How many meals can a crockpot make? A lot - perhaps even 365 meals, it would seem. Last Saturday it simmered pinto beans. Sunday it *would* have held the chili, but I chanced leaving a dutch oven on the stove top, under DH's somewhat watchful eye, praying he'd at least hear the timer while he enthusiastically set up a (bigger) TV and stereo system in the den. Gotta be ready for Super Bowl weekend, ya know?
All's well that ends well - the chili was actually pretty darn fabulous if I say so myself.
Yesterday the crockpot held a new recipe dish of pork chops smothered with onions, field peas and snaps (a little bland for our taste) and today it's slowly simmering a pot roast. I have had a crockpot since we got married, and I do rely on this trusty appliance for a lot of dishes, especially in the winter. One of my family's favorites is an all-day (or all-night) brisket, topped simply with mustard and a packet of onion soup mix, a recipe I discovered in the original Once-a-Month Cookbook (which I highly recommend to anyone trying to juggle school or job while keeping family dinner a high priority.)
The week is zipping by, and I have two newsletters (one for our children's program and a brand-new newsletter for our youth group) deadlines looming. Both 4-page newsletters need to be finished and ready to print and distribute by Sunday - which means my deadline is more like Thursday or Friday. Eeek!
At least the highlighter's newsletter was published by mid-January; and after this 2-issue pileup, the publishing schedule should become saner, with one quarterly publication, and two bi-monthlies produced on alternating months.
In my 9-to-5 (or 6 or 7 or 10) workaday world, things are a little topsy-turvy at the moment. Our website was recently sold to another organization, and everyone's trying to figure out exactly what that means for everybody. Stay tuned...
