I spent the first half of this week with my Aunt Sheila and my cousins, Molly and Katie. We had such a wonderful time, as we always do. Aunt Sheila and Molly drove down from Los Angeles on Monday. We met for a wonderful lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and had a fun time shopping. Monday night, I made dinner for us all. We relaxed and chatted at the dinner table for a couple hours, it was fabulous. On Tuesday, Katie drove down from Laguna Beach. We headed out to do some local shopping, had lunch, enjoyed gelato together and headed to the mall where we had a fabulous time in the shoe department at Nordstrom.

Let me tell you a little bit about my family. Aunt Sheila is married to my Mom’s brother … my Uncle John. Uncle John is one the most wonderful men in the world. I always thought he was so much fun. I remember when I was a kid and we came to California for a visit. We went to Universal Studios and before you knew it, my Uncle had a line of people asking for his autograph. He must have resembled someone! Once the first person asked for his autograph, the line began to form. My Aunt is a lovely woman. Aunt Sheila always looks so fabulous and pulled together. She is beautiful. I always enjoy the time we spend together. One of my goals in life has been to be the kind of aunt to my nieces and nephews that Aunt Sheila is to me. She is so very kind to me and I always love it when she calls just to say hi and see what I’m reading. Aunt Sheila loves to read, just like I do. Molly and I are a year apart in age. Her and I have always been very close. Molly is one of the most sincere, kind, beautiful women you will ever meet. She dresses more beautifully than anyone I know. She is a mom to Lexie, a fabulous young lady. Lexie and Molly are the best of friends. Their relationship is so special. Molly is a 5th grade teacher and her students adore her. Molly has also worked with high end cosmetics all her life. I love that she can always show me the latest products and trends. On Tuesday, her and I went into Sephora and she pointed out a fabulous face cream and some other things. Every time we are together, we buy a lip gloss. As Molly says “For just $25, a girl can be so happy.” She’s right, I now have quite the plethora of lip gloss to my name … thank you, Molly! Katie is also a beautiful woman. She has a fabulous life in Laguna Beach, on the beach. She has three beautiful children, a wonderful husband and is now selling real estate. Katie loves to travel and has been all over the world. She’s stylish, beautiful and so much fun to be around. I love my cousins so much. Molly and Katie have two brothers, John and Peter. They are fantastic too!

Katie (left), Aunt Sheila (middle), and Molly (right)

Before Katie arrived, I put together our dinner for that night. I decided on a rump roast that would be served over wide egg noodles with a green salad to go along with our meal.

In my mind, the best slow cooker out there is the All-Clad. I absolutely love this slow cooker. You are able to remove the aluminum insert and place it directly on your stove burner for browning your meat. This is exactly what I did for this meal.

First, I patted my meat dry with a paper towel. I then added kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning to my roast and rubbed it all over to form a crust. Next, I sprinkled enough flour on the roast to cover both sides and then browned the rump roast in olive oil that had been heating in the slow cooker insert.

I pulled the insert off the burner and placed it back into the slow cooker. I proceeded to add my vegetables and liquid into the slow cooker. I started with a red onion that I had quartered and sliced. Next I added a 1 pound bag of carrots I had peeled and cut into large chunks. After that I added a few parsnips that I peeled and cut into large chunks. Next I chopped four stalks of celery and added this to the pot. One carton of beef broth was added to the vegetables, along with 1/2 bottle of red wine (I used cabernet), a 28-1/2 ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes, a 28-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes, and 3 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste. Once all this was added, I added two pounds of large white mushrooms that I quartered.

This smelled amazing when we walked in the door after our day out. I could really smell the red wine when I was dishing this up, it was a warm, cozy smell. I think the ladies loved the dinner. I know Dennis really enjoyed it. He loved the smell from the beginning when I started to brown the meat. He commented on how great the kitchen smelled. He came home from work ready to try this rump roast and he was not disappointed. Dennis was still talking about it this morning, two days later. I guess that’s a good sign!

Ingredients

• rump roast

• 1 red onion

• 1 pound bag of carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

• 4 large parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks

• 4 stalks celery, cut into chunks

• 2 pounds large white mushrooms, quartered

• 1 carton beef broth

• 1/2 bottle red wine (I used cabernet)

• 28-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes

• 28-1/2 ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes

• 3 heaping tablespoons tomato paste

• 3 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons pepper

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 teaspoons minced, fresh parsley

Directions

Pat roast dry with paper towels. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoons pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning over each side of roast and rub into meat. Cover each side of roast with 1 tablespoon flour. Heat olive oil in slow cooker insert and add roast (or Dutch oven if you don’t have a slow cooker with a removable insert). Brown on both sides over medium-high, about 4 minutes per side.

Add carrots, parsnips, onion, and celery. Pour beef broth and wine over vegetables. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Add mushrooms to top and sprinkle with remaining teaspoon of kosher salt and pepper and a pinch of Italian seasoning.

Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve over wide egg noodles. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris