No photos...

...just food.
I have been knitting. I have been doing all sorts of fabulous things, all of which should and may be documented here, but for the time being I've realized that the posting of pictures is keeping me away from you.
Sigh.
This burden has become so great that I shy away from a mere snapshot of a few inces of fabric or a blurry 2 year old face as he runs through puddles.
So here, for my husband and that Virgil fellow off to the right, who both so appreciate giant bowls of food...

Beef Stew

1 – 2 pounds stew beef, cubed
2 cups flour (more as needed)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 dozen white potatoes, cubed
4 – 5 lg carrots, unpeeled, cut into big chunks
3 lg onions chopped into big chunks
5 – 6 celery stalks, cut into big chunks
1 pint Guinness stout
2-3 cubes beef bullion, dissolved in 1 cup H2O
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toss beef in 1 cup of flour, until coated. Melt butter in a large cast iron enamel pot (with good, tight-fitting lid. Brown beef until just barely browned, not even on all sides, 2-4 minutes. Add potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. Stir it up, making sure all your ratios look good (I’ll sometimes add more potatoes if it looks necessary). Pour stout over meat and vegetables. Pour in bullion and water. Add more water as needed, until everything is just barely covered with liquid. Cover with lid and bake at 300 degrees for about 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove from oven, stir and smell. Yummmmm. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of flour, stirring well after each spoonful. Broth should begin to thicken. Add more flour as needed, but 3 – 4 big spoonfuls will usually do it. It also gets thicker the more it cooks. Add salt and pepper. Put the stew back in oven (with lid on) and bake for another 2 hours. It will be done when the meat is falling apart when you stir it. You can follow the directions for dumplings on a box of Bisquick, and add these to the boiling stew and it will be the most awesome.

Seriously.