stop the presses!

i'm boldy going where single, twenty-first century women have not gone. i'm entering the land of 1950's cooking! okay, maybe it's not quite that dramatic (be thankful i didn't use the blink tags i was originally going to), but it's a pretty momentous culinary day for me. it's my first attempt at making old-fashioned, family stew. you know, meat, potatoes, carrots, onions all cooking in a pot together until you come home from work or school and fill a bowl with that savory goodness that just says "home". yum. i'm not sure what brought out this nostalgia for stew upon me, but i succumed to the pressure and bought the ingrediments while checking out the new (and annoyingly small, but that's another entry) grocery store. when i got home, i had to phone my mom to find out what the hell to do next. i've completed stage one successfully. the meat is happily browned, seasoned and simmering musically on the stovetop. i'll go back in about an hour to add veggies and other good stuff. i'm really quite excited about this process. how sad is that?