Fix-It and Forget-It

About two hours ago, snow began to fall. We have not seen snow since late October when a freaky storm thundered through this area and left us all stunned into worrying about whether winter had something vengeful in mind. Since then, we’ve been going out in sweaters and opening the windows while driving. Buds are out in our backyard.
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Because Valentine’s Day is around the corner and because--while some of us have our own sweethearts and some of us don’t—we love our slow cookers and our Facebook and blog community very much, we’re giving away a Hamilton Beach 5½-Quart Slow Cooker and a full set of the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbooks to one (1) lucky, random winner!
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Rebecca is my daughter. She’s a very good cook. While I couldn’t get her to chop an onion when she was growing up, she’s become a cook who tries everything now—successfully. She also is the Manager of The Good Cooking Store in our little Lancaster County town of Intercourse, PA. She taught Language Arts to middle-schoolers for 7 years. Now we benefit from all of her energy and good ideas. Don’t miss what she has to say!
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Pennsylvania puts on a massive, jaw-dropping Farm Show every January. Half the fun is getting there. It notoriously snows tons during the week, adding drama outdoors to all the spectacular goings-on indoors within the nine or so buildings.
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I regret it but I do it: Size up somebody by the way she looks. Conservative-looking = small worldview. Loud and boisterous = probably not too sensitive. You know what I mean.

Well, one of my favorite standholders at our farmers market should have cured me of this small-minded habit of mine a long time ago. She dresses “plain” like my mother did in the 1950s, but she is a Vegetable Queen. She grows an astonishing array of vegetables, and she really knows them. Every time I walk up to her stand, she’s got something lush and beautiful that I’m seeing for the first in its fresh state.

This woman grows parsnips and rainbow chard and bok choi and Romanesco. And she cooks these out-of-the-ordinary plants for her family. She’s learned their personalities and how to make them taste their best.
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Rebecca is my daughter. She’s a very good cook. While I couldn’t get her to chop an onion when she was growing up, she’s become a cook who tries everything now—successfully. She also is the Manager of The Good Cooking Store in our little Lancaster County town of Intercourse, PA. She taught Language Arts to middle-schoolers for 7 years. Now we benefit from all of her energy and good ideas. Don’t miss what she has to say!

I have never written regular New Years' resolutions. The standard ones often seem unattainable. However, a new year does bring a fresh start and new opportunity. So, with that, here are my goals for 2012.
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The holidays are over and things are getting back to normal at our house. The bright yellow buses are back on the street. Our calendar is full of meetings and potlucks. And our slow cooker is full of hearty soups that warm our insides at the end of cold days.

That’s why we love the 6-quart All-Clad Slow Cooker. This sizable slow cooker can handle a double, even triple, batch of soup, so that we have plenty of leftovers to pack in our lunches later in the week or freeze for future meals.
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You can learn a lot from your kids. This is not new. But I was recently reminded when my cousin began telling me about her husband Robert’s Sunday evening ritual.

Somehow as we were wandering along in conversation, she told me about making yogurt in a slow cooker—a practice she and Robert picked up from their daughter who’s off somewhere in the world, but still sending her parents tips. (Yes, this happens, those of you who are right now spooning food into your child’s mouth, or wiping up a sticky trail that your Little Person seems to have had something to do with . . .)

Robert gets out the slow cooker as Sunday winds down. “It’s a 5- or 6-quart one that’s 30+ years old,” he patiently explained to me (you see it here in the photos that Robert sent me). “And since I’m an American Businessman (too bad you can’t hear him guffawing right here), I’m always looking to maximize productivity as well as production!” That means he makes more than 4 quarts of yogurt each Sunday afternoon.
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This is a great last-minute dessert I’m talking about here. I learned it by accident.

This is the story of how I got intimately acquainted with “Chocolate Cake in a Mug” from my newest cookbook, Fix-It and Enjoy-It Potluck Heaven.

On Monday morning I was booked to appear on “The 10 Show!”, produced by Channel 10, the major NBC affiliate station in Philadelphia.

My food-stylist suggested that I get to the studio by 9:00 a.m.; the show broadcasts from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

I trucked out of the house around 7:15 and survived the Schuylkill (affectionately known by locals as the “Sure-Kill”) Expressway without any big delays. So far so good.
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Can you beat this for beauty?

I mean, really, what better way to show your affection for someone than giving something you’ve grown or made at holiday (or any) time?

This stunning garlic braid hangs in my daughter and son-in-law’s kitchen. They’re reminded every day of their friends who grew these bulbs outside their back door, and then one day took time to braid them beautifully together.

And every time Rebecca and Rob snip off one of these 24 beautiful babies, their friends come to mind.

For Christmas, Merle’s one brother usually gives each of us a loaf of whole wheat bread he’s just made. It is flat-out scrumptious, whether or not he includes a jar of jam that he and his wife have made from their berry patch.

I love that a real part of life comes with these gifts from kitchens and gardens. These gifts are basic. And direct.
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