It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Friday was so much fun! It was cold and windy and IT SNOWED right here in Houston, TX! It really felt like Christmas.

It was really hard to concentrate on work! So, we spent most of our time at the window watching the flurries!

Then, we ventured outside to get some pictures in the flurries!

Not long after this, it started coming down harder and so we decided we better head home since all of Houston would be a mad house of crazy drivers on the road!

I was stopped at a light, and looked over and this is what McDonald's looked like. Isn't it pretty?

Less than a mile past the McDonald's, stopped at another light - this is what everything looked like outside my window! Everything was covered in white!

I've never actually seen snow (other than this and a few flurries over the years) so this was really special. I passed a Christmas tree stand on my way home, and all of the trees were flocked. It was magical!

We spent 90% of the weekend inside, wrapped up in blankets, next to the Christmas tree and a roaring fire, eating soup. After all, we are used to wearing short sleeves and flip flops in December so this bit of cold was quite a change for us.

Friday night, I made Baked Potato Soup and Saturday I made Beef Stew. Both were delicious! I put the stew in my crockpot about 10am Saturday morning and we ate dinner about 7, so it had plenty of time for the flavors to blend and the meat to get really tender. You could cut it with a spoon! It made so much that my crock pot was full so we ate it again on Sunday! I just make it the way that my mom always did (except she just made it on the stove and let it cook all day).

Beef Stew

• Beef Stew Meat (I use 2 pounds)
• 4 or 5 Potatoes, chopped
• 5 Carrots, chopped
• 4 stalks of Celery, chopped
• ½ an Onion, chopped
• 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
• 3 cups of Beef broth
• garlic powder, salt and pepper

Turn your crockpot on and start warming it up. While its warming, clean your vegetables, wash and peel your potatoes and then chop everything up. Just a rough chop - its going to cook so long that if you dice everything, its just going to turn to mush. I season the meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder and then put it in the bottom of the crock pot. Then, I pour the beef broth over the top, pour in the tomatoes and then add all of the vegetables and potatoes. Season again and mix all together. I cook on low for 10 hours and just check on it every few hours. When the meat is cooked, you can check the broth and see if you need to add any more seasoning. About 30 minutes before its done, I make up some cornbread, which more times than not, consists of Jiffy Cornbread mix. It turns out wonderfully if you make it in a cast iron skillet, but the kids might like it if you make it in muffin pans.

All in all, its an easy and delicous meal for a cold night!