Minhy's Halloween + Braised beef shanks

Braised Beef Shanks 

My theory again was correct, somehow they have scheduled my pediatrics dentistry rotations on holidays... first it was Valentine's day.. and my last rotation ever... landed on Halloween. What parent would bring their child in to the dentist during Halloween? Yep, that's right... no one.. well I lied, there were probably like 2 or 3 patients, but they were either too young or too old to care too much about Halloween. I went home early and made some braised beef shanks... well I think it was braised. I think I will spend a lot of time soon proacrastinating and figuring out what braised is.. versus just a stew. My mom bought me some beef shanks that I threw into the freezer... it was just taking up a lot of space. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of beef shanks... I don't think there was enough meat for what the cost was.. and also there was just a lot of fat... a LOT of it. I didn't want to shave off the fat fearing that the meat would be super dry..

Anyway, this was a wonderful meal, I served it with egg noodles, and it was a satifying meal for a few days. I  browned the beef shanks, and then added the vegetables ( carrots, potatoes, onions, kale,) added some broth and red wine, worcestershire sauce, and my favorite... ketchup.. . but I let it simmmer for a few hours on low until the meat became super tender and fell off the bone. I don't really use a recipe for these things anymore.. I just season to taste.... can't wait to make more stews and soups this season... nothing like a satisfying bowl of hearty stew to ease a bad day...

I definitely neglected this blog all quarter. I've been baking and cooking on the side quite a bit actually, but just too lazy to write it out. I'm planning to have a huge post about my spontaneous trip to Barcelona during my fall break and all of the wonderful foods I had.... it was truly a memorable foodie vacation... and a great time off. Apparently I don't relax during my breaks... but it's ok.. life is too short to sleep all day...... all the time :)

What was I for halloween this year?
I always knew that I wanted to make my own costume this year, I was debating between this.. and a tooth fairy ( adorning my costume with all of plastic teeth I've worked on during my first year of school) ... however... I thought...for my blog's name sake, I wanted to be Minnie Mouse :) ... I made a tutu ( 2 layer (red on top, black below) 75 yards of 6 inch tulle...  (50 yards red, 25, black)) .. cut polka dots out of felt, and stapled them to the skirt... paired it with a red sequin dress I already had, bought mouse ears, and made a felt + tulle minnie mouse hair bow ~ total cost 15 bucks!.. add on the cost of the dress... only 25 bucks : ) ... nothing like having a costume I guaranteed no one else would have at a party! I love this holiday.