not my momma's beef stew

the weather has had me hankering for comfort food so i decided to make beef stew for dinner saturday night. in preparation, the boy took me to stew leonard's to get groceries. like tara reid at beach week, i couldn't help but go a little crazy. i loaded up on fresh produce, cheese (wasabi, goat, and bbq wing flavored!), snacks, beef and buffalo trace. since i was already running behind schedule (the stew takes 3-4 hours of simmering time), i decided to keep my anxiety in check and warn my dinner guests that dinner would be an hour late.

we got home around 5:30 and i started preparing dinner. . . by 8:30, the crostini and wasabi meatballs were done just in time for our first guest's, british dave, arrival. by the time celestial arrived just minutes later, i could relax and just let the stew finish simmering.

the result of my first attempt at making beef stew? somewhat mixed. i altered the recipe to suit our palettes- almost doubling the meat portion and halving the amount of potatoes. while it was definately tasty and substantial- it was more like a beef bourguignon than the stew i grew up eating and had been craving. i guess no one else minded and in fact, the boys helped themselves to seconds.

the meatballs were a surprise hit along with the nifty nabber which we all took turns playing with. after consuming a hearty meal and a few bottles of wine, we all felt like calling it a night and ended up nixing our initial plans of going out. . .making it a nice winter's night in.