Our thanksgiving started on Wednesday I had the day off and I decided to to make the pie crust from scratch. I have never done it before. About five years ago my ex-boyfriend bought me a marble rolling pin to get over this fear.

It never helped. I though that I would eventually get over it but I never had. I had gotten an instant pie crust from Williams-Sonoma. Then after some light joking from Mikey I decided to just do it and see what happened. I had no idea what it took, five hours. I used this recipe, so you make the dough, then you have to put in the fridge for two hours, then you roll it out and put it in the freezer for thirty minutes. When you take it out you put parchment paper over it and fill it with pie weights and put it in the oven for a half an hour. Then you take them out and keep baking it for another half an hour and then take it out and let it cool completely. While it is cooling you make the pie filling. Then you fill the crust, and bake. It took so much longer than I expected. So we left really late, and got to Mikey's parents house late. When we got there Mary brought out a wonderful chocolate cake to celebrate her birthday from the Marigold Bakery in Colorado Springs, if you live near there you should go.

On Thursday morning we had German pancakes, with lemon juice, fresh whipped cream, and fresh raspberries.

We wrapped presents for their friends in Japan

So that they could get there in time.

There were deers just hanging out in the yard, do you see the buck in the back left?

The doe was not even afraid of us.

We were like five feet away from her here.

Then there was a Thanksgiving surprise (we had actually found out the night before) Leonard was making leaves for the table, (YAY) two of them, ten inches each.

He found oak to match, and made the ends match, he routed them and Mikey is going to help him finish them the same.

I know I went a little crazy with pictures and these are not even all of them,

But I was excited. Mary felt bad that we had two Thanksgivings in one day so we had Beef Bourguignon.

Garlic Bread.

Beef Bourguignon via the foodnetwork.com

Show: Barefoot ContessaEpisode: Bon Voyage

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (313)

Cook Time:
1 hr 15 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
6 servings

Recipe Tools:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon good olive oil
8 ounces dry cured center cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 cup Cognac
1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone orPinot Noir
1 can (2 cups) beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen whole onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

For serving:

Country bread or Sour Dough, toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

Toss the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

To serve, toast the bread in the toaster or oven. Rub each slice on 1 side with a cut clove of garlic. For each serving, spoon the stew over a slice of bread and sprinkle with parsley