Braised Short Ribs, Sweet Potato Fries, and Broccoli

We got braised short ribs in our meat CSA from Nooherooka farms about a month ago. They've been sitting in our freezer. We have no money and need to eat everything in our fridge before the holidays/we get a new fridge from our apartment complex. So i finally mustered up the courage to attempt some short ribs. I looked online and found a recipe from food network for braised short ribs:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braised-short-ribs-recipe/index.html

300+ reviews and the average is 5 stars? With an easy rating?! Yes, please. Let the cooking begin.
We're having sweet potato fries instead of mashed potatoes because my mom decided to grow mutant giant sweet potatoes this summer and she gave Jordan and I one. We have eaten this potato twice and we still have enough to feed 2-3 as a side for dinner tonight. Erin left to go back to Minnesnowta and I told her I would eat the leftovers in her fridge too (because I'm a good friend) which is where the broccoli comes from. Also Jordan and I invited Garrett and Kristy over (our wunderbar neighbors) for dinner and Kristy said she'll make dessert. Kristy's desserts are the BOMB so we know that if dinner sucks, at least we know dessert will be baller.

Step 1: Thaw the beef
Step 2: Figure out how to blend the vegetables together without a food processor. Here's to hoping the blender will work! - Slowly but surely
Step 3: Brown the meat - using a non-dutch oven because we don't have one and we're too broke to go out and get one now. We'll use the hand-me-down giant pan from my mom.
Step 4: Fill the apartment with smoke and move every fan to the kitchen area and open the windows.
Step 5: Put the 'whipped/chopped/pureed/liquified/blended' veggies in the bottom of the pot.
Step 6: Reposition the fans so they're blowing smoke away still :D
Step 7: Move the veggies around until they're brownish - then pour red wine in until you have about 1/3 of the bottle left.
Step 8: Sip the wine and see if it's good
            a) not good - offer it to guests
            b) good - drink the rest
Step 9: Stir around the wine and veggies until they're reduced by half.
Step 10: Add the beef to the pot, throw on 2 cups of water, and throw it in the oven at 375 for 3 hours.
        -oh! Your pot doesn't fit in the oven with the lid on? Remove the lid and add aluminum foil (this         will work, right? meh. why not?)

classy

Step 11: Halfway through flip the ribs over and put it back in the oven
Step 12: For the last 20 minutes remove the 'lid' or whatever you're using as a lid
Step 13: Realize your sweet potatoes are awfully limp and send your man to the store to get russet potatoes because you know they'll go better with the meal anyway.

I know this picture is blurry but if you had to sit in my apartment and smell this dankness cooking for 3 hours you wouldn't have time for fancy photography either

Delicious Level: 5/5 Noms (om nom nom nom nom nom)
Difficulty Level: meh
Lesson Learned: buy an apron/ wear tie dye when cooking this meal

Here's to eatin' good and eatin' local! Cheers and uff-da!

Introduction to cooking in a limited kitchen with unfamiliar foods

My program at ECU and discussions with local farmers and farmers markets introduced me to the idea of Community Supported Agriculture programs. Right now Americans are paying a very small fraction of their income for food compared to what they have paid historically. As a result, farmers have been suffering financially and food in the grocery stores is just not as fresh. I grew up eating food fresh out of my mom's garden and eating sustainably without knowing I was eating sustainably. This past Summer I decided to sign up for a CSA from Beausol Farm in Pittsboro. I looked at a few, what they had to offer, and how much they were for how long. They had the most variety for the cheapest amount over the longest period of time. We ended up eating kale, boc choy, AMAZING tomatoes, strawberries, basil, parsley, and so much more that I can't even think of right now. It was fresh off of the garden and my money went straight to the farmer.

Now I'm in Greenville, NC. You see a ton of farms on either side of the road no matter how you drive into Greenville. A lot of them are cotton, tobacco, and soy but where are the vegetables being sold? There is one CSA in Greenville that I know about and it's the Locavore Market that draws from several farms in the Eastern, NC area. Through that same site we also found Nooherooka farm. They sell beef and pork in their CSA. I've never cooked a beef stew, beef stir fry, or short ribs. So through this CSA not only am I supporting local farms and farmers, I'm getting to learn about how to cook foods I never cooked before.