Busy, busy, busy

Sorry I have not been around for a while. Life is just crazy. All of a sudden I am getting calls to set up play dates. If my son is not at someone else's house then I have other kids here. This week he went to a friends house yesterday and I had the girls. Priyasha and sweet Keara the baby I babysit. It was nice just having the babies. Today we went to story time and having three kids seems to be getting easier. Keara loved the songs and Priyasha and Pravan seem to be so independent and sat up front with the storyteller. Today I am cooking a delicious dinner in the crock pot. Short ribs with veggies and nutty rice. I love watching the food network when I get a chance. I saw this the other day and I am giving it a try. It smells so good.Try it out. Let me know what you think. It was quick and easy to throw together this morning. Smoke House Short Ribs Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee, 2008 2 tablespoons olive oil 8 short ribs Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large onion, thickly sliced 1 (12-ounce) bag baby carrots 1 cup celery, thickly sliced, about 2 stalks 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 2 teaspoons smoked ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose seasoning salt 1 cup red wine 1 (10.5-ounce) can beef stock Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Season short ribs with, salt and pepper. Sear the short ribs on all side until brown and caramelized. In the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker place the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Then add smoked paprika, smoked ground black pepper, and all-purpose seasoning salt. Pour in wine and beef stock. Place short ribs, meat side up, on top of vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 8 hours. Strain and defat the cooking liquid. Serve as sauce on the side. Recipe Summary Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 3 minutes Cook Time: 8 hours Yield: 4 servings Tomorrow I have a play date schedule at a friends house. Thursday I have company and Friday night I am teaching a class at www.scrapbooksatelier.com It is a class on spring books. Check out the link to see some pictures. I have some new pictures on http://www.flickr.com/photos/sausa. Go ahead and check them out. I will try to make some slides for the blog. I have many many other things to get done and I honestly feel like the kids secretary. Hopefully next week won't be so overwhelming. Have a great day and stay cool ! Free Spirit !