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This post is for those of you who are involved in romantic relationships.  Is money tight this year, and you fear that you can’t afford a romantic dinner for two on Valentine’s Day?  Or, do you feel that restaurants are always too crowded on V-Day?  Well, do what we do, and enjoy a romantic dinner for two at home!

Two For Tonight, by Jacques E. Haeringer is the companion book to a PBS series of the same name, which aired several years ago.  I remember it as being the only cooking show that was rated TV-PG (most are rated TV-G).  He did the show in front of a small studio audience, and he was always making slightly risque comments, such as suggesting that when you prepare his recipes for your “special someone”, you should do so “wearing only an apron”.

I miss the show, but I have the book, and I really like it.  Granted, some of the recipes do call for pricey ingredients.  But keep in mind that they are designed for special occasions, not stuff you’d cook every day.  Still, buying the ingredients is a lot cheaper than getting similar meals at a restaurant.  And you won’t need to break out the Fentraphen, since these recipes are for occasional indulgences.

On the show, every time Jacques added butter to one of his dishes, he’d look up at the studio audience and ask, “What’s wrong with butter?”  And everybody would respond, “NOTHING!”  Moderation is the key here.

As for the Amazon reviewer’s opinion, s/he must live out in the boonies someplace.  I didn’t see anything in this book that is all that hard to find around here.  Even mainstream supermarkets like Stop & Shop, Shaw’s, and Market Basket carry a variety of mushrooms, good cheeses, seafood, even quail and rack of lamb.  Most supermarket butcher departments will let you order what you want, if they don’t have it there in the meat case.  Yes, you do need to plan ahead, but for an important celebration, you always do.

There are a few things in this book that even I can’t find, such as venison and antelope.  So, I just don’t make those things.

The recipes are pretty easy to prepare, if you have a basic knowledge of cooking.  If you can find a copy of this book, check it out!

You can also visit ChefJacques.com, for recipes, as well as video cooking demonstrations, and info about his restaurant and personal appearances.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

As you may know, I have been wanting to learn to knit and crochet for the longest time now.  I had bought the I Can’t Believe I’m Crocheting DVD, as well as The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Knitting DVD.

A few weeks ago, I finally got around to trying out the knitting DVD.  There is hope for me, after all!  But after taking a look at the crocheting DVD, I decided that I would devote myself to learning crochet pretty well first, before moving on to knitting.

The DVD was based on a book by the same name.  I think it would help a lot if I had that book to go with the DVD.  Since there is no discount on Amazon for it, I’m just going to go ahead and buy it at Michaels, so I will have it right away.  Besides, the DVD calls for a size I crochet hook, and I don’t have one.  So I will pick one of those up, as well, as the light-colored yarn they recommend.

And then I will try to devote a little time each day to working with the book and the DVD.  I really want to actually be able to make stuff someday, soon!

I also need to pick up some more computer memory; that will make it easier to watch the many instructional videos that are online. Sometimes this old ‘puter runs a bit slow, and I need to do something about it!

Anyhoo, I will try to keep you posted on my progress, complete with pics of my sloppy work!

In today’s mail came my copy of Stampin’ Up’s *Sale-A-Bration* brochure.  This annual event runs from February 1 – March 31.  The brochure contains all of the free products that can be earned during this promotion.  In today’s economy, where we are all looking to save a buck, by clipping coupons, shopping at discount furniture stores and all…who doesn’t like free stuff?

If you order $50 worth of product from Stampin’ Up, you may pick one free item from the brochure.  No limit to the number of fifty-dollarses you can spend, each fifty bucks earns one free item.  All Sale-A-Bration items are limited edition. only available through this special promotion.

You can also earn free product by finding a Demonstrator and hosting a workshop…free item for each $300 that is sold at the workshop.  If you want to become a Demonstrator yourself, well, there is free product giveaways involved with that, too.

If you don’t have a Demonstrator and want one, please visit my friend, Annette Stewart.  From her blog, you can learn more about the promotion, download an onkline copy of the brochure, and place an order online.  If you do order anything from her, please tell her I sent you!

Do you enjoy the art of rubber stamping?  Or is this something you are interested in learning more about?  If you answered YES to either of those questions, you will surely want to check out Vamp Stamp News.

VSN is a monthly magazine which is really like no other in the industry.  In fact, it is one of the few “stamping-only” publications still iin existence.  The former Rubber Stamper magazine has been absorbed by Crafts & Things…it’s still a good magazine that has plenty of stamping projects…but it also features sewing, knitting, and crafts other than stamping.  This might not be the magazine for you if you are not interested in any of that other stuff.

RubberStampMadness is still in existence, although I wasn’t sure about that for a while.  I haven’t been able to find it at my local Michaels or A.C. Moore stores in quite some time now…in fact, I think Michaels quit carrying it, because it’s been well over a year since I have seen it there.  RSM is still in existence, but they have dropped down from 6 issues per year to just 4.  Is this a sign of the bad economy?  Are people not stamping as much as they used to?  I don’t know.

Then there are the Stampington magazines, such as “Stampers Sampler” and such.  These are very nice, high-end looking publications, great for getting ideas for projects, but not as high on technique as I’d like.

Another one is Scrap & Stamp Arts.  I personally like this one because I have been published in it a couple of times.   This one combines stamping and scrapbooking, and people who don’t scrap tend to be put off by articles on that hobby.

This leads me to Vamp Stamp News.  It still comes out 12 times a year, and it’s 100% stamping…no scrapbooking, no knitting, no ads for wholesale products aimed at store owners; the ads are all for retail consumer stamping products that anyone can buy.

This is not a fancy, glossy magazine, and it’s not as thick as the others.  But it is also not loaded down with pages and pages of nothing but ads.  What it IS loaded with, though, is tons of useful information, product reviews, techniques, and more.  What is even more amazing about this magazine is that it is owned and put together by one woman, Nancie Waterman.  Of course, she publishes artwork and articles contributed by readers, but she does all of the work in putting it together each month, and writes a lot of the stuff herself.

Each issue has a primary technique theme; this month’s is Resist Techniques.  Several months ahead of time, Nancie announces the techniques as “challenges”, challenging the readers to create and send in work with the chosen technique.  She publishes the best of the work sent in the magazine, and it is accompanied by detailed articles about the technique for that month.  Each issue also contains articles and tips about other techniques, as well.

You will NOT find VSN at Michaels, A.C. Moore, or any other chain craft store.  Nancie sells only to independent stamp stores, and by mail order to individuals (single copies and subscriptions).  There is exactly ONE stamp store in the entire state of Massachusetts that carries it, and it’s a pain in the butt to get to that store each month.  There used to be another store that was much closer to me that had it, but they went out of business.  So I decided to subscribe so that I’d never miss an issue!

You can visit their website to get an idea of what to expect from the magazine.  If you want to see an actual issue and there is no store near you that has it, you can order a single copy for $4.00.  A year’s subscription costs $36, two years is $62.

If you can only afford to get one stamping magazine, VSN is the one to get.  It’s by far the best value for the money, given how much information is jam-packed into each and every issue!

Beef Chuck Braised with Stout and Dried Cherries – from Caprial & John’s Kitchen

I’ll start right now by telling you that if you are not willing to buy the stout and the dried cherries for this recipe, don’t bother making it, find another beef stew recipe.  Those two ingredients really make this stew what it is!

I’ll confess that I am NOT a fan of stout; I’ve tasted Guinness, and I’m just not that into it.  Mike loves it, though.  However, cooking with it is a whole ‘nother thing for me.

As for dried cherries, well, I had to stop myself from nomming on them all before it was time to put them into the dish!  Next time I will buy extra, just for my personal nomming needs!

I saw the TV show on which this recipe was demonstrated, and the printed online recipe does not go into the detail that the show did.  So I’ll help you out with some of that.

There is no way that this can cook in the oven for an hour, as called for, if you don’t cut the chuck into small enough pieces.  By small, I mean no larger than 1 inch.  I think I did mine a little smaller than that.

My usual 12-inch cast iron skillet is too small for this.  My 15-inch one was large enough, but alas, it has no lid.  I used my 8.5 quart Calphalon Dutch oven, it looks very similar to this one.  It has not too tall sides, and enough surface room at the bottom to brown all of the meat in one fell swoop.  If you use a Dutch oven with a smaller bottom surface space, you should brown the meat in batches, then add it all back before adding the onions and garlic.  Just don’t use a stockpot, which has really tall sides, this will make it difficult to reduce the stout.

I used a 14.5 ounce can of *draught* Guinness.  These re most often sold in 4-packs, but some places will sell you just the one can.  I bought a 4-pack, Mike will drink the rest.

The recipe calls for chicken OR beef stock.  I used half of each.  I like the Better Than Bouillion bases, they keep forever in the fridge, and although they look expensive, there is a lot of stock in those little jars!  All beef tends to be too strong.  All chicken would be better than all beef, but half and half is best, I think.

One thing not mentioned in the recips is that you can thicken the finished stew with a beurre manie.  This is a mixture of equal parts softened butter and flour, combined well, and whisked into the stew at the end, and cooked for a few minutes.  I used two tablespoons of each here.

I also threw in a bag of frozen green beans at the end, to add some green veggie-ness to this.  Peas would be good as well.

Ladle this over cooked, broad-width egg noodles, and you are good to go.  Enjoy!