Forest Dreams

 Lately I've been in search for wall decorations to give my bedroom a little more personality. Right now it's just a big brown box, lot's of brown... maybe too much brown. I really want to refinish the furniture white but that's a project that will require some super power sander that I honestly don't want to spend the money on. Instead of refinishing furniture I came across this on pinterest. I definitely didn't want an entire wall of birch trees ( maybe in my "in progress" craft room) but I do love me some birch trees.

Instead I opted for some canvas art! I had two lonely 18x12 stretched canvas in my storage closet and figured birch trees will give these poor abandoned canvases some meaning in life.

I basically followed the tutorial but applied it to a smaller surface. 

On my weekly trip to Michaels I wondered into the art supply section and gorgeous Martha Stewart colors caught my eyes. I immediately fell in love with her neutral tones, I LOVE MUTED, CREAM FORMULA BASED COLORS! 

 The colors I scooped up were "Gray Wolf" and "Lake Fog"

Painted "Gray Wolf" all over and sprinkled silver fine glitter while paint was still wet. 

With painters tape I created stencils just how this tutorial demonstrated. 

The birch trees are in "Lake Fog" and the detailing is "Gray Wolf" 

Free handing the bark details was incredibly easy and if you make a mistake just color over it, it's fool proof.

Once finished I felt like something was missing, so I added the "carved" initials but something was still missing. Than on an inspiration seeking trip to Hobby Lobby I came across teeny tiny LED craft lights. TEENY TINY LED LIGHTS! BATTERY POWERED!! I don't know why I felt like I had to buy loads of them  without an actual project in mind but I knew they had to come home with me. At home I sat at my dinner table in it's shambled state and it clicked. I will not only put new art on my walls I will also put up the perfect amount of light for late night reading or just the perfect amount to make me sleepy.... or Monty. 

Oxtail Soup ( Sopa de Rabo de Buey)

In the short 5 years I lived in El Salvador the one thing I remember most and still remains a tradition, ox tail soup. This soup wasn't a weekly dish, it was and still is a celebratory dish.  Living in El Salvador, eating red meat was not a regular thing. If we had red meat everyone knew we were to expect company, lots of company. Be it a sad occasion or a happy one, the entire family will be packed in like sardines at the dinner table. Great memories, fabulous tradition that we still enjoy and at times love to abuse haha 

[side note: my brothers swear by this soup as a hang over cure ;) ]

This recipe does vary family to family but of course no ox tail soup is as good as moms'. The first time I made it all on my own, was in efforts to woo my fiance, trust me it's totally a man dish. You want to lock him in? You make ox tail soup and if it comes close to his mothers (or in my case is better because his mom didn't really make it) you've got that sucker wrapped around your finger. The poor schmuck won't know what hit him. 

Makes 10 servings, 2.5 Hours start to finish

INGREDIENTS

*I recommend you head to your local international food mart

• 1.5 lb Ox Tail ( pre order with your local butcher or go to local international food mart)
• 1.5 lb Short Ribs
• 2 Medium Sized Yuca Roots
• 2 Wiskil/Chayote
• 1 Medium Spanish Onion
• 2 Large Tomatoes 
• 3 Medium Carrots (not baby carrots! You want the REAL carrot flavor)
• 2 Green Plantains
• Small Cabbage
• 2 Tablespoons Beef Bouillon ( I buy the powder kind)
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Oregano
• 1/2 Tablespoon of salt ( or to taste, I find 1/2 TB is enough)
• 1/2 Tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

***The star of the soup is obviously the ox tail and short ribs, when you go shopping for it make sure you look for fatty cuts. I do recommend you stick to a moderate amount, too much fat makes the stock too greasy***

DON'T BE AFRAID OF MAKING THIS SOUP, I PROMISE IT'S RIDICULOUSLY EASY! 

HOW TO:

1. Chop onion and tomatoes. In a 12 quart pot, heat olive oil on medium high heat, sweat onion and tomato for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

2. While onion and tomatoes are cooking, rinse meat and trim excess fat, remember to keep a moderate amount. Too much fat will make the soup overly greasy.

3. Place meat in pot and let it braise for 10-15 minutes.

4. Add 2 quarts of water, bring to boil than lower heat medium and let simmer 45 minutes... YES 45 minutes. Through out the 45 minutes, add garlic powder, beef boullion, salt, oregano and black pepper. 

5. While the meat is cooking to a near fall off the bone goodness, chop your veggies as follow but in no particular order:

• Carrots, peel and cut into 1/2 inch rounds
• Wiskil/Chayote, peel, wash and cut into 1/2 inch wedges. ( It's very important to wash the wiskil. you may notice a powdery residue on your palms after washing this veggie, just take some salt and rub between palms than rinse. It's sort of a milky residue that doesn't taste very good but the veggie it self is yummy)
• Green Plantains, rinse and cut into full 1 1/2 chunks, leave peel on.
• Cabbage, cut in quarters and roughly pull layers apart. 
• Yuca/Cassava, cut into 2 inch chunks. Use your knife as a hammer of sorts. While knife is wedged into Yuca it on the counter, it's a tough veggie so it may take a bit of work. Peel the skin as follow:

Wedge knife only through the skin layer. 

Wiggle blade under skin to the right, bring knife down and lay it flat on your cutting board while it's still wedged under the skin. 

Pull the yuca to the left as you slowly keep wiggling blade of knife further along under the skin.

VIOLA! You peeled Yuca! YAY!

Rinse Yuca and set aside.

      

         6.  Back to your meat, check several pieces for tenderness. At this point it shouldn't be completely soft and falling off the bone but that's exactly what we want. Begin adding your veggies in the following order 5 minutes after one another : Yuca, Carrots, wiskil and plantain. 

         7. Ten minutes after adding wiskil and plantain, check meat for tenderness. At this point it should be super soft and almost falling off the bone, proceed with cabbage and let soup simmer for 15 more minutes. 

         Your soup is ready! Meat and veggies should be tender. You can serve with a wedge of lime and hot sauce on the side or just enjoy it as is. Sometimes I add fresh cilantro and it takes it to another level, DEELISH.

I truly hope you give this recipe a try, although it takes a while to cook it's not something you have to stand in front of the stove at all times. I actually get a good amount of laundry done whenever I make it. Invite some friends, family and neighbors it's a must. Plus it's a whole lot of soup, don't be greedy.