Luncheon for a Winter Day

I hosted a luncheon meeting yesterday for my Master Gardener committee.  I kept it very simple:  a beef stew that I've posted about here before, Beef Daube Provencal and the best and easiest cornbread ever, Homesteader Cornbread.  Since this was a meeting, we needed to get started, so Fresh Market came to the rescue for dessert with an assortment of their fantastic cookies for easy eating.  They were out of the Kitchen Sink cookies, but the ones I got were almost as good.

I made two batches of the stew, one in the oven per the recipe and one in the crockpot, on low for about 8 hours.  I couldn't tell the difference.  Since I wanted a thicker stew, I coated the beef with flour before I browned it.  There was plenty for my group of 10 plus leftovers for dinner.  My husband hates leftovers, but I told him it was new to him!  He cleaned his bowl.

The bonus?  A great meeting!  I'm so excited about what we're going to accomplish this year in Master Gardeners.  Check out our blog:  Garden Musings.