A stew kind of day

I wonder how many people in the mid-southern states are making chili or stew tonight?  Something about that first blast of cool air just makes you all tingly inside and ready for some comfort food.  It's cool and cloudy and teasing of rain here in Tulsa, and I know back home in Midland they're getting LOTS of rain!  Such good news for them.

I was excited to wear socks and closed-toed shoes today, if that gives you any indication of how ready I am for cooler temps.

Back to stew.  Every time I make stew I think of Dale.  I learned how to make what I think of as southern comfort food from Mother and Dale when I was still a teenager at home - sausage and gravy, chicken fried steak, chili and stew to name a few.  (Dale always called sausage and gravy SOS or "Shit on a Shingle."  I know he didn't invent the term, but he was pretty proud of it.)  For the most part I make stew just like he showed me, although it always depends on what fresh, frozen or canned goods I have on hand.  He taught me to put the meat and potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot since they take the longest to get tender, then carrots if they're fresh, any other veggies, and last on top was onion, frozen corn, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salt and pepper.  Here's the before it cooks and gets bubbly pic...

And here's a picture of Dale from a bajillion years ago when I was probably 14 or 15 and we were living in a mobile home out in the country.  He did a lot of the cooking, and it was almost always something FRIED.  Yummy stuff, but thankfully I didn't have to worry about fat and calories and cholesterol at the time.

So to all of you who got your crock pots out this morning or who laid some meat out to thaw for chili, enjoy your southern comfort food tonight.  And don't forget the cornbread!