Sunday dinner

It is no secret I love food and eating. I also love taking pictures of dishes because the colors and the sight of food make me happy. It sort of warms my heart. It is also not a secret food is my love language. I feel feeding others is my way of saying I love you, I am here for you, you can always count on me, etc.

I used to cook all the time before. The kitchen was my little oasis. My space away from the everyday rush after a long day at the office, my creative outlet. And then...I had kids so finding the time for elaborate dishes and long sit down dinners changed. Now, even though I still cook everyday and not just dinners but breakfast, lunches and snacks, our meals have gotten more simple and the long sit down meals are now loud, messy, sometimes stressful family dinners.
I wouldn't change any of it though. The house is now a home! A messy, loud and stressful place but it is so full of life.

Having said all that, I still enjoy cooking and try to make real food. To me, real food is important. My kids have been exposed to a variety of dishes since they started solids as babies. I made all their meals from scratch but that's a different post.

What I have a hard time doing is following recipes. I enjoy reading cookbooks, blogs and searching Pinterest for recipes but then I go on and create my own. Or one of my favorite things to do is just look in my fridge and pantry and come up with a meal. Except when I am making a recipe from a master chef like Julia Child's. I love making her recipes and definitely follow them to a T ish...

Here is a Sunday night meal I made and my family loved it! I used a bottle of wine my awesome
neighbor friend made and shared with us. Naturally he got to try my dish and admitted he didn't necessarily liked mushrooms but loved this dish. I served with both white rice and mashed potatoes so my family could pick one or the other.

Right out of the oven before adding onions and mushrooms

Recipe:

I won't type the recipe again. You can follow this link. This page has the same recipe as the book. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/julia-childs-beef-bourguignon-50159695

Tips and things I did differently
- I used regular bacon and didn't boil - just pan fried
- I used baby carrots because it's what I had on hand
- I used dried herbs because it's what I had
- I put in a different dish for serving and before adding the mushrooms and onions
- I did not pour into a sieve or skimmed the fat. My meat was not too fatty.
- Make sure to follow the directions for the mushrooms and onions. You won't regret it.
- Don't stress over the long process. It's very easy and fun.


Bon appetit!