The Blazer’s inspection sticker expires this month. Even though I have the new xA, I still have the old Blazer around in case of emergencies. True, it mostly just serves as Bunky’s extra storage unit (the cottage is small T_T), but you never know when you’ll need a backup. Since the Blazer hasn’t gotten much run, I had the interesting experience of scraping ice off the windshield… on the inside. Fortunatly, everything started and the Blazer passed inspection without a hitch. It was quite an experience driving the Blazer again after several months of driving the xA. Everything was much higher, bigger, and spongier. And the whole SUV felt all wobbly and junky while I was driving it. The acceleration was still nice and powerful, but feeling those squeeky, weak brakes and having the windows all fog up (the defog/heat/air conditioning don’t work) really brought back memories. I was afraid that it might have problems with inspection, as the exhaust mechanism seems to always get gummed up with carbon (making everything work poorly and causing the exhaust of the car to stink really bad), but everything worked out for the best. As an aside, I recently tried out the cup holders on the xA and they work! I also bought an air freshener that smells like vanilla and has a plastic little dolphin floating in a bulb of scented oil and some other liquid.
Over the weekend, I finally got down to making a stew. I’d always wanted to make one, but it seems so intimidating! Last time Bunky made a stew, it turned into carbon stew as everything burned on the bottom and the potatoes were all mushy. This time, however, there were two main differences. One, I watch the Food Network. Two, I watch the food while it’s cooking. The first tip I picked up was to layer chopped carrots and other vegetables on the bottom to prevent what I like to call “carbon crusting”. This is very different from the stuff that gets deglazed. Not only does carbon crusting make the stew taste horrific, but then it’s so hard to clean the burnt meat off the bottom of the pot. I layered the bottom of the pot with a thick layer of chopped carrots, onions, and some type of large hot pepper (removed half of the seeds). I don’t like potatoes in my stew because they tend to get all gross over time. Next, I cheated and poured a can of stewed tomatoes on top of the veggie layer. This means my stew was not completely from scratch, but it also means that I got a good stew with minimal effort and chopping. I put a little water in (pouring slowly to avoid displacing the veggies), and let the liquid get a slow boil going. Then I took a few of the onions and tomatoes and threw them in with the beef cubes in a pan. I browned the meat quickly on a high heat, and then placed the beef cubes in the middle of the veggie layer. After that, it was a simple matter of adding enough water to cover the meat, adding spices/salt, and setting the whole concoction on a simmer. Although the stew sat for 2.5 hours (it was a small-medium sized stew), the whole preparation process took only 20 minutes! Most importantly, there was no carbon crust.
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