Thanksgiving & Yummy Brown Stew Recipe

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our holiday plans unfortunately got derailed last week and we had to cancel a trip to Greenville, SC to spend Thanksgiving with my brother's family and my parents. Eric and I both have had a nasty cold for over a week now and since there is a new baby in the family, we didn't want to risk getting the baby sick, plus it is just no fun traveling and being away from home when you are sick. We were really disappointed to not get to make the trip and meet Merritt, but they are coming here at Christmas, so we will meet her soon! Luckily, Eric's parents were doing Thanksgiving at their house, so we joined them for a yummy Thanksgiving meal and then ended up back on the couch to rest. We are feeling better, but Eric is still suffering from a nasty cough. I am suffering from having to listen to it! (Kidding, love you!)

Friday, the plan was to go to Fort Worth to see Eric's parents horse Fritz compete in a cattle herding competition.  They bought Fritz a few years ago and he has been getting trained by a professional and this was his first competition. Although he didn't win, Blair had a great time!

Just Eric ended up going because early Friday morning, I got a text from Brittany asking if I was in town and wanted to go look at bridesmaid dresses, so of course, I had to go do that! We had a fun girls day out trying on tons of dresses. I think we found the winner! We will see which the bride picks! Can't wait to wear it! :) I wish I had some fun pics of all the dresses, but Brittany took them all!

The White Rock Marathon is this weekend and I am running the half! I have been worried about my training since I was sick all last week, I was not able to run and started getting anxious. I tried to run on Wednesday and made it about two miles and couldn't breathe well so I didn't push it. I knew I needed to get one more long run in before this weekend, so yesterday, I set out for an 11 mile run. I ran the first 5 miles by myself and then picked up Ollie to finish the remaining 6. I knew I would need him at the end! It was a cold and windy day and I was still weak and out of shape from not running all week, but I managed to finish all 11 miles. I can't say I am impressed by my time, but I am not going to give up my goal of under two hours next weekend.  I actually had a scary moment during mile 6 of my run. My legs were tired, Ollie was pulling me, and somehow I lost my footing and totally ate it. I fell right on the sidewalk. Luckily, I had a water bottle in my left hand and honestly, I think it broke my fall. It is all scraped up along with my right knee. I am just glad I didn't land on my hand and break my wrist!  Ollie just stood there and was no help and it took me a few minutes to kind of come out of the shock of falling. I was bleeding pretty badly, but decided to keep going and not go home to clean it up. I am sure anyone who saw me running thought I was crazy because I had blood all down my leg. My knee is pretty scraped up and it hurts, but I am okay. My knees are super sore today from the 11 miles and I am hobbling around. Hopefully it will go away and I can train the rest of the week to finish strong on Sunday!

Last night was my friend Tracy's "non-bachelorette" party! We had a blast celebrating her last night of singleness before she gets married on December 10th. Post with some fun pics coming soon on that! After being out super late last night and being sore today, I have been quite unproductive today. I enjoyed a lot of couch time, a nap, and a bowl of homemade beef stew! Eric got tired of seeing me acting so miserable so he went to the grocery store and came home and made this awesome Brown Stew from the Better Homes & Garden cook book. It was so good, so I thought I would share the recipe with you guys!

Brown Stew

2 lbs of beef stew meat cut in 1 1/2 inch chunks
2 tablespoons fat (didn't have, so he used 2 tablespoons of Crisco)
4 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion, sliced
1 to 2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
dash of allspice
3 cloves
6 carrots, quartered
4-5 big red potatoes, cubed (bite size pieces)
1 lb (18-24) small white pearl onions (you have to peel before using. To peel, boil in water for three minutes and then rinse in cold water and peel.)

Thoroughly brown meat on all sides in far; add water, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, sliced onion, bay leaves, and seasonings. Cover, simmer 2 hours; stir occasionally to keep from sticking. Remove bay leaves, garlic.

Add carrots, onions, potatoes. Cover; continue cooking 30 minutes or till vegetables are done.

Remove meat and vegetables; thicken liquid for gravy. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

It was so good and perfect for this cold night on the couch! I really am lucky to have a husband that enjoys cooking so much! He was actually really proud of this meal! The meat was so tender and it really hit the spot! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! I can't believe it is almost December!!!