Aren’t YOU tired of cooking?

It’s been Master Iron Top Chef in Hell’s Kitchen around here for the past week- what about you? I did make an Almond Poppy Seed bread, although in a tube pan, for stitching tomorrow night, though. Baking is a great way to warm up my freezing house!

In stitch-y news: a finish!

‘’Tis Red” by La-D-Da, JCS 2010 ornament issue. WDW “Envy” on antique white looks-like-28 ct. even weave.

Onwards to my December ornament!

Chicken goes back to the vet on Friday for suture removal; I know she’ll be traumatized by the ride in the pet carrier, but hopefully she won’t have to wear the radar cone anymore!

Snow Business….

Lot’s of it!

This is this morning, after shoveling twice yesterday, and again this morning (no work! Yay!) Another gray & dismal shot of the snow-covered trees:

We ended up with about a foot. It came down dry & powdery, then we had some rain mixing in to make it wet & heavy. This morning was also wet & heavy, turning dry & powdery- the old “If you don’t like it, wait a minute…” maxim.

I made out like a bandit with presents:

look at these:

The kids got me ALL of the charts I had posted about in November! Em even asked the sellers to NOT show their return addresses as anything stitchy since I retrieve the mail! How clever! Plus they got me a 500 GB external hard drive so I can back up my stuff, PLUS a new pair of work boots PLUS a bunch of new ornaments PLUS a book about Secretariat PLUS a bunch of chocolates & coffee & other little goodies! My mom sent a package of pecans and a check (THANKS Mom!)

The kids gave Chicken a Snuggie (LOL) and a new coat and several toys that she loves (she’s much better, acting more like her happy self every day):

Notice her shaved butt. I tried sticking bows around her satellite dish, but they kept falling off.

We had a fun day. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast (me), churros for Emily, eggs & sausage for Adam. They went out to visit Emily’s cousin from my “out”-laws while I went down to visit Bob.

When we were all back home, we had braised short ribs, from the Short Rib lasagna recipe I posted a while back, plus PW Creamy mashed potatoes, and broccoli. YUM!

I hope you all had a very nice holiday; thanks for visiting with me and leaving your nice comments- I do appreciate them!

Merry Christmas!

Well, I hope they improve the fabric department…

Jo-Anns Fabric has agreed to an acquisition. Story here.

In other news, I’ve been dealing with Chicken issues. She came home from the vet Saturday evening. Her hernia was repaired, although the surgeon said she had never seen the “deviation” (my choice of word for lack of better description that won’t gross out my last two readers) Chickie unexpectedly had. The surgery went well, I was told, the doctor had to rearrange some things that she never had to before.

So poor puppy finally seems to be on the mend- her plumbing seemed to work correctly, at will, this morning, and her appetite is finally returning. One more week before I can take her for suture (and satellite dish) removal. Hopefully, at the same time, she can be given unlimited access to the house so I won’t have to lock the cats in the basement for the day- no stairs for Chicken for the time being.

Tomorrow is  day off; I’ll be finishing my baking, and probably braising my short ribs for Christmas dinner. My presents are all wrapped (??!!) early for a change and I just have to get Bob’s son some beer and a few stocking stuffers, and I’m done. You  know, Christmas gets a lot less stressful the less money you (have to) spend. Less running around, less thinking, less wrapping, less trash. I may even find some time to stitch!

Happy Christmas Eve eve!

Frosty Gets Caught…

Funniest Blog Post EVER! (not mine…)

The daughter & D.B both work at a horse/dog product catalog retailer. She is now in the office doing accounting and administrative assisting, making use of all that expensive college education, having moved up from the shipping department in the warehouse. D.B. is a one-man whirling dervish in the warehouse. He single-handedly keeps the whole operation from imploding by keeping all the dog and horse crap organized on their pallet racks, picking orders for delivery, and fending off jealous attacks on his integrity from some dimwit bitch who’s afraid he’s going to take her job -and good reason too- she spends all day on Facebook, but since she lets her supervisor have “his way” with her,  she (for now) has job security.

Anyway, lots of canine & equine emails/jokes/references/blogs/stories/rumors/gossip get passed around in the office. And this gem sifted its way to the top of the pile on my daughter’s desk. And since we share the same bitter, sarcastic and twisted sense of humor, she had the good sense (all the expensive college education don’tcha know!) to forward it to me.

I was laughing so hard last night, I had to wait until this morning to pass it along to all of you. If you have dogs, or have EVER had a dog, you must read this. And note the cartoons- the expressions on the dogs’ faces are priceless!

From my new favorite blog, Hyperbole and a Half .

November AND December ornaments!

I went to check out a stitching store in Walpole last weekend called Hoops & Needles. During my browsing I saw this tiny stitched cube, 1 inch square, made from a kit they sold. Of course, being a woman of a very little brain, I don’t have the slightest recollection of who made the kit- it was in one of those flat plastic boxes, a little bigger than a credit card. I do remember it was called “100 Pins”.

So, I went temporarily insane, and made my own versions, one in DMC Variations Red/Cranberry and Blue/Indigo.

Vee-O-LA:

And here they are with a quarter for scale:

The “100 Pins” cube was stiffer; I think it had some card stock lining the inside faces rather than polyfil. The clerk said something about it being hollow. Since I was flying by the seat of my pants, I used polyfil and made ornaments out of them. I used 36 ct. antique white linen, 2 over 2, and I poached snowflakes from various charts in my stash. It’s sewn together like a biscornu. It took between 4 and 5 hours to make each one. I’m pretty happy with the results!

I still have my "’Tis Red to complete, and I had picked out a beaded snowflake design from the 2007 or’08 JCS ornament issue for December, so I may end up with 14 ornaments this year!

Our Stitch & Bitch group is having our Christmas party tomorrow night at Mamma Mia’s, an Italian restaurant in the next  town over. Chicken goes for surgery Friday morning. And they’re forecasting  snow for Sunday. Chickie can’t be in the car with the wipers on; that ride home will be fun!

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

My favorite cookie blog, Cookie Madness, did a Loft House cookie-clone test. I’m not sure she ever came up with a perfect copy, but she came close. In one of her comments, someone mentioned this recipe from the back of the Jiffy Baking mix box. It’s been years since I bought Jiffy or Bisquick, but I wanted to try this recipe!These were really close to the real Loft House, and so yummy tasting, I never even frosted them! Try to let them get a touch of color (don’t under bake!)  because they got softer in the cookie jar day by day.

Jiffy Sugar Cookies

• 2 cups JIFFY Baking mix
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 5 TBSP shortening
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, or lightly grease.
2. Add baking mix & sugar in medium mixing bowl. Add shortening and using a pastry mixer-tool or two knives, cut shortening into dry ingredients until mixture is the size of small peas.
3. Add remaining ingredients, and stir with wooden spoon until combined.
4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheet; allow 2” between mounds.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes and lightly golden brown. Cool 5 minutes on pan, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Frost if desired.
7. Makes about 30 cookies.

Bake until they’re a little more brown than this.

Wintry!

My friend Jane from stitching passed this along. We don't have snow yet here in southern New England, although it was pretty cold this past week- 20's to very low 30's. The Dingle peninsula is north of the area my mom & I stayed during our visit 3 + years ago.

Conor Pass closed to traffic until further notice amid safety concerns by The Dingle News

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipes…

I came across this a couple of weeks ago, and it caught my eye because it’s one of my favorite breakfast treats, and it says “Easy”.

It came out good- I’d definitely make it again. It was very sweet, I’d add a pinch of salt to the filling next time. I also had less than the required 8 oz. of cream cheese, so I adjusted the amount of sugar to compensate. The amount of filling I ended up with was more than sufficient. Also, it definitely needs to be eaten at cool room temperature- it was too much “too much” to be eaten warm. I would say it’s even better the next day.

 

Easy Cheese Danish

Danish Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 oz. softened cream cheese (less than 8 oz. package)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 can (8 oz. tube) refrigerated crescent rolls

Icing Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 or 3 TBSP cream
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• optional 3 TBSP sliced almonds for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla & salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Open crescent roll dough and unroll, leaving rectangles intact. Lay out the crescent roll rectangles out side by side, long sides touching. Dough should be almost the entire length of a half sheet pan.
4. Press edges together, and push perforations together to seal any holes.
5. Carefully spread the filling down the center of the dough to be about 2-3” wide.
6. Cut ½” diagonal strips up each side of the dough. Fold the ½” strips up over the filling, alternating sides over each other and pressing down lightly to seal. It should look like a braided pattern. Fold the end pieces as neatly as possible.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until filling is set and dough is golden in color.
8. Cool before removing from baking sheet to a serving platter.
9. In a small bowl, mix icing ingredients, use only 2 TBSP cream to start, adding more as necessary for desired consistency. Spoon icing into a small zip top baggie, close, and snip 1/8” off one corner. Pipe in a drizzle over cake. You could sprinkle some sliced almonds over the top for decoration.

It definitely tastes like crescent dough, but I honestly thought it improved a lot by the next day, but it was  EASY! It would be a great quick take along to a small brunch party.

And she stitched!

More on ‘Tis Red:

“Elf” is on USA network! Right now! Buddy! “Cotton-headed ninny muggins!”

THIS DOES NOT IMPROVE MY XMAS CHEER!

Under a new category label of “WTF!”:

Available from your local BJ’s Wholesale for only $214.99.

Yes, it’s an upside down tree. Pre-lit of course. From the description:

“This prelit, upside-down holiday tree is a great way to add holiday cheer to a home. The classic green decoration comes with a sturdy metal base to keep your tree immobile as it seems to defy gravity.
Product Features:

• Tree appears to defy gravity as it stands upside down
• Comes prelit with 1,283 lights for quick setup
• UL-550 clear lights make for a dazzling lights display
• Top of the tree has a diameter of 60"

(Model TR2133) “

Is that THE Most.Stupidest.Thing you’ve ever seen???

New Blog Alert!

Look at this kiddos! Victoria Motto Samplers aka Nancy, now has a blog! AND…she’s having a stupendous floss giveaway! She has some very creative sampler designs, and she dyes her own floss. I’m jealous of all her talent already!

In other news, today is the last day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), during which our intrepid, but tiresome (and tired) writer is supposed to post every single solitary day for the entire month. To be eligible for some wicked awesome prizes, of course. So awesome, in fact, I don’t even remember what they were. And, let’s face it, I NEVER win nuthin’!  But my gene pool requires me to continue trying.

So, with that being said, you may or may not see me tomorrow. It all depends on if I win some huge prize or something. Maybe I can spend some time stitching….I have a November ornament to finish…

Pets…

I brought Chicken to the vet for her annual check-up & shots. She has a hernia on her bum that the doctor is very concerned about. I have to schedule a consult with another vet who is equipped to do this type of surgery.

Thanksgiving dinner

I also discussed Aslan’s inappropriate peeing, and she convinced me to bring him in for some blood work. Those results show that he may possibly have an infection deep in one of his kidneys. He’s on an antibiotic for 3 weeks, and then he’ll be re-checked. I don’t know how to tell if he’s no longer going to pee in places he shouldn’t. I’m certainly not keen to leave my bedroom door open to try it out! He’s a happy enough little guy, he’s just so skinny, and pees where he shouldn’t! I’ve tried cleaning the litter box more frequently; I suppose I could try getting a 2nd box, but I don’t think cleanliness is the issue with him.

Delilah just weighs as much as a concrete block with fur. That kitty is a TANK under there!

P.S.

ONE MORE DAY!!!

Procrastinators ‘R Us…

You do remember that I’m a charter member of Procrastinators Anonymous? I waited until 3:00 this afternoon (Sunday) to start putting up my Christmas lights. Of course, in the manner of ALL house-fix-it projects around here, to put up the lights requires that I MUST clean the gutters first. No fun until the work is done. Thank you Frank McMorrow.

I was done by 5:15-ish, which is actually kind of quick for me. While cleaning out the back gutter, I moved my over-turned wheelbarrow (which has a flat tire- which is why it hasn’t been moved in a year), and discovered the camouflage for a rodent motel! Under the wheelbarrow, little critters of the furry variety have been amassing a big pile of dirt, enough to fill the wheelbarrow. Mixed in this was the old blue tarp I had set the barrow on, so that it wouldn’t blow away. I hastily shoveled all that away. Luckily, I didn’t have to look at any of the furry things.

On a down note, though, I noticed a couple of my dormer corner boards are really rotted- that the trim paint from the last paint job didn’t hold up well at all.

Here’s a photo of my efforts:

The string that runs above the door is a brand new set, so the curl has to straighten out on that part.

I’m running out of NaBloPoMo ideas….

I was perusing Wyndam Needleworks, one of my favorite ONS, and found these potential stash enhancers:

From Rosewood Manor, this would be perfect for a guy present:

“Sailing Ships Sampler”:

 

From Ink Circles:

“Growth Rings”:

For the horse lover, “Fjord Ponies”:

From Waxing Moon Designs, “Halloween Fairies”:

From Sunflower Seed ( I love ALL of these- where have they been all my life???!!):

“Celtic Pumpkin”:

“Celtic Birds”

“Hilltop Seasons”:

 

“Tall Seasons”:

“Spiders & Bats- OH My!”:

And from The Workbasket, “House of Alphabets”:

I hope I have whetted a few appetites, or at least enlarged a few Christmas Wish lists!

This might make Black Friday bearable…

 

How do they organize these flash mobs, anyway?

wouldn’t you like to be there!?

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Despite all signs to the contrary, my feast was prepared at about the time I had planned. I made a significant strategic error by baking my chocolate cake this morning- as I was about to put it in the oven, I realized that its baking time would conflict with putting the turkey in. I crossed my fingers and hope my bird would roast fast this year. You know how sometimes it just cooks faster (or slower) that expected?

After I put the cake in, I decided to use my 32 minutes by running down for a coffee & paper, gas up the car, and stop at Walgreens for tissues & trash bags, and ended up back home 7-1/2 minutes late. And don’t you know one of the instructions was “Don’t over bake!” Crossed my fingers again, and lo and behold: it was delicious.   Very tall and fudgy. I gave 2 hefty slices to Bob & his son in their care packages.

And my turkey came out yummy as well. I left the legs loose, and it came out a bit obscene, though it’s a bit hard to tell from the angle of the photo:  

Remains of the day:

Now I’m stuffed!

I’m a Happy Girl!

That Cabernet on the right? That’s the BIG bottle! They didn’t have the smaller size. So I guess I’ll just have to drink more! Poor me!

And seriously, I am totally finding all other kinds of things to do rather than pre-cook vegetables (squash, carrots & parsnips) and bake a chocolate cake. And I’m not too concerned about it either. I even bought rolls from the bakery at the supermarket instead of making my own. I think I’m having some kind of delusional PMS/pre-menopausal episode.

Procrastination…..

I don’t know why, but I have absolutely NO motivation to start any of my Thanksgiving prep work. I have to at least make the brine so I can throw the bird in to soak tomorrow morning. Crap.

That means I have to get up even earlier. I’m SOOOOOO tired this week!

In other news, Karma bites an ass!

The sh***thead who picks up his kid at the day care across the street, and repeatedly blocks me in or out of my driveway, backed into my much abused mailbox. He cracked his back window, and then made a brilliant observation: “but it’s my fault”.

I told him DAMN RIGHT IT’S YOUR FAULT! And get off my property and stay off!

Honestly, the guy is such a prick, I’m surprised he even knocked on my door to confess. My mailbox isn’t damaged; it’s just leaning more. I’d be on at least my third post if I insisted every one who backed into it replaced it.

Chick-Pickles!

“That flash is too bright!”

“Did you say “meatloaf”?”

Please excuse the mess on the floor. My couch & environs no longer belong to me.

Once in a Blue Moon…

Did you know tonight’s full moon is considered a blue moon?

Most people know of the more recent definition that the second full moon within a month is called a blue moon. I didn’t know this, but there is an older definition of “blue moon”. Most years, there are only 3 full moons per season. Every so often, because each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year,  there occurs a 4th full moon in a given season. The third of those is called a blue moon, to distinguish it from the other 3 moons to fall in between the equinox and the following solstice, which in this instance are Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon and Beaver Moon.

Catch up…

Got the stuffing- it now comes in a 14 oz. bag, not 16 oz. And I remembered to get sausage, which I had totally forgotten. Maybe it would have helped to re-read my own recipes that I had conveniently linked to 2 days ago.

Started cleaning- OMG - a Herculean task. And daughter decides to “clean” her room which means a pile of empty boxes and bags left in the kitchen. That helps. That helps a lot.

Bob will be discharged from rehab on Tuesday, or Monday, depending on the note left in his room last  Friday when he had an appointment outside the facility. The note says his insurance pays thru until Monday, not until Tuesday, which is the day the doctors told him he “could” leave. As I told the girls at stitching Thursday night: “I want to go out in a blaze of glory”. That way I won’t have to even begin to understand this older-years insurance stuff, nor deal with nursing home conflict. Now that he’s got his discharge date, he’s gotten very impatient with all the things he’s put up with for a month: the kitchen leaving items off his tray at EVERY meal, the “yeller” across the hall, his gassy roommate, the nurses barging in on him while he’s in the bathroom “Are you OK?”. And honestly, after one month, he’s no better, if not worse, than when he went in.

I’m working on the end of that cabernet……

Close but No Cigar….

I got the turkey, the broth, the vegetables. Do you think they’d have the stuffing??? Think again.

Tomorrow brings a trip to the “other” supermarket, to find Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing mix. Not a bag to be found at my usual store. And the one time the cashier neglected to ask “Did you find everything you were looking for?”

And then I was majorly ripped off at the Family Dollar store. The same package of Bounty paper towels was $3 LESS at the supermarket, and the dish detergent was $2.25 vs.. $1.89 at the supermarket. Well, I guess I wasn’t ripped off; I just assumed incorrectly the Family Dollar would be cheaper. So much for smart shopping. Totally cancelled this score out.

At least I had leftover cabernet from the short rib lasagna to ease my pain.

Boo!

Quaker Halloween update:

That fire hydrant under “Boo” is actually a tombstone. I still have to put “RIP” on it.

NOT Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipe…

Not much cooking going on around here; I just can’t get in the mood what with Thanksgiving coming up next week, plus having an unexpected barn-sitting weekend.

“Bless me father, for I have sinned: I had this for supper”

TV ALERT!!!!!

The Pioneer Woman is on “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” at 9:00 pm (EST). I already have my TV on now so I won’t forget. “Unwrapped” is boring.

Needless to say, I’m definitely Team Ree.

For my dinner, I’m probably repeating this menu. Here’s the direct link to my Slow Cooker Stuffing recipe. I can’t decide what to make for dessert. Everything I would love isn’t either traditional enough (i.e. NOT apple pie), or no one else (i.e. Miss Em) likes. And if I’m dirtying every free kin’ dish and pot and pan I own to make this dinner and clean up afterwards, dessert is kind of my reward, you know what I  mean???!!! I would love this, for instance, but I suspect more than my fair share would end up on my ever-expanding ass. Maybe a Guinness Chocolate cake?

This seems only fair....

Story from the Washington Examiner

And another thing…

I started my November ornament:

From the JCS 2010 ornament issue-

“ ‘Tis Red” by La-D-Da.

Only, obviously, it’s not red.

More stitching!

I was able to put a huge chunk of time in on Quaker

Halloween yesterday; today, not so much:

Musical horses

6 horses & one pony plus 3-1/2 paddocks makes for a busy day. One horse goes out all day because he gets the sh**s if he’s in too long. 3 horses are the BO’s horses, and since it’s her farm, they HAVE to go out. One horse can’t go out unless someone is on the property, in case the horse decides to put a leg thru the fence. The pony can’t go on grass at all, but should get some outside time in the dirt pen. Poor Axe, she gets the leftovers.

Mahvelous!

We had a brilliant sunset the other night; it seemed even more so coming as it did after several downright dismal days of rain, drizzle and yuck:

 

I’m an incompetent photographer at best; but you get the idea.

To Fly or Not to Fly? THAT is the question!

TSA: No Fondling, Groping Or Squeezing Is Taking Place At Airports

Yeahhhh riiiight! It looks like the most PDA some people have had in years!

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipe

Emily found this recipe last week. It sounded yummy. However, I didn’t want to make a huge 9” x 13” pan of it though, so I adjusted the quantities. None of us like mushrooms very much either, so I eliminated those too. It took all afternoon, but it came out delicious! Very rich & decadent- worth all the trouble.

Short Rib Lasagna

Short Rib sauce:

• 3 fresh thyme sprigs plus 1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 fresh parsley sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
• ½ cup flour
• 3 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 2 medium carrots, chopped in ¼” dice
• 2 celery stalks, chopped in ¼” dice
• 1 medium onion, chopped in ¼” dice
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• ¼ cup ruby Port
• 1 cup dry red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel)
• 3-1/2 cups beef broth
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled

Lasagna:

• 3-1/2 TBSP butter
• 3 TBSP flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 or 4 no-boil lasagna noodles

Sauce Directions:

1. Create a bouquet garni with the fresh herb sprigs & bay leaf. Tie in cheesecloth, or place in a coffee filter pinned closed with toothpicks.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Sprinkle ribs with salt & pepper. Place flour in a shallow bowl; dredge meat, shaking off excess. Reserve flour.
3. Heat 2 TBSP oil in a large ovenproof pot over medium high heat. Working in batches, cook ribs until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes per side, setting aside after they cook. Reduce heat to medium.
4. Heat remaining 2 TBSP oil in same pot. Add carrots, celery, & onions. Cook until softened, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle 1 TBSP reserved flour over vegetables (discard remainder).
5. Add tomato paste & stir until paste begins to brown on bottom of pot, about 1 minute. Add Port & stir until almost all liquid is absorbed, scraping up brown bits, about 1 minute. Add red wine, then 1 cup of the beef broth.
6. Bring to boil and simmer until reduced by about 1/3, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add remainder of broth, garlic, and bouquet garni. Return to a boil.
7. Add ribs back to pot, arranging in a single layer. Cover pot. Place in oven and braise until very tender, about 2-1/2 hours.
8. Using tongs, remove cooked ribs from liquid. Discard bouquet garni. Shred beef. Spoon off any excess fat from top of sauce & discard.
9. Boil sauce until reduced to about 3-1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Return meat to sauce and season with salt & pepper. Stir in chopped thyme.

Lasagna Directions:

1. Melt butter in a heavy large sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour & whisk until smooth. Cook until flour turns light golden brown, whisking often, about 6 minutes. Add milk; bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil 1 minute. Add nutmeg and season to taste with salt & pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 5” x9” x 3” loaf pan with vegetable spray.
3. Spoon about ½ cup sauce evenly on bottom. Sprinkle 2 TBSP cheese over. Place a lasagna noodle on top of cheese. Spoon about 2/3 cup béchamel over noodle, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with ¼ cup cheese. Spread 1 cup of sauce over. Repeat with noodle, béchamel, cheese, and meat sauce. Top with one last noodle, spreading remaining béchamel sauce, and ½ cup of Parmesan.
4. Bake uncovered until edges are bubbling & top is golden brown in spots, about 40 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

The cast of characters:

My low-tech bouquet garni:

Browned beef:

Sauté the vegetables:

After braising in oven for 2-1/2 hours:

Reduce the sauce a bit more (after removing the packet of herbs):

Add shredded meat back to reduced sauce.

The assembled lasagna:

The finished dish:

Against the original directions, I had covered this with foil prior to baking (purely my executive decision). I think it would not have been as “saucy” if I hadn’t, so I kept the original instructions above. Also, I ended up with about 1-1/2 cups of meat sauce leftover. Perfect for another meal, served over buttered egg noodles.

It was a TON of work. and now I have a bottle of Port to use up. But that makes the perfect excuse to make this again!