I really need 2 slow cookers to cope

 All our talk of slow cooking has inspired Jan this week… 

Ssslllloooow cooking!  My good friend and neighbour Florrie and I are big fans of the slow cooker.  I bought a modern oval one for only $20 on sale a few years ago, and I produce so many delicious meals in it.  It goes straight onto the table at our place, and it’s hop in or miss out!  Florrie liked mine so much that she put it on her birthday wish list, and one materialised for her too.

I had an old fashioned one that I’d had since the eighties, not a lot different to the modern ones, and the poor old thing finally carked it.  I had five kids and a few ring-ins in the house and bungalow in those days, so the slow cooker would be going like the clappers, so to speak.  My partner and a couple of my sons would be working all over the suburbs, mostly arriving home way after dinnertime, but the slow cooker is a star at keeping the meal at just the right temperature.

Corned beef (add the carrots), roast beef – gravy to die for; fish curry, mixed vegies, chicken and corn and even lasagne , One of Florrie’s  favourites is ‘porcupines’ – meatballs rolled in rice and cooked in tomato soup, served with mash, yum!

Spaghetti sauce for a crowd too.  How great it is to tip a few cans and jars of this and that, throw in some mince, maybe wine, munch up onion and vegies (the kids won’t know) switch it on and head off for the day, and come home to mouth watering aromas and dinner only minutes away.    Often there’s only the one dish to wash too.  We don’t have one of those new-fangled dishwashers, but it’s not too much effort and if necessary, you soak it first.

Where they really star though, is at our annual Winter Warmer church fundraiser.  You’ll find a good dozen slow cookers on the church embroidered tablecloths, ladles and serving spoons at the ready.   The soups are from the mundane to the exotic and all for a good cause.

Then of course, there is creamed rice, baked egg custard, stewed fruit.  Yes, I’ve been thinking – I really do need two slow cookers!  What do you love in your slow cooker? …