Time to visit the Greenhouse

There is a huge greenhouse near us that attracts customers from all over the state. We had people stop at the nursing home once to ask directions to this greenhouse and they were from upper Michigan!
I made my stop there last week to get a few things.  I was smart to avoid being there on Saturday.  I heard traffic was backed up quite a distance, just waiting to get in.

This is a picture a friend posted on facebook showing the cars lined up to turn in.

Here's the front of the building. You can get more than plants here.  There's a chili dog and mexican food place set up near the entrance.

 

Once you make it through the entrance, you see this...

And then you see plants, lots of plants.  This is standing in the middle of the greenhouse, looking to one side.  This greenhouse sits on 107 acres, and the greenhouse itself is 250,000 square feet.  It really is hard to imagine without seeing it in person.

We did a lot of wandering around, and left with this cart full of pretty plants.  Now I just have to keep them alive!

Cooking Thursday

The recipe I'm sharing today is for beef stew. Stew is something I make more often in the winter, but this is a nice meal and because it's made in the crock pot you won't heat up your house while cooking it. This has really good flavor, and the beef chunks are so tender, they fall apart.

Crockpot Beef Stew

2 pound beef roast
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon paprike
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
1 1/2 cup baby carrots
1 medium onion cut into chunks
6 ounce can tomato paste
1 cup water
4 cups beef broth
2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce - optional

Cut roast into 1 inch cubes.  Combine flour and seasonings in plastic bag and shake well to combine.  Place several beef cubes in  bag and coat with seasoned flour, continuing until all of the beef is coated. Melt butter in pan on stove, and brown beef.
Place veggies in crockpot, place meat over veggies.
Stir flour into water in pan, until smooth.  Add broth, a little at a time, then stir in tomato paste.  Bring mix to boil and cook till thick.  Pour over meat and veggies in crockpot.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Wordless Wednesday