A for Apple

Weekend excursions out of the city are always nice, especially during this time of year. Even though the weather wasn’t the greatest today, I still really appreciate the colourful leaves, cool air and fall harvest.  

A few of us headed to our most trusted apple orchard, Applewood Farm, for some picking fun, tractor excursions, wine tasting and pumpkin selecting. Needless to say, we had a blast.

Applewood Farm

Taste Test #1

Tractor Ride

Perfection!

Jump!

I came home and was craving something warm, comforting and festive and decided to make stew (sorry Michelle, I’ll have to make it for you another time xxox). This was the perfect main to go with the bottle of Strawberry Cider that I bought for Adam and I.

Now…time to curl up on the couch and watch a good flick. Peace out.

Beef Stew

• Stewing Beef
• 4 Cups Beef Broth
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tbps Flour
• 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp Paprika
• 1 tbsp Dried Oregano
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire
• 2 tbsp BBQ Sauce
• 2 Carrots (sliced, quite large)
• 1 Celery Stalk (chopped)
• 4 Potatoes (sliced, quite large)
• ½ Onion (sliced, quite large)

Start by mixing all of the spices, except for the bay leaves, in a large plastic bag. Add the cubed stewing beef to the mixture and shake to coat the meet.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and place the coated beef in the pan, browning on all sides. Once brown, remove from pan. Bring the beef broth to a boil in an oven proof pot and add the Worcestershire, BBQ Sauce and Bay Leaves. Add the beef and turn off the stove. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In the meantime, sauté the carrots, celery, potatoes and onion in the same pan that you used to fry the beef. Add a couple ladle fulls of the beef stock and scrape off all the brown bits, while sautéing the veggies. Keep stirring for 5-10 minutes and set aside.

Transfer the pot with the beef stock and beef to the oven and let cook for 1 hour. After one hour add the sautéed veggies to this pot and let cook in the oven for another hour.

Yum!