This is a longer-than-usual post, but tells you a little bit about what happened in our life and in the lives of many in the western/southwestern part of Oklahoma during this past week. We're all blessed in so many ways, but we tend to take what we have been blessed with for granted. We've found that electricity is a blessing and for the return of that blessing - we are very grateful. For pictures and other thoughts about the Oklahoma Ice Storm, you can visit my other blog here.
On Thursday, January 28, school had been canceled because of icing on the roads. Everyone was expecting that the power would go out during some point in the day, so I began to cook early in the day so that our family would have a hot meal before the power went out. I also tried to think of things that could be warmed up in some way if we were without electricity for several hours.
I began the roast, potatoes, and carrots early in the day and they would have been ready at 6:00 or 6:30 p.m., but the electricity went off a little after 4:00 p.m. I decided to just leave everything in the oven - hopeful that it would come back on, but also thinking it would continue to cook for a while because of the heat.
The hours wore on and we realized it wasn't coming on soon. I had told the kids that if the electricity went out we would have a weiner (we used smoked sausages, actually!) roast over the fire in the fireplace, so plans changed for our evening meal. We didn't want to "waste" the opportunity to have the weiner roast - figuring the power would be on by the next day. We enjoyed the in-the-house cookout and finished the meal by roasting marshmallows. The kids had so much fun!
But, the next morning, the power was still out. It was looking like we were in for a longer power outage than any of us expected. For lunch that day we warmed up pinto beans that I had cooked the day before. We cooked them by the fire on the fireplace and my husband even cooked cornbread on the grill. The bottom burned, but it was still good. Again, we were hopeful the electricity would soon be on, but as evening wore on and darkness came, it didn't look too promising.
We decided to heat the roast, potatoes, and carrots on the grill. My husband turned everything frequently and it heated up in no time. This picture shows the candlelight dinner we enjoyed that evening. After over 24 hours of living without electricity and only having the heat of our fireplace, we all agreed that this was the best roast and potatoes EVER! I don't know if it was because we felt like we were in survival mode or we were just really that hungry, but I think my family will remember that meal for the rest of our lives!
ROAST AND FINGERLING POTOTOES
(I cooked the carrots seperately originally because there wasn't room for them, but when we reheated everything, we added them to the roast and potatoes.)
8.5 pound eye of round roast
5 pound bag of fingerling potatoes (I got these at Sam's Club. They are my favorite potatoes now!)
5 beef boullion cubes
3 cups water
Onion power
In larger roasting pan, sear roast over medium-high heat - making sure to sear each side. Wash potatoes and add to pan, all around roast. (Add carrots if you have room.) Drop in five beef boullion cubes and pour in three cups of water. Sprinkle with onion powder and cover with lid or foil. Bake in 400 degree oven for approximately 6 hours, or until roast is tender and veggies are done.
If you want to duplicate this recipe EXACTLY, turn off your oven after 4 hours. Put it out in the cold (if below freezing) or in your refrigerator overnight. Heat it up on the grill the next day, turning occassionally. Enjoy your dinner by candlelight!
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