Slow-Cooker Sunday: A New Family Tradition

Until recently, the slow cooker had always struck me as a rather pointless gadget:  after all, unless you worked outside the home, why would you invest in a device that took eight hours to accomplish what a Dutch oven could do in three or four?  Moreover, it couldn't reduce a liquid down to the silky, rich sauce that I expected in a pot roast or stew; and its throw-everything-in-and-walk-away method seemed to leave no room for creativity... So for years I skipped all of those slow-cooker recipes, confident that there was really nothing in them to miss.

Until recently.  To my shock, that once-despised slow cooker has actually proved itself...!

You see, on Sundays our family assists at Tridentine Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) in the city 35 miles from our home, and-- depending on traffic-- it can take us anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes to reach the church. Once Mass ends, we're hungry; the babies are both tired and (despite take-along snacks) hungry; and we still must face the long commute home.  It's a problem.

In pre-parenthood days, my husband and I loved to follow Mass with a leisurely brunch at one of the downtown restaurants; and even when our eldest first came along, we still could usually sneak in 40 minutes or so at a family-friendly establishment.  When our second child arrived in January, however, that option was shot.  There was no enjoying a sit-down meal with two frazzled little ones to manage!  ...And so, we began pulling into Sonic for a quick meal of burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and tater tots.  I'd squeeze between carseats in the back of our sedan, where I could give the infant her bottle (if necessary) while handing the toddler bits of chicken and greasy fried potato.

Needless to say, this arrangement was less than ideal.

On a whim, I picked up a seven-quart Crock Pot (with visiting family in mind?) at Walmart on a Saturday, along with 3lbs of pork shoulder and some barbeque sauce.  At eight the next morning I loaded meat, vegetables, and sauce into the thing, turned it on "high," and ran upstairs to go back to bed prepare for Mass...  "I hope it doesn't burn the house down," my husband said as we drove away-- late, as usual.  (Mea culpa.)

But when we returned home, the smell was amazing-- and the pork was tender and savory.  We could sit down to our meal almost immediately, no fuss, with naps to follow... Leisure restored!  I was sold.

Since then, we've experimented with beef sirloin on two successive Sundays (not as tasty, since it really needs more cooking time); and this past Sunday, we tried this worthwhile Food Network recipe for pork carnitas.  In the interest of time, I initially skipped the final "crisping" step, but tried it on the next day's leftovers-- and we both found that it elevated the ok to the sublime!  (Please don't forget the "crisping" step!  It creates those flavorful brown bits...)

Humbled, I now ask-- do you have a favorite slow-cooker recipe?