Quiet Sunday Mornings - Yeah, right...

A walkway to the shore of Lake Superior (2011)

I wanted to place at least one of the pictures I took while on our 3-day get away up north. Isn't this peaceful? It helps me focus, I think. That sandy trail to the shoreline, gulls and bald eagles soar and look for their food in the churning depths of the water. It was windy that day we were there, and chilly for an August day. Then it later rained on us and we ducked into one of the little shops along the docks in the small town of Cornucopia.

This morning was our day to hang the new drapes in our living room. Knowing how things never go up easily, or install right, I put it as a two hour task. Yes. At least two hours. But after the whole ordeal, we now have chocolate brown curtains up in the living room. We'll have to shop around for something to tie them back with. But that's for later.

We then moved to making our stew in the crock pot. When we went to the store and viewed what the store offered for cut up stew meat, I was already looking at roasts. Bottom rounds. My husband went and talked to one of the butchers on what type of roast he would recommend. I was still standing eyeing the various roasts. These looked really lean, except for a sheath of fat on the end, it would do fine. You just cut that bit of fat off. The butcher recommended these bottom round roasts would be ideal for stew meat. We went with that.

So, this morning--after the drapes--we got into the meal prep. My husband chops/slices the onion, mushrooms, garlic and he also sliced the carrots (using the baby carrots saves a bit of time)--oh, these were sweet and we had to munch on a few.

I peeled the potatoes and cut them up--not quite 2 lbs. Then came the roast--2lbs. Dennis cut the roast u into cubes, he cut against the grain to further insure this would be tender as butter once the meal is done in about 7-8 hours. Then, dredging the pieces in flour, I seared them in a frying pan. These cubes of meat went into the already heated up crock pot with all the vegetables. If you like mushrooms, you'll want to add them. We love this stew. If you have red wine, add about a 1/4 cup to the pot. Add a can of beef broth--make sure to get the low sodium and low fat. And a small can (I think it might be 6-8 ounces) of V-8 juice. Aside from a 1/2 t. of salt, pepper, we added a 1/2 t. of thyme, and I like a t. of Worcestershire sauce. It picks it up.

That brought us up to about 9:30, and another load of laundry went in.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH AN EXTRA HOUR IN YOUR DAY?

Did you remember to "fall back"? We did. And although we did set our clocks back, we always get up when we usually do--about 4:30 am. We've too much to do in our day (as you can see from above) to spend it in bed. A nap later will suffice.

Very early, I went to work on the short story which I'm naming "Dreadfuls" and sending it off soon to be considered by Penumbra Publishing. I have to thank Heather McCorkle for posting "The 3 Elements of a Story" earlier this week on Critique Sisters Corner. It was exactly what I needed to figure out what I needed to sharpen in my story. It wasn't exactly missing it, but I needed it to be brought out a little more for the second point. The three points are:
1. Problem
2. Stakes
3. Solution

Heather goes into these points a little more detail HERE.

Well, I'm going to be on a few blogs coming up, what with the new novel about to be released. But Jimmy a.k.a. James Garcia Jr., has promised his review on my first book at his blog tomorrow. He actually had time to read during a trip to his brother's wedding to the east coast. I'm eager to see how he liked it. He does a good job at reviews.

Speaking of which, I'm behind on my reviews. I hope to put at least one up this week. I am currently reading Cold Magic by Kate Elliott, and I'm totally enjoying it. I actually can't wait to put up a review about it. But the book I will be reviewing soon will be the YA novel by Anne Spollen, Light Beneath Ferns.

Well, that's my summary of my "quiet" Sunday. Hope you all are having a good Sunday as well.