Christmas is on it's way: Stage 3: Gawp at Weird/Amazing Food

It's always an odd one isn't it? Things you normally wouldn't even begin to believe anyone would put together start to come alive in the aisles of local shops.

I know I'll look at something and think ewwww..... but if it looks remotely Christmassy before I have time to think it's in the trolley and being carted away to the checkout or I spend my days puzzling over what it would be like (even if the thought is disgusting) only to buy some just to see...of course.

Take the following two for example:

Mince Pie popcorn, yup, I can see how that could work. 

Christmas pudding and brandy butter crisps. I have no idea why this seems apetising. 

Yet along with the odd things there is always the old favorites coming back into play, such as (drumroll please): 

Pork, pickle and cheddar pies. This to me is a sign that Christmas is coming. I will not be able to stop myself from stuffing my face with these until Christmas. 

Slow Cooking: Spicy Beef Stew

As you might remember, or maybe not, I mentioned a few blogs ago that I'd bought a slow cooker. I was keen to get to grips it and thought I'd make something quite simple, filling, spicy and tasty as the winter is drawing in.

Based a little on a goulash of sorts, I added the following copped ingredients to the pot, left it for 9 hours on low and voila, lovely stew.

3 onions
3 potatoes
2 green peppers
2 carrots
600g casserole steak
2 cans chopped tomatoes
500ml beef stock
1 tbsp squeezy garlic
3 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp hot chilli powder
1 tbsp mixed herbs
salt and pepper to taste

Although I make the rookie mistake of not par boiling the potatoes before so they were a little hard but as I was taking this into work each day and re heating in the microwave it meant that it softened them up a little. Just something to note for next time.