lo and behold

The first snow in MA yielded the first beef stew: beef chunks, carrots, potatoes, peas, corn, and mushrooms in a red wine/beef broth sauce that was flavorful and just the right consistency. I started with this recipe for the sauce components and add whatever vegetables I feel like. I also tried it in the crockpot this time, but still followed the original directions to do the meat first and the veges second. I think with a crock pot it would be better to do it all together.

I’m realizing as I try to blog more often that I don’t like my photos. I want a better camera, I want to be more skilled at getting nice shots, and I want to remember to take photos more often. For example, on this post, I wish I had shot a scene of the yard in the snow, and then I could show snow to stew rather than just say it. But for now, I am trying to be satisfied with one photo per post, and 2 - 3 posts per week. Those are my goals. Thanks for your patience (as if anyone is reading this at all!)

Today is Isabel’s tenth birthday. She had a great day, starting with donuts and hot cocoa for b-fast, a lovely day at school that included art class, chorus, the annual book fair at which kids buy books, recess, and “just a little math.” She took chocolate-dipped-rice-krispie-treat-hearts as her special snack - a gourmet confection of her own design and imagination. She also had a gymnastic lesson, a pile of presents, dinner with the family and her two best friends at a Habatchi steakhouse, and coconut cupcakes for dessert. I say, it can’t get much better than that!

I watched Isabel travel gracefully through her birthday this year: she was flexible, she was joyful, and she was appreciative. When I offered her the chance to get her ears pierced a few weeks before her b-day, instead of waiting for the actual day as she had been planning for so long, she jumped at the chance. When the gymnastics teacher had time only today to see her for a private lesson, we were available. Her vision of the day changed as it approached and she saw that it was all good. I was so proud of her, so in awe of her growth and maturity. She is an amazingly lucky girl, and I am amazingly lucky to have her in my life.