stew at the studio

I left the house as the sun came up yesterday and went to our neighborhood grocery to buy:

two onions
three potatoes
a bunch of organic carrots
two ripe tomatoes
tomato paste with herbs
six pounds of stew beef
a nice soft braid of challah bread

I drove in to the studio, just 15 minutes from DC with gloves and a scarf all bundled..... and after sweeping the leaves away from my patio as I do every morning and opening all my blinds, I began to make a hearty beef stew in my studio kitchen. With lots of spices and thick chunks of onion the smell began to waft through the building to all of my building neighbors, who were invited for lunch at noon.

With a high temperature of 30 degrees F forecast, I thought it was the perfect day to make a hot lunch for everyone..... and it was a blast to really cook in that tiny kitchen. Everyone came and ate and laughed and caught up after the holiday, and I saved a bowl and some bread for one latecomer, with leftovers to spare.