Slow-Cooker Pot Roast: Perfect for a cold wintery day!!!!

Get a head start on dinner with this fresh take on a slow-simmered, all-in-one meal that makes clean-up a breeze.

Prep: 15 minutes
Total: 6 1/4 hours

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 8 medium carrots, cut into thirds
• 2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 beef chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.
2. Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).
3. Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Slow-Cooker Pot Roast - Martha Stewart Recipes

The Sunshine Came Back!!!!

 And Belle Starr Could not be happier!!!!

My little lady LOVES rolling around in the sunshine and had moped around this house all week.  Her favorite spot is right in front of the windows of the Formal Livingroom.  She will sit and meow (David says she is bitchin' at us) at the window or walk back and forth, meowing, from the window to where ever we are, letting us know she wants the blinds open to let the sunshine in.  She will lay there all day!!!!

Tiffany

I want to wash my hands, my face, my hair with snoooooooooooooooooow......

At least the snow is prettier than the ice and mush.  We have lots of it this morning.  Again, David went out, bravely, into the cold harsh world to bring home the bacon.  Well the Turkey Bacon.

These photos are from our patio.  It always looks so inviting during most of the year but with the wind, ice, and snow, we had to take the umbrellas down and put up most of the decor.  I love how the snow looks first thing in the morning, before the sun comes up.  It is so undisturbed and beautiful.  You can barely see the drop off from the patio levels.  Beautiful

All this snow makes me want to sing "Snow (from White Christmas)"

Snow
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Snow
I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow

Where it's snowing
All winter through
That's where I want to be
Snowball throwing
That's what I'll do
How I'm longing to ski
Through the snow-oh-oh-oh-oh

Those glist'ning houses that seem to be built of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow

What is Christmas with no snow
No white Christmas with no snow
Snow

I'll soon be there with snow
I'll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I'll build a man that's made of snow
I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye
Go to sleep
And dream
Of snow

 

 

 

Can't you just hear Bing, Rosemary, Danny and Vera singing in the dinning car of their train?  I just love that scene....

 

Stay Warm,

Tiffany

Rotating Power Outage...uhgggg...WTHecK?

photos from wfaa.com

So I was sitting here about to compose a brilliant blog post and .... OUT! GO! THE! LIGHTS!....and.....HEAT!.  Well shoot!!!!

I sit here dreading the call to TXU (the electric company) because they keep you on hold forEVER and my phone is not charged.  We do not use a land line so all I have is my cell phone (it's been so long, does a land line work when the power is out?).  Just as I am about to have a carb loaded bagel (because I am all the sudden starving and our stove is electric ~YUCK, I know~ and I am using this excuse to chow down on carbs) David calls to say he made it to work safely.  I tell him my electricity woes and he decides he will call to see what is up.  He calls me back to let me know that there was a recording that tells how they are conducting rotating power outages.  So they are doing this ON PURPOSE?  Meanwhile the lights have come back on....so all is swell again.

Back on the ole computer, I find this on WFAA's website"

photos from wfaa.com

"AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has ordered utilities to begin rotating electrical outages to compensate for a power shortage linked to the extreme cold weather.
The order took effect Wednesday morning, a day after an ice and snow storm blanketed parts of Texas.
Consumers and businesses are urged to reduce their electricity use. ERCOT had no timetable for when the rotating outages would end.
The ERCOT region includes Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, Abilene and the Rio Grande Valley. ERCOT manages the flow of electricity to about 22 million Texas customers.
Rotating outages are defined as "controlled, temporary interruptions of electric service, typically lasting 10-45 minutes per neighborhood."
Critical need customers, such as hospitals and nursing homes, are generally excluded from outages"

photos from wfaa.com

I have not heard of "rotating power outages" being conducted on purpose.  I guess this makes sure no one is without power for a long period of time.  I will be ok with that, I guess.  It is rather inconvenient, however.  I have a roast in the crock pot and when the power goes out, the crock pot turns off.  It does not come back on, automatically, when the power is restored....so I have to REMEMBER to turn it back on.  Oh...and the clocks all need to be reset, with the alarms.  And the dog goes a bit crazy because she wants to make sure I know her old bones are cold.  It will be a fun day.  I just hope the when it is next our time for the "rotating power outage" that it is at least 8 hours away so my I can have the yummie roast tonight...LOL.  This is a big state, surely the outages will be at least 8 hours apart, right?

Tiffany

Texas Weather....if you don't like it....

Photo from Yahoo! News

Wait around, it is bound to change....

Remember this weekend, I was hanging my linens out on the line because it was a balmy 70 some-odd degrees?  Well....not today my dear readers.

We woke up to snow and sleet.  The dog was excited and the cat was bitchie....the weather had changed. 

I was very scared for David to be out driving in this weather but once his students are in town, he really can not cancel a class.  He promised to call me as soon as he got to the training center and I am VERY happy to report, he arrived safely. 

I am home-bound watching old movies with Belle Starr beside me on the sofa.  We may even take a nap later (well Ms. Starr is already napping, as usual).  Or maybe I will start on Simplicity 3673 since I have the fabric, there is no excuse not to.

We hear that this bad weather is going to stick around for a few days.  I have plenty to keep me busy around here...and I am sure I can fit in plenty of old movies, naps, and hot chocolate (well not too much with the carb count being 4 per serving on the diet variety).

Stay Warm,

Tiffany