog addiction, is anyone else addicted to "The Pioneer Woman" besides my sisters-in-law and me? This lady lives out on a cattle ranch, helps her husband "Marlboro Man" run cattle, cooks great food, homeschools her four "punk" kids, takes great photos and is oh-so-entertaining.

We all secretly want to be her (I mean... have you seen their Lodge!?) and since I didn't have much else going on today, in honor of my SIL's Maureen and Kat, here are some "Pioneer Woman-esq" photos of my husband cooking up our dinner... I didn't really plan on doing a post like this and Heff was an unsuspecting chef thinking I was just messing around with my flash settings and getting in his way so it's not nearly as good as The Pioneer Woman's cooking posts :)

My very own Marlboro Man cooking me dinner

"A Provencal Daube" from the cookbook MEAT (a favorite in our house)

3 pounds boned beef shank or stew meat (we used a cut from our cow)
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces salt pork or bacon (thanks Lucy the Pig, you were delicious)
3 1/2 ounces pork or bacon rind cut into squares (ditto Lucy)
2 cups white wine
2 cups water or beef stock
1 white onion
6 cloves
4-5 garlic cloves, bashed w side of a knife
2 bay leaves
A couple springs of thyme
3-5 strips finely pared orange zest
2 large carrots cut into large pieces
3 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
1 pound tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut up the beef into 'larger-than-you-would-think but not-too-boringly square' pieces trimming off some but not all of the fat as you go

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Fry the bacon and the pork or bacon rind until lightly browned but not crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large casserole. (In the same oil brown the beef and add to the casserole.)

Geglaze the frying pan with a little of the wine, then add the rest of the wine. Heat until it boils and pour over the meat.

Heat up the water or stock in the same way and pour that over too- enough to cover the meat by a good 3/4 inch.

Cut the onion in half and stick each half with a few cloves.

Add the onion halves to the casserole along with the carrots and celery...

... and tomatoes...

... and orange zest...

... and spices... (not all these, Heff was cleaning out the spice drawer:)

... and 4-5 cloves of garlic... (beware when buying garlic from the local market, it may look like this! ;) Heff told me to cut around that green stuff- it makes him nervous.

Season to taste but go easy on the salt. The bacon fat takes care of that. Bring to a gentle simmer on the stovetop (or oven) and maintain for 3-4 hours until the meat is completely tender.

Let your 15 month old nap on the couch while the stew simmers... and make her really mad by taking pictures of her when she wakes up on the wrong side of the couch with a bad case of bed head.

"Seriously Mom?"

"Maybe if I grind my teeth and pretend I'm still asleep she'll stop."

"I guess not."

Back to the stew... Serve hot! Remove the onion "unless your guests fancy whole onions" and ladle into deep plates or bowls. Serve with noodly pasta or potatoes - boiled, baked or mashed.

It was delicious! Even Bed-Head-Francie agreed :)

"Thanks for abusing me in this post mom. You are nowhere near as cool as The Pioneer Woman."

Sorry Francie ;)

...another random link I found on pioneer woman.com this is a hilarious video parody on a "Homeschool Family" I just had to include. Maureen, we promise not to make fun of you like this for homeschooling Ellie next year on your East Coast adventure ;) I'm sure you'll appreciate this too!

and to round out the randomness of this post, Heff and I clicked this video by the same guy and were rolling on the floor laughing so in honor of our baby-to-be Cletus Repeatus.... here is "Cletus take the Reel"