Post sear in the pan. Look at all that flavor

The stew came out deliciously rich and thick. Oh yeah, I also added in butter so that really helped to create a silky texture.

I also tried a Moroccan style roast chicken with chickpeas and onions. It was a one-skillet meal which I always love (less dishes). You sear the chicken, remove, add the onions, spices, chickpeas and then simmer away. Add the chicken back in, then pop into the oven until the chicken is cooked through. Super easy.

Then I had some leftover sour cream from a chili dinner so I made a sour cream coffee cake. Not too shabby, wish I had some frosting to put on top but it was a light cake. Maybe next time I'll try it with a lemon frosting.

Cake slice glamour shot.

I volunteered to help cook dinner for our young young adult/college kiddos group at church once a month and this was the first meal I made for them. Pioneer Woman's Hot Italian Dip Beef. YUM. I didn't make it spicy. All that red that you see is the fat from the gigantic chuck roasts that I got. Almost 6 pounds of meat that I browned then squeezed into my dutch oven (note to self: buy a second dutch oven). To the meat I added pepperoncinis and their juice (nice vinegar-y kick), tomatoes, and some spices then set the whole thing cooking for 4 hours.

Once done, I took the meat out of the pot and let the whole thing cool. Then I removed the layer of fat from the top, added the meat back in, heated the whole thing up, then served it with some crusty rolls and topped with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese.

House of Cards called for a little snack. I only had cucumbers in my fridge so I made some kappa maki. I really wish I had some fish to go in there. It was good enough for a quick snack though.

Yesterday, I went to Carmel on a last-minute impromptu wine tasting adventure. We ended up using all of these Carmel wine walk passes that were purchased earlier so we went to 4 wineries in total.

I took a picture of our group taking pictures of flowers.

We also explored some art galleries. Gorgeous flowers and textures.

This looks like a photo but it's actually a painting. 

I have no idea if I'm allowed to post these pictures online. So. Whoopsies. Oh well.

Then I made some art of my own. Kidding. I bought two vouchers for paint nite which is basically drinking and having an instructor walk you through the steps of creating the painting that you sign up for. We used acrylic paint so it dried quickly and wasn't as much of a hassle as oils.

This was the first paint nite that I did. Cherry blossoms.

This was the second one that I painted tonight which is supposed to be Tuscany but kind of reminds me more of a glorified paint by numbers type of deal.

Till next time!