Post-Christmas Cooking

Santa was very good to us this year.  Brian got a full-size food processor!  This is going to make a big difference in our kitchen, as a mini-processor is great but can't do all jobs.  He also got many different spice blends and a bottle of real vanilla extract.  But the coolest gift of all?

A cast-iron enameled dutch oven!!

Dude, this thing weighs a ton!  When "Santa" bought it at Kohl's, (s)he had a four year old boy with him/her and the boy wanted to run off in the parking lot.  Imagine running after that kid with a cast-iron dutch oven in one hand, AND your car is parked at the far end of the lot.  Yep....good times.

The first meal in the Dutch oven:  Mark Bittman's "Chicken and Garlic Stew" from "How to Cook Everything."  One of our favorites, as there's a saying in this house, "there is no such thing as too much garlic!"

It was a very Mark Bittman year in our house.  I got a copy of his "Food Matters:  A Guide to Conscious Eating" for my birthday on December 19th and his "Kitchen Express" book for Christmas.  What can I say, I love the guy's work.  Not quite as much as Brian loves Alton Brown (whose Good Eats:  The Middle Years" was also under the Christmas tree)  but I do love his fresh ingredients and easy preparations.  Brian also got a cookbook from Taste of Home for busy families, that one should be interesting.  

Merry Christmas to All!  A little late, but always welcome.  :)