Recipe For a Snowy Day

Winter will officially begin this week, and today was the first major snow that we’ve had here in New England. As usual, my husband will be getting home pretty late . He does an hour-long commute both to and from work each day, so rather than sit in snowy traffic for 4 hours on a snowy Friday night, he’s going to stay in the office for a couple of extra hours until the traffic dies down.

This past week, we had a power outage that left us in the dark for 4 days. Needless to say, all the crap in my fridge and freezer were lost — and that includes my precious condiment collection! We had our weekly groceries delivered last night, though: mostly a lot of fresh meat and veggies. Eating out of cans for 4 days in a row can be pretty draining to the soul!

Since the weather outside is pretty brutal today, I’ve decided that I really want to make something warm and comforting for dinner tonight. And nothing accomplishes that feeling better than a big bowl of homemade soup — except, of course, if it’s the sort of soup that can be made by throwing a pile of stuff into the crockpot and forgetting about it.

CROCKPOT VEGGIE-BEEF SOUP

1 lb. London broil

1 15-ounce can of your favorite type of beans, drained (and hopefully rinsed)

2 cups vegetable juice cocktail (V8)

1/2 cup pineapple juice*

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2-4 cups of water (some of the veggies will provide moisture too)

1/2-1 cup chopped carrot

1/2-1 cup chopped celery

1 large chopped onion

good-sized pinch of dried rosemary (maybe 1/2 tsp or so; crumble it up between your fingers as you add it, unless you like big blobs of it everywhere.)

small pinch of dried basil (1/4 tsp or so)

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste




DIRECTIONS:

Chop up all the veggies and place them in the crockpot; you can choose to cut the meat now, or pull it apart once it’s cooked. Add the other ingredients into the crock pot and cook on High for 4 hours, or Low for 8 hours. (Add the beans at the beginning if you want them soft and falling apart, or at the end if you like yours to be more firm.) I’d recommend using salt once this soup has been served; soy sauce and V8 have quite a bit of sodium, and you may find you don’t really need it.

To make this a vegetarian meal, simply omit the London broil and add another 1-2 cans of beans (mix and match whatever you like).

I’ve added all kinds of other vegetables to this soup, but the ingredients above are the basic building blocks. Peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and fennel are all delicious in this recipe.

Halloween Shopping Tips

If you're anything like me, you get a special thrill out of going to the store to shop for Halloween stuff!!! (This is because you'll probably use it all year, and not just until Halloween's over.) Here are a few tips on what to look for, and what to avoid, this Halloween when you're out scavenging for goodies:

* CLOTHES: Anything non-seasonal that you can use all year 'round. Look for skeletons, spiders, bats, skulls. If you like pumpkins and will wear pumkin-themed clothing all year, go for it. Buy stuff in any colors you like... I like black & purple, which are easy to find at Halloween!

* MAKEUP: Hit the makeup section and see if you can find anything interesting. Always seek black lipstick and nail polish. Also worth having: Lip or nail colors in dark, dramatic, or unusual colors; jewels or other cool accents for the face; "normal" cosmetics in cute gothy containers; special-effects cosmetics or theatrer-type makeup items that are hard-to-find normally (such as eyebrow plastic or spirit gum).

* ACCESSORIES: Halloween is the best time of year to find accessories with bats, skulls, or other spooky themes. You can find just about anything you need, with a spooky style... hair accessories, purses, hosiery (gotta love striped stockings!), shoes, wigs, jewelry, and more!

* HOME DECOR: Be very careful of items offered in this category, lest you get overly cheesy items in your enthusiasm! You can find some good stuff, though... like skull/death themed pieces, even spooky or cool-looking kitchen ware. DEFINITELY look for candles, as you can get fantastic styles and colors during the season! Be careful of plastic, cheaply or badly-made items. Remember that many of these are meant to be used only for a short time and then tossed away. It may take awhile to find quality items that will last in your home for years, but the efforts are so worth it!

* EDIBLES: I like Halloween candy and treats all year 'round. Some of my favorite treats are things like General Mills Monster Cereals, Pillsbury Halloween cookies (just cut and bake), and of course, Halloween Pop Tarts. Many companies are beginning to release special Halloween edition things with either special packaging, or unusually-decorated versions of their regular products, so this is the perfect time of year to stock up!

* CRAFT ITEMS: Absolutely nowhere is more fun than a craft store at Halloween... but take my advice and DON'T wait 'til the last minute! You can find all kinds of wonderful things here, to fulfill your crafting fetishes well into next year!! Look for fabric, notions, beads, ribbons, even cool accessories and must-have crafting essentials in creepy Halloween styles! Some craft stores do pre-season Halloween sales in September or even August, as crafty folks will often make their own costumes and come looking for their ingredients in advance. The early bird will catch the cutest stuff!! Latecomers may be surprised by a fantastic rare find or two, but I'd try to hit the craft shops as early in the season as possible.


More tips...

1. Timing is key. It's always best to start browsing as soon as the Halloween stuff goes up, usually around the middle of September. If you see something that you absolutely MUST have, snap it up at your earliest convenience -- it may not be there next year, or even next week! You can also try to wait until November 1st to make the most of clearance sales (one of my personal missions in life!), but remember that Halloween stores typically close before then. My favorite place to try on November 1st would be drugstores, as they're practically giving the stuff away. (The best stuff may be picked over -- or gone entirely -- if you wait too long!)

2. Location. If you see something that you absolutely MUST have multiples of, in a chain store, try visiting the same stores in different cities. For example, this year I found an awesome coffin container in the Target near my New England home; a few weeks later I visited my in-laws in NYC and came across the same one! (I should have bought it the second time around, but fortunatley coffin number one is in my office now!)

3. If you're picking through clearance stuff, don't be afraid to haggle. Lots of Halloween stuff is going to be seriously marked down come the first of November. Some pieces will just be thrown into the clearance bin without even being tagged! One year I found a thick faux dungeon chain (it was made of styrofoam and painted to look metallic and old/rusty) just sitting around with a bunch of cheap Halloween makeup, and even though it wasn't tagged, the checker "decided" to sell it to me for 99 cents. A true Halloween find!

4. Plan ahead. Make lists of what you need, who's having sales, or of where you got the best hauls in Halloweens past. Try your favorite "haunts" but don't be afraid to plunge into uncharted territory. You never know what you'll find! (My favorite discount store to Halloween shop is definitely Target, as their stuff is high enough in quality to last for many years... as for drugstores, it's gotta be either CVS or Rite-Aid for their wide selections of makeup and costume-y pieces. I tend to avoid Wal-Mart, which sells cheesy "rustic" fall crap, and Halloween-themed shops, which are mostly filled with overpriced junk. I did get a nice ceramic skull-shaped serving tray at the Halloween store last year, though, so as I said... be flexible, and don't be scared to travel off your beaten path!)

I've gotten some good stuff this year so far, but will be making my last Halloween run on November first. Happy hunting, all!