They do. It’s a fact. I know this to be true. Every time I follow a new recipe, the preparation time always (yes,always) takes longer than it says, and the number of servings? Yeah, I don’t know what size servings they are talking about, but they are infinitely smaller than my serving sizes.

Sunday, I decided to make beef stew. I’ve never made beef stew. Matter of fact, I’ve never had beef stew. Since I am not eating grains, I’m expanding my repertoire of recipes. This sounds hearty and different. The plan was to do it Sunday, but, not surprisingly, the time fairy came and waved her wand and poof! there went my day. I was determined to do it yesterday. She nearly succeeded in sucking my time away again, but I still made that beef stew.

Homemade Beef Stew

The recipe said that it was 30 minutes for preparation. Um, no. First, my knives are dull. Yes, they are. I need to sharpen them. Try cutting stew meat with dull knives, not to mention all of the veggies. Second, the recipe stated that the veggies needed to be 1″, so I couldn’t just plop them in the food processor and let it work its magic. Third, the first time always takes me longer as I carefully navigate (and follow) the directions. That first time, I follow the instructions. The next time, I may be less stringent.

I started making this stew at 4 pm. With the brief interruption of taking Lily to the pool and coming back, the 2 hour prep and cook time, took 4 hours. Yes, I had dinner at 8 pm. It lied to me! Lied, I say!

The recipe says there are 12 servings. We’ll see. You know how those recipes lie. They tell you one thing and end up being another. Just look at what happens when you make chocolate chip cookies. Hm… Have you ever actually gotten 3-4 dozen cookies out of one batch? Yeah, me neither.

In case you are wondering, the stew was delicious. 

The recipe I used came from this site.