Slow cooking

[Fresh from the market; 12/26/12]

Bright sunshine this morning swiftly smothered by gray overcast. A storm is moving in tonight, but the brunt will be to the west in increasing rings of deeper snow while Boston will get some heavy snow followed by cold rain. I may not even see the snow as it won't start until late and looks to be already rain by dawn. Still, a cold wet day awaits. I've been out today to the local produce market collecting fruits and vegetables and herbs and chicken. My dad sent me a 3.5-quart slow cooker for Christmas and I'm going to try it out tomorrow, having squandered too much of the day today to make "slow cooking" a concept. Since I'll be shut in tomorrow, I'm hoping the smells of Provençal Chicken Stew will cheer me up.

D went back to the city today from my place, where on Christmas morning we exchanged presents from under my tree and then went off to his cousin's for dinner. He's enjoying the new Paperwhite e-reader I gave him and we both enjoyed the WD TV Live streaming media player he set up for me so we could download movies from Netflix, among other entertainments. We watched Rabbit Hole last night, which I'd had on my Netflix queue for a long time but resisted because of the dour plot (couple deals with loss of their young child), but it was excellent, with a surprising amount of humor. Anyway, I feel like I've come into the modern world, getting internet movies and video onto my television and being able to play music from Pandora or Spotify on my living room stereo rather than just on the laptop with its tinny speakers.

I have a couple more days of quiet here at home before the next extended holiday -- New Years, starting as the Christmas holiday did on a weekend followed basically by two holiday days. I do need to do a bit of work, but mostly I'll be relaxing and reorienting to the start of 2013. The extra free time of the holidays have highlighted, I think, some of the isolation I've felt in working from home again. I am grateful to have D in my life and things overall are good, but I feel the need also to see friends and have more social interaction, so maybe that's something to work on re-balancing for the New Year. 

Comments

[Sky]

Stews and soups are such comfort food in cold weather. We could eat them several days a week all winter. Hope you have a good weekend and that the coming year will be a good one in all ways. I, too, need to make more of an effort to socialize. It is just so easy to stay inside, especially here in the drizzly Seattle winter, and so I do. :(

[Leslee]

Sky: I love stews and soups. Thanks for stopping by, and best wishes for a healthy and happy new year to you!

[Mscollis]

Happy New Year, Leslee! And thank you for the recipe. It already looks like a keeper and one that'll help with my resolution to venture out of my dinner rut! I love coming home to the smell of a dinner that is cooking itself.

[Leslee]

Hey, happy new year to you, too, Mary!