The day is grey and cool, an ideal time for stew. Stew and soup are dishes that call out for my slow cooker. Get all my ingredients together put them in the cooker and then go about my business until it is done.

The aroma of a slow cooking stew fills the house throughout the day and wets the appetite.

Enjoying food goes beyond tatse or perhaps I should say there are other factors that entice taste, smell and presentation are two.

Today I am making stew. A spicy beef stew is now simmering away in my slow cooker and I am looking forward to sitting down to tonight’s dinner when my wife gets home from work.

Spicy Beef Stew:

Ingredients;

1 pound diced beef

1 hot yellow pepper (thinly sliced)

1 dash of favourite hot sauce

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

½ tea spoon olive oil

1 small onion sliced

1 turnip, diced

1 cup water

10 brussel sprouts

1 carrot sliced

Preparation:

Add olive oil to slow cooker’

Set heat on high

Add onions

Cook 3 minutes

Add yellow pepper

Cook one minute

Add beef

Cook until browned

Add water

Add carrots, brussel sprouts and turnips

lower temperature to lowest setting.

Let sit until ready to serve

Add sea salt and black pepper to tatse.

You can also add extra hot sauce but taste the meal first.

You can get this meal ready early in the day and then go about your other business until ready for dinner. I sometimes add the brussel sprouts about 15 minutes before serving because I prefer them firm but that is up to you.

If you can, make extra, and set aside a serving or two for a quick meal. This way you have a tasty dish ready to heat and serve when you need or feel like one.