Oh the weather outside is frightful but this stew is so delightful.. Since there's no place to go let it snow...Let it snow...Let it snow!
In my dream world I would make a huge pot of Hearty Beef Stew and we would be snowed in with sledding, stew and hot cocoa with a fire but we live in Washington so we rarely become snowed in.
Well except the year Colt and I decided to deliver newspapers for some extra cash for Christmas, of course that was the worst snow fall in the history of our existence. I will never not tip the delivery person again.
We started the week of Black Friday and let me tell you that was an experience in it's self just bundling the papers let alone me driving while Colt tossed them out the window while trying to find addresses in the dark and we had to pick up 2 loads in our mini van just to be able to fit all the newspapers.
The following weeks were filled with feet of snow and papers stacked around our kids (they were all small at the time so they slept while we delivered) and some nights they would have production problems and the newspapers wouldn't arrive until 3 or 4am in the morning and you would be stuck waiting until they arrived. Definitely one of the crazier things we've done.
Anyways back to this Hearty Beef Stew....We've been enjoying this in our regular dinner rotation the last month or two. It's easy to make, full of flavor and perfect yucky weather comfort food.
I love the look and taste of pearl onions and small multi colored potatoes in this stew but when in a pinch I quarter small onions and dice a few potatoes instead. Sometimes running to the store just isn't practical. I used fresh sage, rosemary and thyme off my plant growing in the kitchen but these too can easily be substituted with dried herbs. I find the earthy tones of sage really makes this a big old bowl of comfort perfect for these dark days of winter.
