Review: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker

Author Beth Hensperger is not kidding: "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two" stands out as a practical, highly informative cookbook with a very different collection of tasty recipes from the standard chicken roast or beef stew that so often dominate other books of the genre.

And it's loaded with bits of information I've not read elsewhere.

For example, we get an explanation of what slow cooking is and isn't, how a crockpot operates, the best sized cooker for single or two-person use, a time conversion chart between regular oven and crockpots, and, my favorite, "panic proof pantry," a guide to ingredients and foods to have on hand for any occasion and to head off a last-minute rush to the store.

She explains the basics of cooking, noting that there are two ways to heat: moist or dry; dry heat includes roasting, baking, broiling, girlling, toasting, pany frying and deep frying, using microwaves, toasters and conventional ovens.

Moist-heat cooking means stewing, braising, steaming or poaching and uses appliances such as microwaves ovens and stovetops. But the crockpot trumps all the other moist-heat methods and allows for tasty food preparation on a smaller scale. Not to mention that it can be a huge time saver.

It does certainly add time to the cooking process--it's not called slow-cooking for nothing-- but it's the perfect way to prepare a meal while doing something else: start the cooking before you head out the door to work or have other projects to tackle; and voila, when you return, the meal is ready.

The slower process translates like this:
conventional oven: 15 minutes-crockpot: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
conventional: 60 minutes-crockpot: 6 to 8 hours

and so on, to 12 hours or more. I remember my then-little one freaking when we got our first crockpot--"you mean it's going to take LONGER??," fearing, I suppose, she'd starve to death in an afternoon. But she quickly got over it when she realized delicious meals were ready when she wanted them, and now we live off our two pots. Her recipes range in time from 3 hours to 10.

Hensperger explains the workings of a crockpot, while noting newer ones are better than those made even just five years ago:
"The slow-cooker's low wattage, wrap-around heating coils are sandwiched between inner and outer metal walls for indirect heat; the heat source never makes direct contact with the stoneware crock; the coils inside the walls heat up and the space between the base wall and the crock heats, transferring that heat to the stoneware insert. Food cooks at a temperature between 200 and 300 degrees."



The recipes are outstanding:
For main-dish soups, she walks readers through ways to create tasty broths, then moves on to such delights as zucchini soup croutons, butternut squash soup, fennel potato leek soup and chipotle black bean vegetable soup.

Under "The Great American Chili Pot," she offers "Pushpa's chili," old-fashioned beef and mushroom chili, overnight chicken and bean, texas chili, Steve's Poker Night Chili, turkey chili mac, hominy and zucchini chili and turkey chili with baby white beans.

For grains, pasta casseroles and sauces, she gives us 20 recipes, including steelcut oatmeal with raisins, risotto with pancetta and potatoes, slow-baked macaroni and cheese, vegetable polenta with mascarpone cheese and marinara and mozzarella lasagna.

We also are offered plenty of the scrumptious meals involving crockpot standards chicken and turkey, beef and veal, and, with an extra dash of flavor, recipes from around the world for pork and lamb, such as braised pork chops with turnips and apples; lamb korma; country pork ribs with suaerkruat and pears, tagine of lamb, tomato, green beans and sesame; lamb stew agrodolce and Mexican pork chops.

Cooking times and recommended pot size are clearly stated at the beginning of each recipe. And while some of the recipes call for some rather unusual ingredients, most rely on items found in a well-stocked kitchen. This book includes no photos of foods or anything else, except on the cover, so food junkies who love to pore over those pictures may be disappointed. But for the rest of us, this book is a true gem, spilling over with great information and ideas.

In addition to the kid and me, we've switched over to preparing food for our Labrador, because of the pet-food mess. A dog breeder and pet columnist I know uses her second crockpot to prepare foods for her dogs, which I think we'll do, too, as some of the recipes include ingredients, such as onions, that are bad for dogs.

First published at epinions.com

Where Leaded Toys Die

So those toys we didn't buy, or returned, had to go somewhere:

Chinese town where old presents go to die

By Richard Spencer in Guiyu
27/12/2007
The Chinese town of Guiyu is the graveyard of Christmas past.
It is where presents - game consoles, laptops, mobile phones - come to die.
It is also where they are reborn. In this giant scrap-yard, so dangerously polluted that its children are being clinically poisoned, the electronic objects of desire, a million tons of them a year, are broken apart, melted down, and washed in acid to be recycled into a new flood of imports for Christmas future.

Let Kids be Kids

Fingered by the Feds

I've been stewing about this since Christmas Eve, when I first read this story. Among other things--the employer/database connection--I am deeply bothered by the discovery that I could be in the Department of Homeland Security database because I adopted a child from overseas 11 years ago.

The United States requires Americans who are planning to adopt overseas to have a thorough police check, which includes, among many other requirements, submitting fingerprints to the FBI. I always figured the fingerprints were sitting somewhere, unused but if I should, say, turn up dead on federal property, someone might think to look me up. But that's a different matter from having moved, wholesale, everyone's fingerprints into a database used to run down terrorists. It is, I fear, yet another step into the collecting of vast amounts of personal information by the feds, to be used who knows how and by whom. We can't catch Osama bin Laden but, by God, we know about those adoptive parents!

Two elements, in particular, bother me:
the adoptive parents angle:

The DHS already has a database of millions of sets of fingerprints, which includes records collected from U.S. and foreign travelers stopped at borders for criminal violations, from U.S. citizens adopting children overseas, and from visa applicants abroad. There could be multiple records of one person's prints.

and this:

The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.

What? Where's the line between corporations and the government? And what constitutes "Brushes with the law"? A protest? So someone notifies your boss? What kind of nonsense is this? For people who bitch about the Democrats' and their alleged "Nanny State" some people sure are interested in trading it in for a police state.

Teen Reflexes

Just in case you wondered, a 14-year-old athletic girl has better, MUCH BETTER, reflexes on video games than I do. Like 12 different Wii wins to 0. I particularly enjoy how teenager, who controls the settings, created my character as a gray-haired, slightly decrepit old lady.
Oh, wait.

Cold at Christmas

I was in a Home Depot earlier today, looking for materials to temporarily repair a leaky shower pan and saw several notes saying that the store had few if any generators because they'd been shipped out to the Midwest families who were without power because of the recent snowstorms.

What a shame and what a commentary it is that while we all run around freaking out about terrorism, we're really unprepared in this country for even the most routine natural disaster. How close are we to a real breakdown, again, in this country, if multiple disasters hit simultaneously? I don't know. I just have this feeling that, years ago, people weren't left without power for weeks at a time because of weather. The infrastructure is not strong. We are not ready for much of anything.

Maybe I'm wrong. At any rate, I hope all those without power bounce back soon and manage to still have a decent holiday.

Counterfeits

No matter how tough your holiday schedule may be, it's probably not as stressful as what these families are going through.

Three Suffolk teens snared in counterfeit scheme

BY JONATHAN STARKEY
Newsday
Three Walt Whitman High School students and a Huntington Station man made bogus cash in the back of a pickup truck and circulated it through Huntington-area businesses for about two years before the counterfeiting ring was broken up, Suffolk police said yesterday.

Green in All Directions

The Los Angeles Times' green blog has some good information on LED holiday lights:
Why they are safer--they're cooler

They are popular

They make the best lights

Throw away the old ones

The Right Thing to Say

Forwarded by a friend.

Adam wakes up with a huge hangover after attending the Staff Christmas Party.
Adam is not normally a drinker, but the drinks didn't taste like alcohol at all.
He didn't even remember how he got home from the party.

As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong.
Adam had to force himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is
a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table.
And, next to them, a single red rose! Adam sits up and sees his
clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the
room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean.

So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye
staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. Then he notices a note hanging on the corner of the mirror written in red with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in lipstick:
"Honey, Breakfast is on the stove, I left early to get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight.
I love you, darling!
Love, Vicki"

He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast,
steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table,
eating. Adam asks, "Son, what happened last night?"


Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind.
You fell over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the
hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door.

Confused, he asked his son, "So, why is everything in such perfect order
and so clean? I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?"

His son replies, "Oh THAT! Mom dragged you to the bedroom,
and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed
"Leave me alone!!, I'm Married!!!"

Broken Coffee Table $239.99.
Hot Breakfast $4.20.
Two Aspirins $.38.
Saying the right thing, at the right time, ---Priceless

'Christmas in Fallujah'

Written by Billy Joel, sung by Cass Dillon, from Long Island.

Speaking of things like this, I was very surprised to see something from my school district the other day--a short rundown on how to get loans for college, ending with a note about how the military provides college funding. It's not that the military DOESN'T offer funding; it's what precedes the opportunity that is disturbing. But more important, it was the quick leap from figuring out how to fill out college loan forms to joining the military that was so startling.

Looking for Youth Counselors

Counselors Wanted for Off-site School Age Child Care.

The Huntington YMCA is looking for part time counselors for the off-site school age child care program. The program is held at the Countrywood School in South Huntington. Perhaps you or someone you know is looking for a part time job. Position requires an organized, punctual and patient individual. A love of children and the desire to help them grow in spirit, mind and body is essential.

Responsibilities Include:
Supervision of youngsters in grades K-6
Participation in curriculum development
Assist Site Director
Employees must be first aid and CPR trained
(Y will provide training)
Must be 16 year of age or older
Hours 2:00 - 6:00pm
Location Countrywood Primary School, 499 Old Country Road, Huntington
Be a part of a team that builds strong kids, strong families and strong communities. For more information contact Diane Harvey at 421-4242 ext 117 or fax a resume to 421-5807.

Verizon on the Line

Ah, the way to start the day--my neighbor had Verizon FIOS installed recently and to accommodate him, Verizon came and stuck a large box on the wires running over my front yard, which is interfering with the replacement tree I want to plant on my property. Then, twice, the box started beeping all night and could be heard literally half a block away. Last night, in a little wind, as huge chunk of cord, maybe 30 feet and wrapped in a big ring, got detached and is now swinging over my property. There's a tag on the ring that says to call Verizon but of course, there's no phone number. How does the phone company not include a phone number? Ditzes. I called, got someone somewhere else in the country who wants a ZIP code and an "exchange" on my phone but because I have a cable phone, the exchange makes no sense. I am now really irritated and tell the guy what's going on, that I want it removed and that I plan to cut the cord to get if off my property. "You're telling me you're going to damage the cord?" is the reply, a couple of times. The testy exchange continues, he puts me on hold a while and comes back to tell me that he's told repair that I plan to damage the cord. No, dear Verizon. Just get this damned thing and the beeping box off my property. We shall see.
End of rant.

IQ and Race

There's a good piece here about IQ and race, and helps explain how a genius like James Watson stepped, unnecessarily, into a minefield. We do have these prejudices built into our society--my Asia-born daughter is often assumed to be a math and science natural (only partly true). I have heard a couple Asian-American parents complain that that assumption about their children works against them when they're actually struggling in a subject. On the other hand, that assumption isn't as bad as the opposite, that, based on their skin color, kids can't achieve.

From the article:

There should be no great mystery about Asian achievement. It has to do with hard work and dedication to higher education, and belonging to a culture that stresses professional success. But Flynn makes one more observation. The children of that first successful wave of Asian-Americans really did have I.Q.s that were higher than everyone else’s—coming in somewhere around 103. Having worked their way into the upper reaches of the occupational scale, and taken note of how much the professions value abstract thinking, Asian-American parents have evidently made sure that their own children wore scientific spectacles. “Chinese Americans are an ethnic group for whom high achievement preceded high I.Q. rather than the reverse,” Flynn concludes, reminding us that in our discussions of the relationship between I.Q. and success we often confuse causes and effects. “It is not easy to view the history of their achievements without emotion,” he writes. That is exactly right. To ascribe Asian success to some abstract number is to trivialize it.

Catching Up

Back again. Been a little busy and a tad under the weather.

I've just signed up to a volunteer enforcer of sorts for the town. (Can't say what but it should be fun and it's a good cause.)

Teenager is doing fine, about to get her first chance to fence for her school.

I continue to be impressed by our school district--very responsive to questions. Even if I don't get what I want, at least I usually get an answer. Met several of her teachers the other night and all went well. The best part was discovering that her account of how things were going in the classroom was quite similar to that of her teachers. After meeting the teacher in her toughest subject, I sought out the bubbly elective-course one, just for balance. (Not that the first teacher was nasty or anything at all but we're talking hardnosed teacher and not great, great grades to moving over to artsy, effervescent life-is-wonderful, your-daughter-is-a-star! instructor.) Those teachers and administrators pulled some mighty long hours that day/night.

My Lab is still out of control; her latest stunt is trying to leap, joyfully, on the LIPA meter reader, so now I have to call in meter readings. That's not as bad as when she chewed the fuel sensor under the car and cost me $500; or ate the cable on the side of the house or broke the neighbor's door, or chewed through the cord to the steam iron or...well, what can I say? She's a Lab.

The front end of the car appears ready to fall off (loose bolt, bad workmanship). I need Jeano! (he's the car-repair master at the Getty station on Pulaski Road.)

Library Programs

Saturday night programs are returning to the South Huntington library on Pidgeon Hill Road.

During the winter months, the library will once again be open from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday
evenings to offer patrons access to audio-visual materials and the use of laptop computers.

We also return with our popular Saturday Program Series, which will include hit
movies, concerts, theatrical productions and family programs.

Laptops for Kids

What a fabulous idea this is.