If you happen to live in the Midwest, you know it’s been really cold for the last few days. We’ve been keeping warm with extra quilts and the help of our nifty space heater. We have central heat, but it just doesn’t make sense to run it if everyone is sitting on the couch.  Cold weather means comfort cooking, such as stews, soups, chilli, and anything else that helps warm up the kitchen.

I won’t claim credit for this recipe– I grabbed off Pam at For the Love of Cooking’s website, which is full of excellent every day recipes. The only big thing I did differently was that I cooked the stew on the stove the whole time rather than using the oven. I simmered my meat, tomatoes, stock, onions, and garlic for about 2.5 hours, adding the potatoes and carrots for the last hour. Next time I’ll probably only simmer with the veggies for 45 minutes. I’m also a little heavy handed on the thyme and garlic, but that’s just me.