Tag: killing frost

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RAINY DAY BEEF STEW FOR TWO

Rainy days and gray skies signal that my favorite time of year is coming.   Finally, that miserable summer heat and humidity are coming to an end.  Soon, we’ll have a hard frost, which will kill  the ragweed pollen.  When my nose stops dripping and the air is crisp and cold, I’ll feel a burst of energy—but not yet.  This morning,  we woke up to fog, and the rain has never really let up.  Grocery shopping was out, and due to so much covid-19 in our city, I didn’t want to stand in line for take-out.  A perfect time to make Rainy Day Beef Stew for two.

RAINY DAY BEEF STEW FOR Two is so easy to make and delicious
RAINY DAY BEEF STEW FOR TWO is easy and delicious.

My freezer  has individual  packs of beef stew meat, purchased when it’s on sale and stored for  use on a rainy day.  The  veggie bin had carrots that were a bit old and needed scraping, but they were still good.  And there was a quarter head of cabbage left  from last week.  Potatoes are a staple, as well as cans of beef consommé on my cupboard shelf.  And I always have  some kind of  pasta on hand..

With nothing to do but some laundry, I put the beef and consommé on to simmer while I opened a new book to read.  The beef smelled delicious.  Later on, I added the other ingredients and when everything was warm, I kept it  on low heat  until time for dinner.  Paired it with a fruit salad and some biscuits .

It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow.   But there’s no leftover stew, so I’ll have to scavage through the cupboards and come up with something else.

Rainy Day Beef Stew for Two

INGREDIENTS

¾ pound beef stew meat

1 can Campbells beef consommé

Three carrots, scraped and cut in chunks

1 large or two small potatoes, peeled and cubed

¼ head cabbage, cut in ribbons (optional)

¼ cup orzo or other small pasta

DIRECTIONS:

Dredge beef cubes in flour, then saute in small amount of  olive oil until slightly brown.  Add the beef consommé, and another can or two of water.  Simmer for two hours.  ( You may need to add more water if it starts to boil down.)  Add carrots, cabbage , potatoes and pasta the last half hour.  When the  veggies and beef cubes  are tender, it’s time to serve in large bowls.

If you like a thinner stew, you can add some water until it’s the consistency that you like.  Be sure and stir a few times so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Don’t you love rainy days?

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KILLJOY FROST HELPS ALLERGIES

When I was younger, it seemed that I always caught a cold in the Spring.  I attributed it to the unstable weather—one day hot and sunny, the next cold and rainy.  But it finally dawned on  me that it wasn’t the changing weather that made me sneeze.  It was the tree pollen whirling through the air in April.  Once I’d figured that out, I treated my “spring cold” like any other allergy with antihistamines and a neti pot. Also, I tried to  shut the windows and stay indoors. But I got lucky this year with a killjoy frost,  because it helps allergies by killing the pollen.  This only happens when you have a hard freeze below 20 degrees after the trees have begun pollenating.

The last week in March, we had temperatures in the seventies, and all the pretty flowering trees began to bloom. Then, a cold spell swept in, with below freezing temperatures turning all the  blossoms brown.  I know it’s ugly, and I shouldn’t be glad.  But I am, because I’ve gotten a break from all the allergic reactions.

Tree pollen is finer than other pollens, and  the wind can carry it for miles. These light, dry grains  get into  your sinuses, lungs and eyes.  This year we’ve had winds up to 60 miles per hour.

In the fall, most allergy sufferers pray for a hard frost  to kill  the dreaded ragweed pollen. Even those who aren’t allergic don’t mind when a killing frost finally comes—anywhere from October through November.  By then,  with all the brilliant colored leaves to enjoy, no one is too upset when the frost kills our petunias and begonias.  We  were tired of watering them, anyway.

Killjoy frost helps allergies, but ruins the pretty spring tree blossoms.
A killjoy frost helps allergies, but it burns the pretty magnolia blossoms.

But a killjoy frost isn’t a welcome event.  Often, the magnolias and crabapple trees don’t start  blooming until  April.  Then, we have a spectacular spring show in our city.  with miles of blossoming trees lining the streets everywhere.  But, about every four years, a killjoy frost sweeps in and burns all those pretty blossoms.. I know it ruins the magnolias, but it’s a gift to those of us with allergies.