remember when...

Pebbles went into the pantry, got out a bag of Baked Cheetos, took the chip-clip off, and then got her head stuck in there while having a snack?


Pebbles sat in the sun beam and looked so sweet and innocent that there was no way you could ever believe that she got her head stuck in a bag of Baked Cheetos that she took out of the pantry?

Huck laid up on the landing of the stairs and wrinkled up the rug and looked so comfortable that I said "...'tis himself" and there was a digital camera that worked to capture all of this?

Yeah, those were fun times.

I cooked a lot this weekend. We had a really very good goulash last night and this apple crostata from the Barefoot Contessa. We had it with Edy's Apple Pie ice cream. Egad, it was good. Maybe egad is only something you say when something is bad or scary? I don't know. The goulash was made with chuck roast and was rich and delicious. I guess I could post the recipe without a picture? Stranger things have happened, yes?

Ok, I like to call it, "goulash not made with ground beef because I am sick of things made with ground beef because they are little more than Hamburger Helper" I am sorry if that is offensive to anyone... I am not feeling well today and that makes me crappy and being crabby makes me sarcastic and that's just not nice.

2 lbs. of chuck meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil (not extra virgin)
3 tablespoons of flour
1 large yellow onion, thick slices
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thick
1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and cracked balck pepper
3 tablespoons of smoked paprika
3 cups of water
2 diced tomatoes
1 large red pepper, roasted, peels, seeded and cut into large diced chunks
12 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I used crimini but white mushrooms are fine)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
1/2 lb. of wide egg noodles
1 cup of sour cream

Heat a really big pot over high heat, add the butter and olive oil. Season the meat with salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon of the paprika and then dredge in the flour. Once the butter is foamy, add the meat to the pot and brown well on all sides. It's really important to brown it well. Really. Anyway, brown the meat in two batches if needed so it will brown well. Remove the meat from the pan and add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the meat back in with all the accumulated juices (I love to say that) and then the water and tomatoes. It should be nice and brown already. So, then let it come up to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer on the meat for about 2 hours. After 2 hours it should really just fall apart and the carrots should be kind of gone, you know? Just cooked down to nothing carrotness and the tomatoes should be mostly cooked away, too. The broth should be thick and brown and very flavorful. Now add the red pepper, mushrooms and half the parsley and add salt if you think it needs it. Let it cook at a simmer for another 30 minutes. The mushrooms will produce a little liquid but you may need to add some water to it. Finally, increase the heat and add the egg noodles and remaining parsley and cook it until the noodles are the desired tenderness. My husband likes them tender and it took about 30 minutes with the lid on and I did have to add about 1/2 cup of water to it. Once it's done, serve it up topped with some sour cream. It's really good. Really, really good. I had it for lunch today, too. It was good.