Project Bake: Boeuf Bourguignon (a la Julia Child)

"[Boeuf Bourguignon] is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man".

~ Julia Child

Starting right off, since this involved some oven time, I'm sort of claiming this Project Bake as redemption from the Cherpumple Disaster. Where that was an utter calamity, the Boeuf was total success.

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I decided to cook Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon for Christmas Dinner. I have never cooked Boeuf Bourguignon before. Attempting to cook something for the first time for other people is a serious no-no in some cooking circles. Since it was for my immediate family, I figured they would give me a reprieve if it went horribly. But again, I was risking Christmas Dinner. Eek! 

Holy ambitious recipe, Julia! She seriously knows how to complicate a recipe. Where the same dish was a single column on the back of the beef stock carton, she took up three whole pages in her cookbook. 

There are so many little steps involved {I have to admit I skipped a couple things} in what is basically just a peasant dish of red wine-based Beef Stew! Composed of what was the cheapest/easiest to find ingredients, it had to be slow-cooked for several hours in order to make the beef tender enough to eat.

The meat and veggies we get today are, of course, much better quality, and makes a darn good dinner. Heavenly, in fact. Just make sure you set aside at least 5 hours to make it. I'm not kidding.

Some thanks to my Mom for helping out a bit {especially peeling those 20 tiny onions for me}. When all you hear is munching and sighs of happiness around the dinner table, you know you've done a good job.

Find her recipe here

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Happy Holidays!

Seriously, Christmas has snuck up on me. Poof! Here it is!

I'm off to spend the weekend with the family and I wanted to send everyone warm wishes.

Hope all your Holidays are merry and bright!

Mom's Garden | Flower Mart: Narcissus Papyraceus

Another reason why I love the end of the year is because it signals the appearance of one of my favorite flowers. Narcissus (or, Paperwhites). Yes, I know you can force them in a jar all year, but there's something so much fun about having paperwhites when it's cold and gloomy outside.

Of course, they smell ah-mazing. 

And, did you know? Put them in the sun. They sparkle... how awesome is that?

I snagged some paperwhites from the Flower Mart as well and thought I'd share. 

And being a kind of Greek Mythology geek, there is of course a version of the tale of Narcissus. A vain boy who was very beautiful, spurned many women. One woman prayed to the goddess Nemesis so that he may always know unrequited love. The goddess cursed Narcissus so that when he was out hunting one day, he saw his reflection in a pool and fell in love with himself. He stayed staring along the waters edge and wasted away. Narcissus flowers are said to have grown where he died.

There's your Greek Mythology lesson for the day. 

Moral? Keep your ego in check, otherwise, keep away from mirrored objects. 

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Project Adventure: LA Flower Mart

Round about this time of year, Mom & Dad venture out to Downtown LA to get tons & tons of poinsettias to decorate for the holidays. Every year Mom invites me to go, but inevitably I don't because getting up at 5am never, ever, sounds like a good idea. This year I agreed to go one day because, hey, it may be early but how can I resist warehouses full of flowers?

 I didn't know this, but apparently the LA Flower District has been around for almost 100 years! It is also the largest flower district in the country! Wow! Back in the 1900's, local flower growers used to drive their horse-drawn carts downtown to sell at the product market. Can you imagine heaps of flowers on a horse-drawn carriage? So cool. Can you imagine what time they had to get up in the morning?

Find out more here

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