Big Bellies and Big Times

I'm 13 weeks today, you guessed it. Well, not that my belly is huge yet, which it's not, but it is starting to abound, and I can feel it. It is strange and feels strange, and seems strange all in one, but so interesting and amazing!

That's not the only news on then waking horizon, though. There's another surprising option making itself readily available to our family, Mike and I. I'm not so sure i'm able to disclose the news as of yet, but when I get the word, I will. If you are reading this, though, you can be praying for us as we seek God's wisdom on the timing of things' exciting things!

On another note, I made my first Beef Stroganoff the other night when my husband and I had a guest over for dinner. It turned out great! That's what recipes are for, aren't they? See, I'm usually the "I'll take a risk and add some of the things that I think will balance the dish out well," type, but because I tend not to cook beef all that well unless the crock pot is doing the work for me, I decided to follow the recipe pretty closely, at least for the cooking of the beef, anyway. I didn't stray too far away this time. The trick?

The trick to perfectly browned beef strips is to take your 2 x 1/4 strips of top sirloin steak, cut against the grain, and dry them off well. Moist beef doesn't brown properly. Guess who I learned that from. Yeah, Julia Child. Anyways...then you lightly dust them in flour, and cook in batches just until browned on either side. take them off of the heat once browned, and place on a plate until you need to warm them through, near the serving of the meal. Once your Stroganoff sauce has been reduced and is just about ready to serve, you add the strips of steak to the sauce and let them warm through JUST for 2 minutes, and then serve with freshly chopped parsely. The beef comes out with the perfect "medium" texture and doesn't end up too chewy. Voila! I took the recipe from the classic "Joy of Cooking" cook book, but you can take it from just about anywhere since there are nearly a million different variations. I took it from JOC, because it seemed classic, and that's all I wanted.