I’m Claus-trophobic.
Today is a big day as I am throwing my first “dinner party,” so I have a lot of work to do! I decided pot roast French-style would be the main course. I ran like a breeze to Ralph’s, and an hour later, I was back with $160 in necessities, including Christmas ice cream and a wonderful looking four-pound chuck roast!
I spread everything out and began to go to work! I sliced, diced, salted, peppered, minced, mashed, and crushed up a storm.
I hope it tastes as good as it looks!
Then I read the recipe several times to make sure I do it correctly. I double-checked the list, and all was OK until I got to sugar. No granulated sugar was found, so I asked Alexa, and she said to use powdered sugar at a ratio of 2:1.
I did the browning in four batches to make sure they would get brown on all surfaces.
After the browning was accomplished, I cooked up the onions and garlic and then added the meat back into the pot. Then it went into the oven for two hours before the carrots and potatoes enter the pot. The oven was at 325 degrees and ready for the Dutch-oven to enter.
Did You Know? During the 17th century, brass was the preferred metal for English cookware and domestic utensils, and the Dutch produced it at the lowest cost, which was still expensive. In 1702, Abraham Darby was a partner in the Brass Works Company of Bristol, which made malt mills for breweries.
Apparently, in 1704, Darby visited the Netherlands, where he studied the Dutch methods of working brass, including the casting of brass pots. Darby learned that when making castings, the Dutch used molds made of sand rather than the traditional loam and clay, and this innovation produced a finer finish on their brassware.
In 1706 he started a new brass mill in the Baptist Mills section of Bristol. There, Darby realized that he could sell more kitchen wares if he could replace brass with a cheaper metal cast iron. Initial experiments to cast iron in sand molds were unsuccessful, but with one of his workers, James Thomas, a Welshman, he succeeded in casting iron cookware.
In 1707 he obtained a patent for casting iron in the sand, which derived from the Dutch process. Thus, the term “Dutch oven” has endured for over 300 years, since at least 1710.
See you in two hours!
I needed that two hours to clean up the mess I made in the kitchen! I never knew I needed so many tools to make a simple pot roast.
One of each tool in the kitchen was used!
Robin came in at 5:00 PM to save the day! She set the table while I cleaned up. After my shower, we called Colleen and were surprised by what we saw. Eyeor had entered çolleen’s home and ate her!
Eaten by a donkey?
Then Colleen raised her head, and it was her the whole time!
Hiding from the cold, it was 12 degrees outside.
Robin helped by setting the table, and I added wine and eggnog glasses. We are ready for Miss Mary and Irene to join us!
The table is set and waits for our guests.
Mary and Robin spoke into the Bat Phone with Colleen, and everybody was laughing up a storm. We all wished Colleen was here to share, but the Bat Phone is the next best thing!
MAy and Robin chat with Colleen.
I am a fortunate man to have such wonderful people in my life. Mary put the Merry back in my Christmas. Daughter Robin is simply a joy to be around, and Irene provides the adult supervision we all need!
My pretty lady is finally getting warmed up!
The Dutch-oven was pulled out of the stove, and the amazing ingredients were ladled onto bowls for everyone. The pot roast was perfect, and the carrots and potatoes were cooked to perfection. I may go back to cooking!
Dinner is served!
Irene approves. She also saved dinner and advised me what to do when the pot roast was done. It was ready about an hour before Mary and Irene arrived, and I was going to keep it cooking. “No,” says Irene, “Turn the stove on the lowest setting, so the meat does not dry out!”.
Irene joined us this evening, a delight for all of us!
We did Grace and then dove into the salad and pot roast. It was really pretty good.
Adjusting her cap to keep the ball out of the pot roast!
Robin just came from work, so she hid behind the German Pyramid decoration.
Hiding from the camera!
I filled my bowl to the top and polished it off in no time. The recipe called for buttermilk biscuits to sop up the juices. They also came out well—all in all, a delightful evening.
My plate was loaded, and it was really, really good!
We celebrated with wine and egg nog before Irene went home for the evening. Mary, Robin, and I stayed put and visited for a while before crashing.
Tomorrow is the big day, I will be the same age as the number of trombones in the orchestra!
