Karen's Thoughts

"Karen C - California" wrote
My best recipes come from Mable Hoffman's "Crockery Cookery". OOP,

I am sure that it is back in print, probably because of the resurgence of
interest in slow cookers.
Dawne

When I was working , my slow cooker was a godsend . I'd prep everything the
night before , put everything together in the morning and switch it on ,
come back at night and supervise reading /and - or homework while doing any
tidying around etc that needed to be done. Then we'd all sit down to a meal
before bath and bed for son and some 'together time for me and DH .
I don't use it as much now but it does come out if I've got a busy day ahead
or even if I want a batch of soup making up.
Jan UK
"Dawne Peterson" wrote in message
...

"Dianne Lewandowski" wrote .
Actually, I never trusted those crock pots. g

You really should get to know them (bg right back at you).
They epitomize what you have been arguing--that there are ways of cooking
that do not require a constant presence in the kitchen, but provide a
healthy alternative to fast or prepackaged food.
The crockpot allows good use of less tender cuts of meat (pot roasts,
stewing meat) or beans. Meals can be easily assembled the night before or
in the morning, and require very little if any last minute attention. (Of
course if you fill it full of fatty salty things, you can make unhealthy
meals with it)
It was the first electric appliance I bought my son when he moved into his
first apartment, and it became a mainstay of his cooking. What he
especially liked was coming home after a long working day to the aroma of
a
home-cooked stew, ready and waiting.
Dawne

"Lucretia Borgia" wrote
If you were thinking of the safety factor Dianne, I don't recall ever
hearing they caused fires. I

Once I told my mother, who was going into one of her regular "everything is
unsafe and will kill you" modes and so determined to unplug EVERYTHING at
night, that she shouldn't unplug her refrigerator. I confidently said "I
have never heard of a refrigerator bursting into flames."
The next day, the very next day, I swear, an apartment fire in town was
attributed to a refrigerator starting on fire.
Dawne

Back in my days of rent, the motor (so I was told) for my freezer
compartment fried. When I got home that evening, I opened the freezer
and hot air blew out at me. The inside of the freezer was black so it
had smoked. Luckily nothing else caught on fire. It did NOT trip the
circuit as it should have because the refrigerator compartment was still
working. This was the same place where the wires for the outlet that
ran the window a/c melted in the wall because of a short. Right next to
my bed in the middle of the night, I might add. Wonder if that building
still exists?

Dawne Peterson wrote:
Once I told my mother, who was going into one of her regular "everything is
unsafe and will kill you" modes and so determined to unplug EVERYTHING at
night, that she shouldn't unplug her refrigerator. I confidently said "I
have never heard of a refrigerator bursting into flames."
The next day, the very next day, I swear, an apartment fire in town was
attributed to a refrigerator starting on fire.


--
Brenda
"Sometimes I'd sit and gaze for days through sleepless dreams all alone
and trapped in time." Tommy Shaw

Dianne Lewandowski wrote:
Dr. Brat wrote:

I'd say your county extension agent was an idiot. I regularly cook
soup at night. I don't put it in the fridge because it's too hot and
I don't want to raise the temperature in the refridgerator. I might
or might not put it in in the morning, but I make sure I boil the heck
out of it before I eat any that evening.

Well, she said lots of nasty bacteria can be (don't ask me why I
remember this - it was 20 years ago) killed by the boiling, but they
leave toxins behind that are the real culprit.

I just questioned my husband about this, because he's a real squeamish
eater, and he says he's comfortable because the pot is covered, but he
wouldn't want to do that if I didn't cover the soup (the assumption
being that making soup killed whatever was in there and covering it
keeps the rest out). But he also said that he had South Asian friends
who used to leave a pot of veggies/meat/rice on the stove until it was
gone (3 or 4 days) and never seemed to suffer any ill effects. The
Poles do that, too, with Bigos (hunter's stew) which has sausage, pork,
sauerkraut, etc, but there's plenty of brine in it. I was thinking too,
of when my mother used to corn beef in a pot of brine in the basement;
it was cool, but not cold, but she made sure to serve it steaming.

What do I know? It just scared me enough to dump the soup. :-) Sounds
like you've never had any problems. I'm normally not germ phobic, and
get aggravated when I keep seeing all these "Clorox" counter wipes. I
mean, I realize my dishcloth is probably germ-laden, but I bleach it
often and I'm not dead yet. Maybe I should think along those lines when
I make soup and let it cool down.

DH makes me change dishclothes frequently. He wants to use those
plastic scrubby things and I can't stand them, so we have a deal. I use
the dish cloth once and then into the wash it goes and a clean one comes
out. I buy cheap face cloths and jump at the chance when his mother
offers us those knitted ones.

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dr. Brat wrote:
I use the dish cloth once and then into the wash it goes and a clean
one comes out. I buy cheap face cloths and jump at the chance when
his mother offers us those knitted ones.

Ooooh, I knit those for myself. They're such good scrubbies. :-)

Dianne

Yes this is very possible - a dear man I used to work with had this happen
in his home - the twins (about 18 at the time) were the only ones home ....
one twin was handicapped to the point she could not walk .. the other twin
could not carry her or drag her to safety - they died together. So sad.

Sharon (N.B.)
.................................................. ...........................
.......

"Dawne Peterson" wrote in message
...

"Lucretia Borgia" wrote
If you were thinking of the safety factor Dianne, I don't recall ever
hearing they caused fires. I

Once I told my mother, who was going into one of her regular "everything
is
unsafe and will kill you" modes and so determined to unplug EVERYTHING at
night, that she shouldn't unplug her refrigerator. I confidently said "I
have never heard of a refrigerator bursting into flames."
The next day, the very next day, I swear, an apartment fire in town was
attributed to a refrigerator starting on fire.
Dawne

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 04:39:50 GMT, "Dr. Brat"
wrote:

Darla wrote:
I guess we were abnormal.
Darla
Sacred cows make great hamburgers.

Were?

Elizabeth (ducking and running)
ROFLMAO
Darla
Sacred cows make great hamburgers.

Dianne Lewandowski wrote:
Dr. Brat wrote:

I use the dish cloth once and then into the wash it goes and a clean
one comes out. I buy cheap face cloths and jump at the chance when
his mother offers us those knitted ones.


Ooooh, I knit those for myself. They're such good scrubbies. :-)

I should, but lately I'd rather make scarves.

Elizabeth (who has three sweaters in various stages of assembly)
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Tara D" wrote
Not that odd. You tend to notice these things in the news more once
you've made a point that they 'never' happen.

Actually, my mother is convinced so many and varied things qualify as "the
worst thing you can do" that I am suitably impressed when one of her dire
predictions comes true,
Dawne, who continues to drink coffee, which is even more harmful than
plugging in refrigerators