Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, and Start All Over Again

Ah, Christmas. That magical time of year--when the light twinkles and dances off the ornaments on your tree and you can bask in the utter shininess of the holiday. 

I mean, just look at that tree! Mom, Bay and I scored it the day after Thanksgiving fresh from Washington State (at one of the local Church's tree lots). I put on the lights and Mom and Bay hung all the ornaments, perfectly placing each one. For three days and three nights, I marveled at the tree and it reminded me of all my blessings this year--especially when I consider what was happening last year at this time. I didn't put a tree up last year so this one was particularly important to me. 

And then at 1AM on Sunday night (technically Monday morning), I awoke to a clatter. I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. And what to my wondering eyes should appear.....

But the Christmas tree lying broken upon the ground. 

Now, let me first say, that this is a very embarrassing thing to admit and share with you. I have been putting up trees ever since I was a teenager and never, in all that time, NEVER, has a tree fallen over. Bay blames the stand, but the stand I have is actually the most stable kind you can buy. You screw a cap onto the tree trunk and that in turn snaps into a base that allows you to adjust the tree to fix any issues with a crooked trunk. Basically, you can make sure that your tree is straight. However this year, I wasn't paying as close attention as I should to the fellow cutting the branches off the trunk, and I think there were some branches too low on the trunk that prevented the tree from sitting all the way down in the stand. Also, when I was watering it on Sunday afternoon I heard a click when I was maneuvering the water can under the tree. I think I might have actually unlocked the tree from the base. 

What I am trying to say is it was my fault. But not totally my fault. Maybe.

But when I heard the crash Sunday night and work up, I knew immediately what it was. Trust me, the sound of an 8 foot tree falling over and ornaments shattering is quite distinctive. 

The 6 Stages of a Fallen Christmas Tree

1. Shock

2. Disbelief

3. Panic

4. Anger

5. Mourning

6. Acceptance

The worst part of the whole affair was that the tree was too heavy for me to lift alone. Trust me, I tried. And managed to pull a back muscle in the process. So I spent all of Monday working from home and staring at my poor fallen tree and feeling sorry for it (and myself). Thank goodness for my friend Kent, who came over in the afternoon, helped me pick up the tree, saw off the offending low branches, and snap the thing back into place. I rehung the ornaments over a several day period, mostly because I wanted to make sure it was going to stay upright this time. 

And I think it all ended up alright in the end. Here's the restored tree in all its glory with the full Hanukkah menorah in front of it for good measure and holiday inclusiveness. The tree has stayed straight and true through all the weeks in December and has proudly stood over the wrapped holiday gifts. Perhaps it's a bit of a cliche, but I think I love the tree more for the trouble I had with it. It's more special as a result of the work it required. As I write this post I can turn my head and see it standing there--an 8 foot tall symbol of how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and family.

And of course Bay and I found time to visit another Christmas tree this year....

I hope all of you have a holiday filled with lights and love--and if this is a hard time of year for you, then I hope that you find some peace in the season. Christmas reminds of all the blessings we have, but it can also be a reminder of all that we have lost. Just know that no matter what, you have people that love you. And THAT is what Christmas is all about. The tree is just the icing on the figgy pudding. 

Total and Complete Cookie Domination

Ah, the holidays. There are many things to love about them: the brisk air and chance of snow, reconnecting with friends and family, all the lights and decorations....but come on. We all know what the best part is: THE COOKIES.

Every year, I host a cookie swap. It has gotten...shall we say, larger as the years go on, and this year I think we might have finally outdone ourselves. Squeezing 25 people into my one bedroom apartment is something of a challenge, but my god, the cookies. We had about 30 types of cookies and it was a beautiful thing.

Table #1 at the swap (as much of it as would fit in the camera frame)...

...and table #2, complete with gingerbread house centerpiece!

In case you are unfamiliar with a cookie swap, it's pretty simple. Every person bakes a large batch of one type of homemade cookies. Everybody's cookies are placed on a table and then you walk around with an empty container and fill it with all different types of cookies. So you come in to the swap with one type of cookie and leave with dozens and dozens of different types! Your holiday baking = done.

Your waistline = huge, but that's a post for another day. This is the holidays and even I allow myself some indulgences.

We had an amazing spread this year; several people brought more than one type of cookie so the tables were practically groaning from all the cookie goodness. But that's what you want from a successful swap: lots of cookies, smiles, and laughs and we had all that in spades.

So what did I make? I decided to try some new recipes this year. First, I wanted something a little more standard for the holidays, and this Peppermint Meltaways recipe from the Cooking Channel website looked fun (full recipe below). It's a crumbly shortbread style cookie with a Hershey chocolate kiss hidden in the middle. You then roll the cookie in powdered sugar and crushed candy canes. Yum!

For my second cookie, I decided to try something a little more unusual. There were more boys than usual planning to attend the swap, so I thought something using bacon might be fun to try. Bacon is also a big trend in baking right now, and hello, it's bacon. So when I came across this Candied Bacon and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe, it seemed perfect. All in all, I think they came out pretty splendidly. And when I caramelized the bacon in the oven it made the entire house smell AMAZING.

More pictures, links, and recipes for cookies I have made this holiday season below. You've only got two more days before those New Years resolutions kick in, so happy baking!

Peppermint Meltaways

1 cup powdered sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
24 chocolate Hershey's Kisses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and the butter and mix until light and fluffy. Add the peppermint extract and mix to combine. Next, slowly add the flour and salt, mixing until just combined. In a separate mixing bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the peppermint candies. Roll the dough into twenty-four 1 1/2-inch balls. Insert 1 chocolate morsel into each ball and re-roll to ensure that the cookie dough encases the chocolate. Next, transfer to the bowl with the powdered sugar and crushed candies rolling each to coat. Place the balls on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Bake until they start to turn golden brown on the bottom, about 20 minutes. Remove and transfer to wire cooling rack. Cool until they are just cool enough to handle, 5 minutes. Return the cookies to the bowl with the powdered sugar and crushed candies and toss gently until each cookie is coated.


Candied Bacon and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

CANDIED BACON:
8 strips applewood-smoked bacon
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

COOKIES:

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup melted unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup raw sugar, pulverized
2 egg yolks
1 to 2 teaspoons maple extract
1 cup dark chocolate, chopped

For the candied bacon: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and set it aside. Lay the bacon strips in a single layer on a wire rack, and coat the tops completely and evenly with the raw sugar. Lightly press the sugar into the bacon strips, sprinkle them with the cayenne, and transfer the rack to the lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the bacon is deep red and very caramelized. Check on the bacon frequently; the cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the bacon. Use tongs to remove the candied bacon from the baking sheet, and transfer the slices to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, roughly chop.

For the cookies: With the oven rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, egg yolks and maple extract with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is well blended. Stir in the dry ingredients and the dark chocolate chunks. With a spoon, drop 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Flatten lightly with your fingers, then press your thumb down the center of each cookie to make a slight indent. Add a tablespoon of chopped candied bacon to the center of each cookie. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies will be a bit soft but will firm up when cooled and become chewy. For crunchier cookies bake for 15 minutes, taking care not to burn the bacon by covering the cookies loosely with aluminum foil.

Flourless chocolate walnut cookies (from Self.com)

My grandmother's puffy and silky Ricotta cookies (from my cookie swap blog post last year).

The best cookie ever: Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies (originally from Cook's Country, but reproduced on my blog).

Bonus cookie porn from my work cookie swap: the aftermath!

Turkey Hash Patties

The eternal question: what to do with all those Thanksgiving leftovers? I confess that I have never been particularly adventurous when it comes to leftovers, I typically just put everything on the plate as it was originally served and then heat it up in the microwave. Exciting, right?

But this year, I have decided to try some new recipes. I've been trying to be more adventurous with my cooking all year long and the holidays are certainly no time to drop the ball. This past weekend presented the perfect opportunity when my friend Selvi hosted her annual "Friendsgiving" dinner. A whole bunch of us get together for a Thanksgiving potluck and bring donations to the charity, SOME. Giving money to a charity dedicated to helping hungry folk makes us all feel slightly better about stuffing our faces.

 The spread at the first table at Friendsgiving.

This year, I came prepared. I brought some tupperware so I could take home some of the yummy leftovers. Especially Selvi's curry mashed potatoes, which I swear to god, were the best mashed potatoes I have ever eaten. I ended up with two tupperware containers bursting with roast turkey, curry mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. But what to DO with it?

While on a plane recently, I was reading O magazine (...what?) and I came across the answer. Turkey Hash Patties! The recipe is super easy. You chop up your leftover turkey, a green veggie (the recipe called for green beans, but I had broccoli), onion, and combine it all with the potatoes. You can form the mixture into patties and fry it in some oil on your stove top.

I was a little surprised by the texture of these; they ended up...I don't know, mushier than I had expected. I'm not sure what I was thinking though, I mean they are held together by mashed potatoes which aren't exactly solid. The good news is, they were delicious! All the yummy flavors combined and with the spices in the curry mashed potatoes it was just fantastic. And like I said, they were super easy.

I wasn't able to find nutritional information for the official recipe, but I put the ingredients (including the oil you use for the frying) into the My Fitness Pal recipe calculator, and it indicated the patties were about 170 calories each. They're a good size--two of them made a hearty dinner, so that doesn't seem too bad.

The finished product! They may not look like much, but trust me, they were delicious.

And now the good stuff, the recipe!

(I made some changes when I cooked these. As noted above, I used broccoli instead of green beans and I left out the salt and pepper--there was definitely enough seasoning in the curry mashed potatoes. If you are using regular mashed potatoes, I would recommend throwing in whatever seasoning strikes your fancy, maybe some garlic, curry powder, paprika, basically anything could work)

O Magazine Turkey Hash Patties

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups roast turkey, finely chopped
• 1 cup cooked string beans, cut into 1/4" pieces
• 3 cups mashed potatoes
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Fresh parsley (to garnish)

Directions

Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes 

In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil over medium heat. Add red onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with roast turkey, string beans and mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and form mixture into 8 patties. Heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook patties until golden, flipping once, about 5 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with salad.

The turkey hash patties cooking on the stove.

Shamrock Fest and St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes

Ah, St. Patrick's Day. The one day of the year my red hair is hailed as a gift instead of a curse. Also, everyone pretends to be as Irish and cool as me and there's also lots of drinking. Basically there is nothing not to love about this holiday.

Every year in DC there is a huge party called Shamrock Fest with great food, music, and beer (of course). I've never really been one for music fests (so crowded and porta potties are not my thing), but some of my friends were organizing a big group and I figured, "why not?" Especially when the headlining performers are my favorite band, Carbon Leaf.

So on Saturday, March 16 (the day before actual St. Patrick's Day) we all put on our best green and Irish duds and headed out on the metro to RFK Stadium. We met up early for some pre-partying and I might have been a wee bit tipsy by 10:30 in the morning, but that's all part of the fun, right?

Things didn't end up as crowded as I had feared (probably because of the threat of rain) and we had a grand time wandering around the festival grounds, dancing in the DJ tent, getting beer and cider, and waiting for Carbon Leaf. When the band took the stage at 4:30 there was a brief rain shower, but their one hour set was fantastic, with a great mix of old and new songs. Carbon Leaf has always had a bit of a Celtic rock flair and I was able to score a spot in the front row--for the first time!

By 6:00 I was wiped from being on my feet, drunk, and out in the elements all day, so I called it an early night. But Shamrock Fest proved more fun than expected and I look forward to going back next year.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I also decided to try a new homemade Guinness Chocolate cupcake recipe! I know many of you hear "homemade" and "cupcakes" in the same sentence and panic, but trust me that these are super easy. There is also a certain amount of pride that comes from making something from scratch rather than out of a box. These got rave reviews from my friends--they bake up to a dense, chocolatey cake that isn't too heavy. And the beer doesn't really influence the flavor, it just adds a certain depth and keeps the cake moist. Top off the cupcakes with the Bailey's Irish Cream frosting and you are good to go for all your St. Patty's Day needs!

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup stout beer (Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk (I used a buttermilk substitute--2/3 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice that you let sit for 5 minutes)

• Prepare muffin tins with liners.
• Simmer together beer and butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
• Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend.
• In bowl of mixer fitted with beater, beat eggs and buttermilk to blend.
• Add cooled stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
• Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Batter will be very dark brown and thin.
• Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, about 18 minutes.

 Baileys Irish Cream Frosting 

1 lb (4 cups) confectioner's sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (soft but still cool)
3 ounces (6 TBL) Baileys Irish Cream*
(I also recommend dying the icing green for that perfect Irish touch)

• Beat butter on medium-high until smooth, and fluffy.
• On lowest mixer speed, add confectioner's sugar one cup at a time, incorporating fully before adding more.  • Once all sugar is added, beat about one minute. Incorporate Baileys Irish Cream one tablespoon at a time. Beat until light and fluffy. If too stiff or dry, add more Baileys as necessary.

Rockin out in the DJ tent

 Me and some random dude in a kilt.

Christmas 2012

Well, here we are in 2013. And all I have to say is, THANK THE LORD.

Even numbered years are typically not the best ones for the Rileys. In February of last year, I experienced the unexpected loss of my Uncle Tom in February. That was probably the only truly tragic thing to happen during 2012, but I don't know-- by the time December rolled around it was time for a change. And I have a good feeling about 2013.

But before we could make it to the new year, we had to make it through the holidays. It's funny how Christmas is my favorite time of year and yet it still often feels like something you need to "make it through." I think the problem with this year was several members of our family were out for the count (due to health problems or distance) so I volunteered to take on some extra duties. Not that I'm complaining--I'm happy to help--but it just makes for a lot of running around, baking, wrapping (dear god, the wrapping), purchasing, decorating, and all the other kinds of things that are needed to make a successful holidays nowadays.


But we did it! In the past, Christmas has been something of a quiet affair because I usually end up spending the day just with my Mom. This year my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew were in town so we had 9 adults all running around being slaves to the schedule of a 13 month old. And let me tell you, in case you ever have any doubt, having children is EXHAUSTING. We had one kid who wasn't even mine and I was ready to fall over by the end of the day. I feel like it's almost blasphemous to admit (since I'm 33 and *gasp* unmarried), but it made me so thankful that I don't have kids. For reals, you guys. It's just too tiring. I mean, I am sure someday it will happen (hopefully before my eggs all dry up), but for now I like being able to sleep.

Despite the griping, we had a really wonderful holiday and having everyone around for it made it all the more special. Per usual, we had the typical Riley family orgy of consumption with enough food to feed an army and enough presents that we probably single-handedly kick-started the economy. It's starting to embarrass me how much STUFF we give each other, but every time I suggest drawing names or setting money limits I get shot down. Maybe next year?

And now for some precious memories....that will live on forever here on the internets!

 James enjoys his first cinnamon bun on Christmas morning! Cinnamon buns are a tradition at Mom's house--it's been our Christmas morning breakfast for...oh, say 30 years. 

 CHRISTMAS IS SO FUN ALL THE PRESENTS OMG YOU GUYS I AM A BABY!

 Amanda and I model our matching cupcake aprons. Now I can be an OFFICIAL cupcake baker. Before I was just a wannabe.

 My Christmas tree. As Mom put it, "it's the prettiest one you ever had!" Of course, she literally says that every year.

 OMG A LEGO ORGANIZER HOW DID YOU KNOW THANK YOU SO MUCH! (We didn't have the heart to tell him it was for the baby)

I told you it was a lot of food. Next year I vote that we limit the spread to cookies and cocktail weiners. Oh, and booze. 

Bill models his new kilt-towel, one of the gifts I brought back from Scotland. And in his words, "the present of the year."

Cookie MAAAAAAAAAADNESS!

Last year I started the tradition of having a cookie swap before Christmas. It's a fun excuse to do two of my favorite things 1) bake cookies, and 2) hang out with my friends. If you haven't been to a cookie swap before the rules are simple. Everyone makes a batch of their favorite cookie recipe and gets to take home a bunch of cookies from everyone else's. All your holiday baking = DONE.

It's like the opposite of Thunderdome--one batch of cookies comes in, but 12 types go home.

This year I didn't participate in just one cookie swap, but two! One here at the house and one at work. While we didn't quite have the numbers of last year at the cookie swap here at home (which is kind of a good thing because finding seats for 23 people was a challenge) we had about 15 types of cookies which is a VERY successful swap. A table loaded with cookies, good friends chatting and catching up, mulled cider on the stove...what else do you really need to get into the holiday spirit?

The whole spread.

We're swapping fools!

I made two of my most favorite cookie recipes, one new and one old (recipes are below). The new recipe was from my favorite cooking magazine, Cook's Country, and was one of their annual best cookie recipe finalists. Chocolate Mint cookies--a chewy chocolate cookie with a melted Andes mint on top. That's right. a MELTED ANDES MINT. Your mind has been blown.

The old recipe was one of my Grandmother's favorites and one she made every year. Ricotta cookies, a delicious puffy light but slightly savory cookie topped with a sugar glaze. As I baked them, I spent a lot of time thinking about my Grandmother. How she made the exact same cookie year after year...albeit without the aid of a Kitchen Aid mixer. But following her recipe, making something that she loved, I felt really close to her. I never expected to get moved by a cookie, but there's just something really special about these holiday traditions...and the cookies are by far the sweetest ones.

But enough of this sappy stuff! Let's get to the part you really care about--the recipes!

Grandma Riley's Ricotta Cookies

Cream together 1/3 cup margarine and 2 cups sugar. 

Add 1 pound (1 15oz. container) ricotta cheese. 

Add two eggs and two tsp. vanilla. Mix.

Sift together 4 cups flour, one tsp baking soda, one tsp salt. Add to other mixture. Drop by spoonful onto cookiesheet and bake at 350 degrees 12-15 minutes.

Frost with a glaze made from 1 ½ cup powdered sugar, 3 Tblsp lemon juice, and zest of one lemon. Stir until smooth. Spoon 1 ½  tsp on each cookie and use the back of the spoon to spread and let it dry.

Cook's Country Chocolate Mint Cookies

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 cups (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

45 Andes mint

Combine butter, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted, about 3 minutes. Add chocolate chips and stir constantly until chips are melted. Transfer mixture to bowl of stand mixer and let cool for 10 minutes. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.

Fix mixer with paddle, add eggs to bowl with chocolate mixture, and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture in 3 additions and mix until just combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Refrigerate until dough is firm, at least 1 hour or up until 2 days.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Working with half the dough, roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until just set 7-9 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

After removing cookies from oven, immediately place 1 unwrapped Andes Mint in center of each cookie. Let stand until chocolate is softened, about 5 minutes, then spread chocolate over top of cookies. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. 

Thanksgiving 2012 and Slow Cooking Heaven

Thanksgiving this year was a quiet affair; Bill and Amanda stayed in California with James in preparation for his first birthday on Sunday (you may recall he was born on Thanksgiving Day last year), and my step-sister and her husband also decided to celebrate at home. That meant it was just four of us on Thankgiving Day--me, Dad, Linda (stepmom), and my Aunt Kim. AND since everyone but me was leaving town the day after Thanksgiving...I was getting all the leftovers!

But what to do with 3 pounds of turkey? My family doesn't do the whole bird; we like the white meat best so we always just do a turkey breast. But the smallest breast I could find was 6.5 pounds which meant there was a lot that went home with me.

Cook's Country to the rescue! Don't know what I'm talking about? It's from the same people who do the America's Test Kitchen tv show on PBS and they have the BEST recipes I have ever made. Better than Martha Stewart, better than any of your Food Networks chefs, just great classic cooking. They also do equipment reviews, teach the basics of techniques, and getting their once every two months magazine is a big highlight for me. Seriously. Love it.

Their most recent issue had what sounded like a great slow cooker chicken and dumpling recipe. So I decided to sub in the turkey for the chicken--which meant I got to skip the step where you pre-brown and season the chicken. Since the turkey was also already cooked, I let the slow cooker go for the minimum cooking time and it ended up really tender, but not dry. I also left out the dumplings, since I had a roll of Pilsbury's biscuits to use up.

The finished product!

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try! Some other changes I made--I used only one onion and left our the peas. Because, ew.

Stew

--3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

--salt and pepper

--3 tablespoons vegetable oil

--2 onion chopped (I used one medium onion)

--2 celery ribs, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

--2 carrots, peeled, quartered and cut into 1/4 inch pieces (I used chopped baby carrots)

--4 garlic cloves, minced

--1 tablespoon tomato paste

--2 bay leaves

--1 teaspoon dry thyme

--1/4 cup all purpose flour

--1/2 cup dry white wine

--4 cups low sodium chicken broth

--1 cup frozen peas 

Dumplings

--1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

--1 tablespoon baking powder

--1 teaspoon salt

--1 cup whole milk

--4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1) Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of chicken all over, 5-8 minutes, transfer to slow cooker. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining chicken. 

(since I used turkey leftovers, I just dumped them frozen into the slow cooker--easy)

2) Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, bay leaves, and thyme and cook until fragrant and tomato paste begins to brown, about 2 minutes. 

3) Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in wine, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Whisk in 1 cup broth and bring to a simmer, transfer to slow cooker. Stir in remaining 3 cups of broth. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4 to 6 hours on low. Stir in peas. (I cooked mine for just about 4 hours on low, then reduced to hear to warm for another hour before serving).

4) For dumplings: whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Stir in milk and melted butter until just incorporated. Using greased 1/4 cup measure drop 8 dumplings around perimeter of stew. Cover and cook until dumplings have doubled in size, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.