My son phoned the other day to ask about making gravy.  He’d picked up a second-hand crock pot and  cooked a beef roast with vegetables in broth.  A few days later, he’d also cooked a chicken in the crock-pot.  I was impressed!

Well, he got me thinking.  With the leaves turning and the the days growing shorter…what’s more comforting than the smell of simmering delicacies wafting from the kitchen when you walk inside from the brisk autumn air? 

So…I pulled out the crock pot.  I threw in a frozen-rock-solid arm roast, a large can of tomatoes and a huge container of Mexican salsa and stewed that baby all day.  Levi made his famous fresh salsa, Seth made his delightful stir-fried sweet peppers and onions and we built some amazing fajitas with tortillas, the shredded roast, sliced black olives, guacamole, refried beans, chopped lettuce, grated cheese and sour cream.  Mmmm….

My favorite thing about crock pots is getting dinner started early in the morning and forgetting about it all day until it’s time to put everything together.  Cheap cuts of beef grow perfectly tender and juicy and chickens create the most amazing juices.  Have fun and let us know if you have a special favorite crock pot dish at your house.