My Crock Pot also lives in the basement. It hasn't come upstairs for several years because I now have an induction cooktop in my kitchen and use my dutch oven. However, I still use many recipes that come up under the "slow cooker" category.
Also - many thanks for that eggplant recipe! My history with eggplant has been unfortunate. Family and neighbors often gift me with beautiful, shiny eggplants from their gardens. I then have the knack of turning the eggplant into something with a texture that's like chewing on a kitchen sponge. I'm going to try your Crock Pot method with hope that it will break the spell.
I love Paula's method too, one of the online butchers I order from sends the whole chicken wing so I save up the wing tips in the freezer for exactly what she does too! So many possibilities.
(Also right now for lunch I'm eating a Le Creuset made soup with slow cooker stock!)
My crock pot is in the pantry--I upgraded to a 6qt with some help from Kohl's cash. But then I received an unexpected Instant Pot, and the crock pot has taken a little bit of a back seat to it. But my crock pot went to a lot of college lacrosse tailgates full of homemade macaroni and cheese. It has been loved.
I loved the fact I could set before going to work and cone hone to our dinner cooked. Even on days off, my crockpot allowed freedom to enjoy family activities or house cleaning jobs. When we moved it was 1st kitchen item I grabbed.
Now that I'm retired I have 2. A medium upright one and a long oval.
I have a medium and a large one for soups and stews and two smaller ones for fondue nights.
This time of year we start considering recipes to try between events during holiday season.
If we find a recipe that doesn't please us; no flavor, too many dirtied dishes, we forget the recipe.
There are so many tasty versions, you can move on to what works for you.
I was shocked a few years ago when I learned I could make apple sauce, but I could leave the apple sauce in and restart it for apple butter. I peel and use the peels for apple jelly as my grandmother taught me. She would have loved the slow cooker for her apple sauce, if she had thought of it.
We purchased two 1.5 quart size for the on/off and high/low controls to keep our favorite fondue recipes warm while we nibbled through them. We start both in pots on the stove, preheat the crocks, and pour into the crocks after cooking is complete.
When we are done nibbling, the cheese is poured over the various dippers in a casserole dish and stored in the refrigerator. We do the same thing with the chocolate and those dippers.
I dug my smallish, long-neglected slow cooker out of storage about a year ago and made a mean beef stew with it--more tender than the stovetop version. We went to a party where the hosts kept several versions of chili warm in multiple crock pots. It was an eye opener. Now I want a larger one! Thanks for the history and recipes. I want to try them all!
If I have to do a lot of prep work ie, browning or searing I’d rather just skip it. My other issue is scheduling. My work hours exceed the cooking time although at one point I plugged it into a light timer but idk how safe that was..lol. Looking for good recipes that a slow cooker doesn’t cook all of the flavor out of them. Btw I emailed the recipe to you in case it shows up in your junk folder!
For easy apple sauce don’t peal the apples just core them and add 1/3 cup of chopped fresh ginger (available in little glass jars) and sugar to taste. It couldn’t be easier! Just processed 3 gallons of apple sauce with three different flavors: ginger, cinnamon, and cranberry spice. I use the apple sauce to cook & bake with and to have over vanilla ice cream!
Note I’m a LeCreuset fan since I can brown and it’s a multi tasker. Crock pots are though great for pot lucks and as that essential 6th burner on occasion.
My Crock Pot also lives in the basement. It hasn't come upstairs for several years because I now have an induction cooktop in my kitchen and use my dutch oven. However, I still use many recipes that come up under the "slow cooker" category.
Also - many thanks for that eggplant recipe! My history with eggplant has been unfortunate. Family and neighbors often gift me with beautiful, shiny eggplants from their gardens. I then have the knack of turning the eggplant into something with a texture that's like chewing on a kitchen sponge. I'm going to try your Crock Pot method with hope that it will break the spell.
I love Paula's method too, one of the online butchers I order from sends the whole chicken wing so I save up the wing tips in the freezer for exactly what she does too! So many possibilities.
(Also right now for lunch I'm eating a Le Creuset made soup with slow cooker stock!)
Thanks for the mention, Anne! I’ll definitely be making the eggplant TO GO 👨🍳
Speaking of slow cooking, have you heard about haybox or norwegian cooker? :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haybox
My crock pot is in the pantry--I upgraded to a 6qt with some help from Kohl's cash. But then I received an unexpected Instant Pot, and the crock pot has taken a little bit of a back seat to it. But my crock pot went to a lot of college lacrosse tailgates full of homemade macaroni and cheese. It has been loved.
I loved the fact I could set before going to work and cone hone to our dinner cooked. Even on days off, my crockpot allowed freedom to enjoy family activities or house cleaning jobs. When we moved it was 1st kitchen item I grabbed.
Now that I'm retired I have 2. A medium upright one and a long oval.
I have a medium and a large one for soups and stews and two smaller ones for fondue nights.
This time of year we start considering recipes to try between events during holiday season.
If we find a recipe that doesn't please us; no flavor, too many dirtied dishes, we forget the recipe.
There are so many tasty versions, you can move on to what works for you.
I was shocked a few years ago when I learned I could make apple sauce, but I could leave the apple sauce in and restart it for apple butter. I peel and use the peels for apple jelly as my grandmother taught me. She would have loved the slow cooker for her apple sauce, if she had thought of it.
We purchased two 1.5 quart size for the on/off and high/low controls to keep our favorite fondue recipes warm while we nibbled through them. We start both in pots on the stove, preheat the crocks, and pour into the crocks after cooking is complete.
When we are done nibbling, the cheese is poured over the various dippers in a casserole dish and stored in the refrigerator. We do the same thing with the chocolate and those dippers.
I dug my smallish, long-neglected slow cooker out of storage about a year ago and made a mean beef stew with it--more tender than the stovetop version. We went to a party where the hosts kept several versions of chili warm in multiple crock pots. It was an eye opener. Now I want a larger one! Thanks for the history and recipes. I want to try them all!
I'm a no crock pot guy. I'm a no air fryer guy. I'm a no June oven guy. Can you recommend a foodie therapist for me, please!
If I have to do a lot of prep work ie, browning or searing I’d rather just skip it. My other issue is scheduling. My work hours exceed the cooking time although at one point I plugged it into a light timer but idk how safe that was..lol. Looking for good recipes that a slow cooker doesn’t cook all of the flavor out of them. Btw I emailed the recipe to you in case it shows up in your junk folder!
For easy apple sauce don’t peal the apples just core them and add 1/3 cup of chopped fresh ginger (available in little glass jars) and sugar to taste. It couldn’t be easier! Just processed 3 gallons of apple sauce with three different flavors: ginger, cinnamon, and cranberry spice. I use the apple sauce to cook & bake with and to have over vanilla ice cream!
Note I’m a LeCreuset fan since I can brown and it’s a multi tasker. Crock pots are though great for pot lucks and as that essential 6th burner on occasion.