Recently I went shopping at Kohl's. I don't go there often but I got a coupon in the mail and needed a few Christmas items that I couldn't find locally so I gave it a shot. It was a REALLY good coupon - 20% off the lowest sale price PLUS $10 "Kohl's cash" back for every $50 I spent. (Okay... so I didn't read the fine print and get that it was Kohl's cash but the 20% off was enough to make it a great deal!)
So I wandered through the store and studied all of the possible items that I might like to purchase (I couldn't find the items I had gone there for though, unfortunately) while practicing my math skills of subtracting 20% from the lowest sale price. I'll admit that I was getting a little giddy about some of the sale prices until I started realizing just how inflated the every day prices must be in order for these sales to be possible. But... that's for another subject.
I am a total sucker for kitchen appliances - particularly ones that make promises to revolutionize my life and make slinging a great meal on the table for my family not only easier but with less hassle. Enter "The Crock Pot". The crock pot had to have been invented by someone whose life was insanely hectic and whose family wouldn't survive on frozen dinners and take-out menus. Man or woman, I'm not sure, but that person is my hero/ine!
I have been a long-time lover of the crock pot and have made soups, stews, roasts etc in them for years. I had a small yellow one when I was single and it did the job just fine for me. When my husband and I got together, we upgraded to a 6 quart crock with two heat settings - low and high. It turned out though that on this particular model, low = incinerator and high = space shuttle re-entry heat. Needless to say, things cooked a little too quickly! Most often the meat was a little tough. It also was so hot that I didn't dare leave it alone for hours while I went to work etc. (I'm still not sure that I'll do that... It just seems risky to leave a heating element unattended.)
So, when I wandered past the crock pot aisle, I had to stop to see what new features were available. Hazzah! There was the holy grail of crock pots! It was a Hamilton Beach Deluxe Set & Forget 6 Quart Slow Cooker. This was the Cadillac of cookers! Here are the things that I loved immediately: 1) It has clips on the sides that can lock down the lid so you can take it with you. The lid even has a gasket so that it seals up nicely! 2) It has a removable lid rest so that you don't have to search for where to rest a dripping, hot lid. 3) It has a probe. A PROBE! The probe goes through a small hole in the lid into the roast or other item and measures the temperature and... 4) It is fully programmable so that when the probe reaches the proper temperature, the heat automatically gets set back down to "Warm" so that the roast etc won't get over-cooked. The last feature is the most amazing feature... and the one I haven't figure out entirely yet. But... as I'm writing this... in the living room... in front of the fire... I can smell the incredible smells of the maple dijon pork roast that has just reached precisely the right temperature. Yep, just a moment ago, it beeped and (because I have to see it to believe it) it switched from "high" to "warm" just as promised!
To further convince this Doubting Thomas of its efficacy, I took my meat thermometer and tested the roast - it was perfect!
So... now that my family has just rolled in, it's time to go finish the side items really quickly and dive into the roast.
Having now successfully made the pork roast AND the crock pot lasagna, I am on a roll with my new gadget and I'm sure I'll be putting it to use frequently throughout the winter for a huge variety of new items.
Update: The pork roast was fabulous! It was perfectly done and my family loved it! The meat was tender and moist. We didn't have any apple sauce (which is a must with pork in our house) so we ate it with cranberry sauce which was delicious! When I took the roast out to rest for a few minutes, I threw green beans into the leftover liquid in the crock and cooked them that way - they ended up with a touch of the maple and dijon flavor - yum!
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