The Slow Cooker

Well, I have been married to hungry hubby for almost two months now, and it is going great. I have somehow managed to have plenty of fun and cuddle time with him as well as go to school, work, clean, and yes, cook. Life has certainly been busy, but I have never been happier.

As far as the meal with the family, it turned out great, other than a minor mishap with the eggs...

I did not really know where to start when I planned what to cook, but I knew my new best friend Betty Crocker would help me out. I wanted to make a good Southern meal, so I decided on barbecue pork sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, and apple cobbler. I found the recipes for potato salad, baked beans, and deviled eggs in the Betty Crocker Cookbook, and the other two recipes I found elsewhere.

As far as making the pork sandwiches, the slow cooker may have replaced Betty Crocker as my new best friend...It cooked all day, and I didn't have to touch it. It was ready just in time for my husband's family to get to our house. It was easy, and turned out to be delicious. I have now discovered that when things cook slowly on a lower temperature, they turn out much better than when you cook things quickly on a high temperature. Thus the reason for a slow cooker I suppose. This is probably general knowledge for most, but humor me as I make my discoveries in my cooking journey.

Back to the minor mishap with the eggs...

I made another discovery with the eggs that once again was news to me but may be general knowledge for most: make sure you leave time for your eggs to cool before you try to peel them. I discovered this in a very unfortunate way...

I grew impatient waiting for my eggs to cool, so I thought I'd speed up the process by putting them in the freezer. In the meantime I hopped in the shower, starting putting on makeup, drying my hair, and getting ready for the company to come, when I realized I'd forgotten about the eggs. When I went to check on them, they were already frozen solid!

I had to send poor "hungry hubby" out to get new eggs, but thankfully they were done in time and turned out to be very good. That was a lesson learned...

The potato salad was very good as well, and so was the cobbler. His mom even asked for the recipe, which made me very proud.

My first experience cooking for the family was a success, and my meals since then have been as well. Since cooking that meal for them, I have made other things in my slow cooker friend for hubby that have been very good as well. I am so glad I discovered the slow cooker, but I could not have done it without my Betty Crocker Cookbook.

So Betty, you are still my best friend (besides hungry hubby of course)!