Azorean Spiced Beef Stew

This is another recipe from "A Year Of Crock-Potting".

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/crockpot-azorean-spiced-beef-stew.html

I didn't know what "Azorean" meant, so I looked it up: The Azores is a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km (950 mi) from Lisbon and about 3,900 km (2,400 mi) from the east coast of North America.

I wish I had a picture. I meant to take one today when I ate the leftovers for lunch, but I forgot my blackberry at home this morning.

I loved this stew. Mike referred to it as a soup. I think, after giving it some consideration, I'd use the Rachel Ray term "stoup". It was really quite delicious. I was a little worried that it would be too spicy for Mike. First of all, Mike hates cinnamin. Second, even though he says he likes spicy foods, he can be a little picky when it comes to actually eating them. I wasn't awake when he came home and tried it, but he left me a note saying that it was spicy, but he still thought it was great with a little bread, and he enjoyed the excuse to eat ice cream after.

I didn't have any tomatoes to put in this recipe. Our local grocery store didn't have any cherry or grape tomatoes. Wrong season. I don't know if I'd even bother with them next time around. Also, the recipe doesn't say when to add in the carrots - I tossed them in with the onions.

I hope everyone is having a great day.