Hungry Times Two

Little did I know when I made dinner on Election Day that I'd be serving up comfort in a time when right now we're all scratching our heads and wondering what's next. I just thought I was being savvy making a batch of stew in a Crock-Pot, saving some time for a night when I worked a late shift. Of all my kitchen appliances, this Crock-Pot gets the least amount of skin in the game. I use it maybe 3 or 4 times per year. But when I saw this Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew in Cooking Light, I figured since I had most of the ingredients on hand, I should give it a shot.  Maybe my slow cooker is reaaaaaaally slow, but after six of the eight hour cooking time on the low setting, the carrots were still crisp. So I bumped the cooker up to "high" and two hours later, the carrots were mostly tender.  The night before I made roasted chicken, and I popped in three beets while the oven was on. With those beets I made a salad with greens and crumbles of pungent a...

What a coincidence. The very weekend my post on honey and its many cure-alls hits the DC-based  blog We The Eaters , the cold crud hits our house. Scott's got a sore throat and I'm feeling achy and slightly off-kilter. Yay. My contribution lists five ways to use the sweet stuff --  methinks Number 1, the hot toddy,  will be indispensable this week. Bourbon and honey -- now that's comforting.

Meatloaf.  Mashed potatoes.  Chicken soup. Anything sweet.  These are all comfort foods that we seek when we're cold, sad, stressed or otherwise unsettled.  I sought comfort food Tuesday night, as I'd found out my mom had a stroke on Monday.  The stroke was mild, and she's been in good hospital care this week, even walking around, reading books, and doing all sorts of other tests, proving she's still ticking. Still, as with anything "Sudden and Medical," the situation's got me a bit on edge, which brings me back to comfort foods. I was anxious Tuesday night and decided I needed to get OUT of the house, so Erin and I took a trip to Common Market , a most uncommon market in Plaza-Midwood .  Looking around for something sweet, I found two of my favorite things: chocolate milk and a cookie. Why have regular milk with a cookie when you can have chocolate milk ... mmm.  And keeping with the comfort theme, the chocolate milk was a drink-box - nothing turns ...