Friday, September 10, 2010

Crock Pot Decision

Thank you all for taking the time to leave comments, recipe links, and opinions about using a crock pot.

Arija, I am sorry that you lost so much in the bush fire. I appreciated your minority opinion, which gave me a smile. When I was much younger, I was an extremely disorganized hostess. We used to tease my half sister and her husband about my lack of preparation. They would drive up to our house in New Hampshire from theirs in Massachusetts, maybe a two and a half hour drive. When they arrived, we would visit for a while, then I'd say, "Well, I'll just nip out to the garden to harvest some wheat to make the bread for supper."

It wasn't far from the truth, when describing my meal-preparation habits. Those poor people had to wait once while I made hamburger buns from scratch, and then while I ground the meat for the burgers!

I really, really wanted to show them that I could have a meal mostly prepared and ready to put on the table for them, so for their next visit I bought a crock pot and made spaghetti sauce, which simmered all night long before they came for supper one Saturday. I was so pleased with myself, but only until we tried out the sauce. It had really simmered to death, the herbs had long lost any flavor, and the consistency of the meatballs was that of canned dog food, as best I can imagine it!

This time, many years later, I am ready to try again. Thanks to all your advice, I have bought a crock pot (actually two!), and a couple of cookbooks as well. I plan to follow directions and see if the modern crock pot is all it is cracked up to be,  Arija's opinion notwithstanding!

I'll let you know how it all works out.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Clairz, Glad you decided to try again with the crockpots. You will have to let us know what good recipes you have tried and the ones that work for you. Thanks for all your support on facebook. I nearly went crazy trying to set up that page but hopefully it will work for me. No book.(ha-ha) Have a great weekend.

The Curious Cat said...

Hey Clariz,

Thanks for popping over to my blog! Very nice to meet you - going to have a look round yours too - though I see you have three - which is your regular one or do you post on all three regularly? That must be quite time consuming! I find it so hard to keep up with just one myself!

I hope you have enjoyed using TED and thanks for the encouragement regarding my trip - SO EXCITED! Will certainly post on it!!! I can't remember when i've been so excited about a trip...and I have India and Thailand ahead and yet Vegas/Grand Canyon seem to be hogging the lime light...maybe it is to do with the neon lights and the sparkle...you could call the place a grown up Disney World maybe... anyway...hope to chat more. Take care xxx

clairz said...

Judy, I've been working my way through some crock pot recipes and have quite a bit to post on this blog. The trick is getting around to it! (I have friends with a place called Round Tuit Farm, btw).

Curious, the only way I can keep up three blogs is with a schedule--I post to The Zees Go West Monday through Friday; on the Remember blog Tuesdays and Thursdays only, because those posts are a lot of work; and on this cooking blog whenever I can. If I were going on your Las Vegas/Grand Canyon trip, the excitement for me would be the Grand Canyon! I'm not at all interested in glitter and gambling, so Las Vegas isn't the place for me. But that Grand Canyon left me speechless and in awe!

Mark Kreider said...

I use my slow cooker a lot and have never had anything less than very good results. I highly recommend a cookbook "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook" ISBN-13: 978-1558322455. It's worth every penny... trust me!

clairz said...

Mark, funny you should mention that book--it is one of two crock pot cookbooks that I decided to purchase, and I think it is the one I will like best.

I've been meaning to post about crock pots--I've got quite a collection of recipes now and just need to find the time to bring this blog up to speed!