Double Take: Beef with Spicy Cocoa Gravy

Beef and Pork with Spicy Cocoa Gravy

The way I’ve been cookng lately, you’d think I lived in the Southern hemisphere. But though we are now at the middle of July, it hasn’t quite gotten hot yet. Oh, it’s toasty here this week (if you consider temps in the mid 70s upper 60s to be toasty), but when I woke up on July 1, it was a mere 49°F/9°C. Thus, my oven is still in use and I’m willing to use my stove for lengthy periods of time. Roasting in the kitchen does not cause me to roast, so I’m taking advantage of the cooler than usual weather and using my oven and stove as much as I can.  

Of course, poor Tabitha is not enjoying such cool temperatures. Oops. But maybe it’s okay since she has air conditioning and I don’t?

Double Take: Beef Stroganoff

Are you ready for a bowl of comfort?

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you know that my all-time comfort food is beef stroganoff. Full of mushrooms, onions, beef, and sour cream, how can you go wrong? When I first saw a recipe for beef
stroganoff in the all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, I was excited. Until I actually read the recipe. It called for beef tips instead of ground beef. I don’t dislike beef tips, but I just prefer my comfort food to be the way I grew up eating it: with ground beef.

Daring Cooks Challenge: Brunswick Stew

Blog Checking Lines- The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this month's challenge. Brunswick Stew. Oh wow, where do I begin. A southerner myself, I'm no stranger Brunswick Stew, but it's never really done it for me. I've asked Hubby about his feelings on Brunswick Stew in the past, and he's never seemed thrilled by it either. So I was nervous about telling him what I had to make this month. And I was nervous about whether or not I would like it.