Low and Slow

Economy, Energy Saving, Convenience and Low and Slow is just a few adjectives to describe my slow cooker. Today i made beef bourguignonne in my slow cooker. This was not as easy as the others because i had to marinade my beef tips... hehe, for 12 hours and prepare all the ingredients which were not cheap or convenient to get without a car. I spent at least 5 days gathering up everything i needed and walk, bused and borrowed the rest to make this fucking stew. The results were unbelievable! I cannot believe how amazing it turned out. I have to say this was the best dinner i have made so far with my crock pot. So my friends i will say one thing about this dish, deep dish delish! It's worth every penny and time i had available to make it. Beef stew Serves 8-10| Hands-On Time: 35m| Total Time: 8hr 00m Ingredients • 4 pounds bottom round, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces • 1 cup all-purpose flour • 1/3 cup olive oil (plus more if needed) • 2 large onions, diced (2 cups) • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste • 1 cup dry red wine • 1 pound potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups) • 1/2 pound baby carrots (about 2 cups) • 2 cups beef broth • 1 tablespoon kosher salt • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, i substituted with rosemary • 1 bay leaf • 1 cup frozen peas, thawed or you could substitute with celery Directions 1. Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. 2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions; transfer to the cooker. 3. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf. 4. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 1/2 hours or on high for 4 hours. Add the peas and heat through.

Dinner tonight.

It's officially Autumn and i have dusted off the slow cooker. My slow cooker AKA a crock pot is what i consider key to a fabulous messy free dinner and a excuse to drink red wine for 6 hours while it cooks during the best season in the New England Sates. On the menu tonight is Italian-Style Chicken With Penne Pasta

. I bet you are all thinking that you could just whip that up in about a hour on the stove and call it a night. Well you're right, but who cares. I'm thinking a nice Merlot would be my choice of grape juice today. So i am off to the store kids. I am so looking forward to my dinner tonight!

Is it just me or did gay one night stands turn into relationships in the gay community? I mean really why is it so hard to find someone who just wants the basics? AKA sex. Now its all about questions and false interest in everyone's life desires and dreams...ugh what happen to whores have more fun? More like whores don't have enough time to have fun because we have to hear about you!! Dirte.

May Day.

It's been a few months since i have had the inspirations to write just anything, until today. Me and a friend of mine had planned a girls day out a few weeks ago to go shopping and get some lunch. Our first stop was one of my favorite Mexican restaurant located at the bottom of Church St. in BTV. It's about 11:30am and the thought of a margarita sounded decadent. Of course the waitress has come to the table at least twice and i still had not looked at the menus. I blame it on my ADD, which i really do have and always forget to take my meds on a regular basis. I ordered a; margarita with kiwi infused tequila substituted for the jalapeno infused tequila ...Which boils down to a margarita SUB KIWI FOR JAP i later saw on the bill,i know hilarious! . I said no salt and when it gets to the table i have salt on my rim. Not a big deal cause i have a straw and i can make it work. Its time to order and i decide on the steak taco and my friend orders a pork and a shrimp taco. When our food arrives we both have the same dishes and i can't hold back. Um this is not what i ordered, i wanted a steak taco! She says i thought you ordered a the same tacos, i'll give her that one , but really i was laughing my ass off because this lunch is cracking me up and i know my stiff SUB KIWI FOR JAP drink is not helping. My food arrives and it's DELISH, you have to order the steak taco if you ever go to this place. I am not disclosing the name of the restaurant, but if you want to know, then check out my foursquare page. When the waitress comes back to check on our table, my friend ordered another glass of wine and she gets a plate of limes!!!! I had to say something at this point; Excuse me, are you on drugs? She replies with a chuckle, I cant hear anything...i'm sorry. At this point i shut down, then she asked if we wanted anything else and i just kept my mouth shut.

running up that hill.

On my way to the bus stop the other day I noticed a dried piece of mud on my shoe and it pretty much drove me into a spiral of OCD and neurotic behavior. As you could imagine I was walking up the hill freaking out that I was going to be late for the bus, and all I could think about was this spot on my dress shoe. So as I was frantically speed walking up the hill, while singing Kate Bush’s running up that hill, I was looking for left over snow to rub my shoe in to cleanse it from the dirt of who knows where. As I was walking up the hill I was dragging my shoe on the sidewalk to free the dried mud from my shoe and I failed the whole way to the stop.

So I am sitting on the bus I am thinking about how I could remove this mud without making myself look any crazier than the people I am sharing the bus with. Why I would even think that they are crazier than me still entertains me.

As we approach the Price Chopper stop, this older man stands up and screams; your shoes are too shiny, you need to scuff them up!

WTF?

Thank you.

There are so many reasons to be thankful this year and here are just a few.

I am thankful for Michelle and Rob for being there for me when I needed a late night ride.

Thank you Emma, Eimear and China for bringing me back to my youth and reminding me it’s never too late to make new friends.

Dina and Sabrina, you made me able to differentiate what was worth living for and who means the most in life.

Thanks Pam, I don’t know any other woman who could have put up with me for as long as you did in bed!

I am thankful for my family for always being there for me when I needed them the most. I love you guys!

Thanks Tara, you know this year would have sucked without you!

Thank you Holden, you are the best pretend boyfriend and a good listener. Love you Fluffer!

Thank you to all my coworkers, we had a hard year losing one of our own.

Thank god there is the Bahamas; otherwise I would turn into an ice cube!

I am thankful I am still alive and have such an amazing support system of friends and family.
Thank You!

A collection of recollections.

There are so many conversations to be heard while riding the CCTA that I wish I had a notebook handy to write down everything i hear during what i like to call CCTA social hour. Today’s ride into work consisted of a group of 3 to 4 people talking about all the different places they have worked, applied, and have been released from. The best was what places they have blacklisted from future employment, due to unhappy and unsafe working conditions. What intrigues me most is that they all got on at different times along the route, have they been riding public transportation all their life’s or is this just a class of people I never crossed before here in BTV? Regardless, I am truly excited to be apart of this exciting new social hour.

A large part of the conversations today were about the interviews they have had and what ones they were going to have. Thank goodness my company was not part of any of the conversation, because i want to remain bias and open minded to my new hires. Oh that sounds wrong...


If you're wondering what Burger King hires pedophiles and criminals and which one does not, you need to ride the bus with me! Everyone knows everyone’s business and they love to talk about it on the CCTA.