Christmas Spirit and Beef Barley Soup

I’ve lived in Phoenix for over 5 years now, and I’m still not used to the weather here around Christmas. Christmas should be cold and precipitous (in Oregon that meant rain, not snow). It shouldn’t mean that two weeks before Christmas day I should get a small sunburn whilst doing yard work under a wonderfully warm sun. (Yes, for those of you who were wondering, even though we’re not moving into the house, we’re still helping her finish the yard. We wouldn’t just leave her to it.)

My point with this is, I’ve never really gotten into the “Holiday spirit” here, because… it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. Thusly I’m not a big decorator. I have a very small amount of Christmas decorations and I don’t often put them up.

My step mother is the queen of decorating for Christmas. If she did this for everyone’s birthday (not just the observance of Jesus’) everyone who knew about it would be shoving elbows into each other to get to her door first and put themselves on a list of who’s birthday to celebrate. She’s that good at it. And she bakes… I cannot begin to guess the grocery bill associated with the wonderful heaps of goodies she makes each year around Christmas. Can’t imagine it at all… So I wonder when I started on this downhill slope toward being a Grinch?

I had a point to this… I swear! Earl’s mom gave us her old Christmas tree yesterday. She’s trying to convert me to a seasonal decorator, I’m just sure of it. But it kind of fits perfectly under our new 10-foot ceilings (its 7 ½ feet tall). And now I’m looking at this lovely narrow, pre-lit tree (that I’ve yet to form because… well, I had to go to bed so that I could get up and write this post – er, go to work) and I’m sadly ill prepared for it. I have like 7 ornaments. Sad, I know.

Earl wanted to put the tree in the corner of the giant windows…. And I looked at him for a minute, trying to hide my shame and finally mustered up the courage to mention that I’d be fairly embarrassed to have this gorgeous tree… with one ornament per foot of tree…. So it’s been nestled into the corner of the dining room where only the people we invite over will have the opportunity to see it.

Also, I’m using an old gold table cloth for a tree skirt – yep… I’m THAT prepared for a Christmas tree…

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Alright… on to the Beef Barley!

I’m going to admit that this soup was a little daunting to me at first. I mean… barley? Where the heck was I supposed to find that? I’ve never actually noticed the bags of pearl barley neatly stacked next to the dried beans in all my years of buying Lentils (Oh, how I love Lentils)… and yet, there they were, right where I’ve been ignoring them all these years! This recipe is soup-er easy (and yes, I know how cheesy that was.

(Sorry I don’t have a picture for you. I’ll take one the next time we make a fresh batch and attach it… just in case.)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Minced garlic
• ½ cup Onion (chopped)
• 3 (12oz) cans sodium free chicken stock
• 1-2lbs Stew beef (depending on how meaty you want your soup)
• 1 cup Pearl barley (washed, dried and all debris removed)
• 1 cup Peas
• 1 cup carrots (chopped, slivered, shredded or whole – if you do baby carrots)
• Seasonings to your liking.

Directions:

In stock pot add Minced Garlic and Onion. Cook until Onion becomes clear, but make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add chicken stock and 1 can of water, stir. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, add beef and barley. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Add vegetables and spices. Cook until barley has expanded and beef is cooked through.