Sunday Number 2

Simple Pot Roast is what is on the menu today. At the grocery store, I had the experience of having the butcher cut a Chuck-eye roast and tie string around it (so it wouldn't fall apart as it cooked) for me. Even that was fun...I felt like for some reason, my Chuck-eye roast was special. Maybe it was because of the interaction with the butcher at the grocery store. He was an elderly man who looked like he has had alot of experience cutting Chuck-eye roasts. I asked him if he had a roast with the string tied around it and he said "I can cut you one and tie the string around it for you". Great. So I continue a little more grocery shopping and return to the meat department and the butcher hands me the roast and says "Is this ok for you, m'aam?" I looked at it like I knew what I was looking at and said "yes, perfect, thank you". The only thing missing was that it wasn't wrapped in white paper with the word "chuck-eye roast" scralled out with a black grease pencil and there wasn't sawdust on the floor. That's what I remember the California Market on the corner was like when I was a little girl.

Oh, if you could only smell this...it was pretty amazing.

I love my enamel covered cast iron Dutch oven! I got it at Target.

Today, in the kitchen, this is the conversation Rebekah and I had...

When you are involved in ministry or a job that requires you to have responsibilities on Sunday, it becomes a challenge to relax on Sunday. If Sunday is your family's day to relax and spend time together and you know that you have to leave and attend to your responsiblities at a certain time...as much as you try to relax...you just simply can't. Besides feeling the weight of the responsiblities, many times there are last minute details that come up that need attention. It seems like for as long as I've known Craig, he's been involved in church in some way on Sunday, whether giving a sermon or leading worship or playing drums for the worship team. There were many times when I had an expectation of how I thought Sundays should be...and even became frustrated with Craig at times because it seemed to me that he could never relax on Sunday and/or always had a place to go to at a certain time, etc. The more frustrated I became, the more I tried to "reason" with Craig and "explain" why it was important to relax. That resulted with him still bearing the weight of his Sunday responsibilities AND NOW the weight of wanting to please me (at this point both things contradicted eachother) and the result was a not so relaxed Craig and a not so happy Josie...and yes, I've used the line "but you're supposed to REST on Sundays!"

So today, as Rebekah and I worked in the kitchen, we talked about the difference between creating an "environment of relaxation" rather than telling him or her to relax. We had soft music playing, the house smelled terrific as food was cooking, we were not asking them "honey, can you get this down for me?" or "honey, can you wash this for me?" We were happy with what we were doing in the kitchen and that left Craig, Michael and Nick, (our friend who was visiting) free to do what they do naturally...go upstairs and play Nintendo! I even enjoyed hearing them yell out from time to time, because I knew they were having fun. To top it off, there goes Rebekah, bringing them a tray of freshly baked brownies and glasses of milk...and my heart was happy.

I set the table a little bit differently this time...using placemats instead of a table cloth.

Rebekah made bread.

Rebekah also made a delicious Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Potato Soup that we had after church in the evening. It really was so nice to finish church and come home to a table that was already set and a meal that was waiting for us. Another reason soup was great was that we didn't need to use a lot of different plates and that made clean up pretty easy, which is important on a Sunday night when you have to get up early for work the next day. Planning ahead made such a huge difference.

Rebekah gives Michael the honor of slicing the freshly baked bread!

Setting the table is fun...I always seem to forget what side the forks are supposed to be on...forks on the left, forks on the left...

This is what the brownies looked like...I made the mistake of buying "semi-sweet chocolate" instead of "bittersweet chocolate". These brownies turned out pretty sweet, but still delicious and they didn't last long!

Strawberry Cream Shortcake

Simple Pot Roast

The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook page 50

Serves 6 to 8

1 (3 1/2 pound) boneless chuck-eye roast

Table salt and black ground pepper

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped medium

1 small carrot, chopped medium

1 small rib celery, chopped medium

2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons of sugar

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup beef broth

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 - 1 1/2 cups water 1/4 cup dry red wine

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Thoroughly pat the roast dry with paper towels; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Brown the roast thoroughly on all sides, reducing the heat if the fat begins to smoke, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the roast to a large plate; set aside. Reduce the heat to medium; add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and sugar; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and beef broths and thyme, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Return the roast and any accumulated juices to the pot; add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the roast. Place a large piece of foil over the pot and cover tightly with the lid; bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat, then transfer the pot to the oven. Cook, turning the roast every 30 minutes, until fully tender and a meat fork or sharp knife easily slips in and out of the meat, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

3. Transfer the roast to a carving board; tent with foil to keep warm. Allow the liquid in the pot to settle about 5 minutes, then use a wide spoon to skim the fat off the surface; discard the thyme sprig. Boil over high heat until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Add the red wine and reduce again to 1 1/2 cups, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Using a chef's or carving knife, cut the meat into 1/2 inch thick slices; or pull apart into large pieces. , transfer the meat to a warmed serving platter and pour about 1/2 cup sauce over the meat. Serve, passing the remaining sauce separately.

Strawberry Cream Shortcake

Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics page 404

Serves 8 - 10

1 large Sara Lee Pound Cake

One 5.1-ounce package vanilla instant pudding mix

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

One 12-ounce container Cool Whip

2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced

Slice the cake very thin and lay half the slices in a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. In a bowl, combine the pudding mix, water, milk, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Fold in the Cool Whip. Pour half of this over the cake and lay half of the strawberries on top. Repeat to make a second layer. Refrigerate until well chilled.