the perfect sunday dinner, PW style

If you know me, you probably know that I love The Pioneer Woman. Her website is an

entertaining blog that covers a variety of topics: witty commentary about life on the ranch, homeschooling
her 4 "punks", gorgeous photography and tips for beginners, and delicious recipes
with step by step instructions. My friend Jessica (who actually sent me the link to PW's site)
and I have been plotting for months to get together and cook some of the recipes from her site.
She came down to visit this weekend and we made the most delicious Sunday dinner:
Pot Roast and Potatoes Au Gratin.

I won't post the recipes here, as you can find them on Pioneer Woman's website 

through the links above. But I will show you some pictures :)

The roast was unbelievably easy. You brown your veggies, sear the roast (as the lovely Jessica is
doing here), and throw it in the oven for a few hours. That simple! Our 2 1/2 pound roast cooked
for 3 hours, so Jessica and I took the opportunity to do a little shopping. 

By the time we came back, my place smelled AMAZING!

We took the roast out of the oven to rest while we made the potatoes. The meat was so moist
and so tender! Sometimes my roast beef ends up dry or tough but not with this recipe.

Lots of cream, lots of cheese, and lots of garlic... how could these potatoes not be good?
They came out of the oven bubbly and cheesy (and yes, in my Nana's 60's winter themed Pyrex!)
The sauce was so creamy and garlicky... my hands still smell like garlic but SO worth it.

 And the vegetables. SOOO good! They soaked up all the red wine and beefy goodness 

and were so tender they melted like butter in your mouth. 

I bought a loaf of rosemary /sea salt/ olive oil bread from our local grocery store. 

Unfortunately they didn't have actual rosemary so we had to leave that out of the roast... 

but it really brought everything together.

the meat and the bread...

the vegetables...

 and the potatoes!

 YUM. This is the perfect Sunday Dinner.