I hate thieves! Last week, I discovered someone had stolen one of my popular posts and used it as their own content on their website, while generating ad revenues with pop-up ads. And that’s not the worst part. The owner of the site pulled in my content using a hidden iframe so people think they’re visiting unihomemaker.com when they’re not. I mean, how often do people actually pay attention to the URL address they click over? I think this all originated from Pinterest. I had to file a DMCA complaint with Pinterest and the thief’s web hosting company out in Germany. Luckily, both parties took action and shut this guy down quickly! Has this happened to anyone before? Care to share your story with me?
On to happier things — food! This past couple of weeks have been chilly. Very chilly for August. I think the fall weather is approaching a bit early this year. And as such, I made a pot of stew. Sounds so good on those gloomy cold days. I love to curl up on the couch with a bowl and watch some TV or movies. For the stew, I went with an amber lager but feel free to use your favorite quality beer. None of those Budweiser or Coors Light yucky stuff. This stew has so much flavor and is fabulous with mashed potatoes. Enjoy your week!
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds of beef stew meat, cut into 1″ cubes
- salt and pepper to season
- olive oil for cooking
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
- 3 medium onions, sliced
- 4 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried thyme
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 (12 ounce) bottle of amber lager
- 1 cup of chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- fresh parsley, finely chopped for garnish
Preparation:
Season beef with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, add olive oil and beef. Work in batches and brown meat, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer browned meat to large bowl and repeat until all the meat is browned.
In the same pot, add butter, onions and garlic. Cook until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and sprinkle in sugar. Continue to cook onion and stir occasionally until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add flour, thyme, bay leaf and carrots. Raise the heat to medium high and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Pour in lager and let it come to a bubble then stir in broth and tomato paste and let it come to a boil.
Return stew meat and any accumulated juices in the bowl back to the pot and let it come to a bubble then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until stew meat is tender, about 1 hour. Discard bay leaf and check for seasoning, if needed. Ladle stew into a bowl and garnish with parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes or crusty bread.
Adapted from Food Network
uni homemaker 
I have seen many stolen posts like that in Pinterest…it’s just terrible.
Looks totally satisfying and delicious served over mashed potatoes.
oh my goodness – once again proof to myself that I made the right decision when I started my Blog a year ago NOT to join most of those social media sites. I had this a few years back when I was ‘awarded’ the editors choice for one of my photographs and then what happened? Somebody copied and cropped it just a tiny bit and it appeared all over the place as ‘his own’. Love your stew.
I can almost taste the stew from the computer screen, this looks and sounds delicious, and happy.
So sorry to hear this, it is so disheartening. How did you discover this? I read a post a few weeks ago from http://conorbofin.com/2013/07/16/copyright-theft-whats-a-food-blogger-to-do/. Did you read this?
Your stew is lovely. I serve stew with mashed potatoes too! You have me wanting to make some soon. The caramelized onions and amber lager sound like a great idea.
I discovered it from my stats page under referrers. I always like to see where traffic is coming from and noticed a link with one of my recipe name so I looked it up. It’s wild because when you clicked over, it mirrors my entire post down to the the comments. The only thing different was the URL and the pop-up ads that site was serving. There was no contact info whatsoever to ask this person to take the post down so I had to go through the web hosting company. When you work so hard and lose sleep over your work and someone else steals it and profits off it, that really just chaps my a$$!!! Pardon my French. Thank you for taking the time to comment today.
Unbelievable. So sorry!
I know its terrible …but try to see the posite way of all, the Post is from You!you should be a bit proud ,it means you did wery welly Anne!It is very intresting the way you Caramelized the onion,in this new post(hope that happens again):)have you nacice sunday…
I love your attitude Massi! 🙂
Heeeyyyy Chris….is the only way to think..easy way….,it internet!:)
Oh, that’s awful Anne. I’m sorry to hear that you had to go through that! I think most bloggers are honest people who are looking to connect with others over a shared loved of writing, cooking, etc. On another note, your stew looks just wonderful (especially served over mashed potatoes…brilliant!). I’m just starting to menu plan for the fall and I would love to add this to a September menu for our family.
Thanks for sharing!
Allison
Sorry to hear what happened, hopefully it works out in the end.
This stew looks great, a perfect Fall or Winter dinner.. I can’t wait! 🙂
That’s really a shame Anne, so sorry this happened to you!
It actually proofs my instinct not to join Pinterest and similar social medias for my blog.
We haven’t had Beef Stew for ages but this gorgeous recipe inspired me to prepare it soon.
Beautiful shots!
I’m sorry to hear about someone stealing your content! How did you find out about it? I’m glad he got shut down quickly at least. The worst I’ve had is someone taking one of my photos and posting it as her own. I contacted her directly, and she apologized and took it down.
On the up side, this stew looks delicious! 🙂
So sorry this happened to you! This is one of the depressing parts about blogging – I hate it when I hear stories like this. I’m not aware of any of my stuff being stolen, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. 😦 Anyway, lovely stew! Great combo of flavors, and so nicely photographed. Good stuff – thanks.
Man, this stew was really good. The initial browning step really brings out the beef flavor, and the caramelized onions and the carrots impart some sweetness. And then putting this over mashed potatoes really rounds out the meal, IMO. I like to enjoy this with a pint of Guinness for a magical meal.
So sorry to hear about the trouble you’re going through! Glad to hear that person got shut down!
Your beef stew looks delicious! Will give it a try–thanks for sharing!
Sorry about the stolen post. That’s the most ridiculous and horrible thing! We blogger spent hours and sometimes days to create a post and some heartless people just steal and make money out of our work is just uncalled for! Good things got resolved quickly.
Your Beef Stew looks decadent. Definitely my kind of comfort food in cooler weather. 🙂 Thanks for sharing yours.
This stew looks very good!
Sorry to hear that this happened to you.. Fortunately it never happened to me (at least not that I know of..)
It’s disheartening when something like this happens. Everything you post shows your passion for food and your personality shines through! It is so wrong for someone to steal that and pass it off as their own. Glad you were able to resolve it quickly.
I can see why you would want a comforting dish! The beef stew looks so good and those potatoes . . . UMM !!
So interesting because I’m also craving beef stew for whatever reason (temp is still in the 80’s back home). It looks wonderful and very satisfying. I’m so sorry about your stolen material…it amazes me how some people behave and think. I’m glad you resolved it best you could. Hope it doesn’t happen again.
Holy smokes that looks AMAZING!!!! Those potatoes make a great canvas for that stew. I will absolutely try this. Have you tried something of a darker beer like a stout?
I have a while back but I think I prefer using ales or lagers for my stew. Stouts makes it too dark for my eyes… and I eat with my eyes first. 😉
I think Anne means she likes cooking with lighter ales and lagers. But I do remember the time she made it with a stout and I thought it was really good. It was very “beefy” flavored, and the stout gave it a bit more bitterness from the dark roasted grains. And I agree that it did make the whole stew a lot darker, so you couldn’t really see much. I’d eat that stew in a dark pub where I couldn’t see anything anyway 😀
I’m feelling the bitter cold, fall air already over here in Utah. Not ready for it, yet. Because, after that is winter! Soooo not ready for that!
I can’t believe that happened! How did you find out?
But, I love how you used a beer for this dish…I best it taste absolutely amazing! Pinning!
– I can hear you… your comment, ‘When you work so hard and lose sleep over your work…’.
I’m glad you took an action. Even if it happens to me, I don’t know what to do other than leaving a comment on their post (which you couldn’t). 😦
– The stew looks beautiful… and reading the preparation, I know it tastes wonderful too!
Sorry to hear about your issue! But I’m glad you got it resolved quickly! As soon as I saw the picture I thought what a delicious hearty meal 🙂
I’ll sure check my referrers better now! thank you so much for sharing your experience! – and the stew looks awesome 🙂
That’s horrible someone stole your content. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but I guess it’s quite common. Some people are so lame.
This stew looks delicious though.
Ugh, Anne. I’m so sorry you had to deal with the content theft. I haven’t had it happen…or at least I’m not aware of it! I’m glad your outcome was good…but what a pain.
PS. your stew looks amazing!!!
So sorry to hear that you were a victim of theft! I have never understood why people with obvious technical skill chose to use their talents to steal the creations of others rather than create something of their own! Those commenters who think they are safe don’t understand how social media like Pinterest work. You don’t have to join anything to have someone come to your site and honestly pin your photos linking to your site or dishonestly pin them as their own. We are all vulnerable when we put anything on the internet. I am happily amazed that you were able to take action that resulted in the fraudulent site being shut down!
Your stew looks like the perfect meal on a cold dreary day. I am looking forward to stew weather! 🙂
What a terrible thing to have happened, Anne! I would be hopping mad myself if that happened. Glad that justice was served in the end. On the upside, you now know your recipes are sought after! Especially when you make something as gorgeous as this beef stew. So comforting!
Sorry, Anne, to learn your hard work has been used by others to make a quick profit. I’m glad they shut the website down. We’re all a little safer as a result. I really enjoy beef stew and look forward to Fall so that I can make a pot. With our weather more Fall-like than Summer, I may be making one a bit sooner this year. Yay!
Oh no, Anne! That’s so horrible. You put so much work into your beautiful site – what a terrible thing for someone to do. Glad to hear it’s been resolved quickly! I’ve been craving foods like this. It never gets exactly chilly around here, but there’s something internal that makes me crave comforting dinners like this when fall comes around. I love the use of amber lager in the dish – my husband will love this!!!
Love the photos Anne, thanks for sharing with us. And thanks for the warning about the unscrupulous thieves out there – I echo the thoughts of many previous commenters.
That is too terrible! I cannot believe the audacity and I am glad you got it sorted out without too much hassle 🙂
this copying thing is so frustrating at times, but on a lighter note this stew looks scrumptious…guess we will have to try this out tonight with chickpeas…and accompanied with a well seasoned mash it will taste divinely comforting…HAVE A GREAT DAY!!! 🙂
Ooh, love the sound of a stew made with beer. I’m bookmarking this one to try. So sorry to hear about the content theft but glad that you managed to get the website in question shut down. (But then you do publish such beautiful recipes that I am often tempted to filch one or two myself 😉 )
Ugh, I can’t stand the stealing … it’s so incredibly frustrating. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that! I just don’t understand why people do things like that. It’s horrible.
Butttt this stew sounds amazing! My husband would absolutely love this! I am definitely ready for fall cooking and baking!
Internet thieves stink… I am sad to hear that this happened to you. Glad it was resolved quickly though. I love the idea of adding lager to beef stew!
This looks really rich and ‘comforting’
I had no idea that someone could steal content as you have described. Well done for shutting them down and I hope it doesn’t happen again. The stew looks delicious, almost wish it were autumn already!
This is a meal I would love to dig into! It looks so homey and rustic and sounds so flavorful. Very lovely dish, Anne!
I want this for dinner tonight. It looks and sounds comforting and delicious!
This dish makes me anxious for the cold weather!!! Nothing like a warm bowl of delicious beef stew. Yours looks so yummy 🙂
I’m making this tonight for my husband who is under the weather…the aroma is filling the house. Surely the pure comfort/yum factor will cure his ills. Seriving it with mashed potatoes….It’s 90+ degrees outside but it’s winter in my house.
Wow, that’s awful! Good thing you found out about it…
Not this stew on a happier note looks divine! I could eat this every night
So sorry to learn about the theft of your post, glad it was resolved.
Last week was on the cool side for us, especially for August, I too made a stew.
I’m sorry you had to deal with that! This stew looks like the perfect comfort food! Really delicious flavors. It’s been weirdly cool here too and I even so a few crispy, dried up freshly fallen leaves on the ground today. . . I kind of liked it.
I can just imagine these flavors being so wonderful in this dish…beef stew if a favorite dinner of mine. Thanks for the great recipe!
That sucks about your site being ripped off! Good on you for shutting them down. People will always be ratbags, I suppose.
UTTERLY DESPICABLE. this just happened to me just recently too – a travel type website just pulled ALL my text and photos into their website. I had to go sleuthing for their registered addresses and etc, and emailed them – which thankfully took things down. great on them for taking action over such terrible stealing – and I’m glad you found out about it.
I came on here to see that stew – and it looks fantastic. I think I’ll make my partner very happy if I made it – thanks for the recipe!
So sorry to hear about the “hacking” – but glad that they person was found and the issue dealt with!
I am new to the blogsphere so no incidents – yet.
By the way – your beef stew reminds me of the stew my mom used to make when we were kids! Thanks for shairng!
Shashi @ http://runninsrilankan.com
This looks amazing! I always have trouble with beef stew as the beef Is NEVER tender enough for me. Must try again as I’m literally drooling on my keyboard looking at yours.
Sorry to hear that your content was stolen but glad you managed to sort it out!
Sorry to hear your content was ripped off and I had no idea that it could be done in the way you describe.
You beef stew looks fabulous and I have been craving some cooler weather comfort food!
I love stew and with grey and cloudy skies today, this looks like the perfect supper!
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