Cold winter days are a great time to make soup. The catalyst for me was finding some frozen beef in the back of my freezer that didn't look like it would grill up too well. I defrosted it, cut it up and put it in the crock pot to simmer. After a few hours, I shredded up the chunks and let it simmer a bit more. I then let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day I skimmed the fat off the top and poured the beef into my Le Creuset 2 quart round French Oven. Added beef broth and let it simmer on the stove for 30 minutes. Cut up some carrots and celery, added them to the pot and let it simmer for an hour. Lastly I threw in the barley and let it simmer until the barley was cooked (about 45 minutes). When making beef barley soup, it is important to put the barley in last as it takes the least time to cook.

I thought about posting a picture, but after looking at the soup through a camera lens, I decided that the soup tastes much better than it looks.