Chandeliers, Stracotto, and the Ewok

So HERE is the shirt! This picture makes me a little sad because I remember the day I noticed that her head came up to the doorknob.

Okay so how it works is....

I tried a new something today called stracotto...it's like Italian roast and it smells pretty good. I've been in a food rut, getting bored with just putting food on the table. I wanted to make something amazing...so Carly and I broke out the Joy of Cooking and looked around until we found this.
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You start with 1/4 cup of parsley, 3 large cloves of garlic and teaspoon each of sage and rosemary. Chop them all up together. Take half of that mixture and stir it together with 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp black pepper...

This part was so fun for Carly! Cut deep slits in a 4 pound pot roast (ours lived a very happy life somewhere in Texas) and then fill each one with the oil and herb mix.

Browning is my #1 favorite thing to do to add more flavor to a dish. After it was browned, we poured off all but a tablespoon or two of the fat and added...

One onion, one stalk of celery, one carrot, 4 oz mushrooms,

...chopped. Plus one bay leaf and the rest of the herb mixture. We cooked it until the onions were translucent and beginning to brown.

Then we added 2 tbsp tomato paste and half a cup of dry red wine and boiled the mixture until the pot was almost dry.

Then we added a cup of wine (give or take) and a cup of chicken broth. You could use beef broth if you have it, or either kind of stock. We boiled THIS until there was less than half a cup of liquid left and by that time the sauce looked and smelled fabulous.

Okay then we added ANOTHER cup of wine, a cup of chicken broth and this can of whole tomatoes, drained and crushed. Carly had completely lost interest in our cooking project by this point, but she did get into smashing the tomatoes. We added the roast again and brought it to a simmer where it's been, cooking away and smelling delicious for the last few hours.

And I also made really yummy gingerbread muffins and a practice lemon meringue pie. The pie...eh...I'm glad I practiced. The recipe I used called for adding a cornstarch paste to the meringue which did nothing but make bubble-tea like lumps in the meringue. So I hope it tastes good. =) I also sort of hope that the weather turns sunny and SOON because my children are going crazy with having to stay inside all the time.

Speaking of children going crazy, Paul decided that Bree's animal is an Ewok because she's little and cuddly and pretty crazy. I don't know about Ewok's but THIS little monster has napped a grand total of twenty minutes in the last two days so she spends most of the time looking like the photo below and making this horrible EHHHH sound constantly and then falling down from exhaustion and screaming. It's just so much fun.

I was taking her picture and she heard Carly bring the stroller out...I swear this child is trying to absolutely kill me but she's pretty stinking cute.