Weekend Plans: Implementing Reader Ideas

Right now in the American Northeast we are in the middle of the dreariest time of year.  For the past several weeks, the temperatures haven't gotten above the low thirties. . .the memory of which is going to seem balmy in retrospect over the coming weekend, when the temp is expected to dip down near the single digits.  Brrrrrrrr!  And, to top it all off (literally), it snowed again last night:

The wintry view from my kitchen window this morning

During these dreary, sunless months until spring finally arrives, we have to find alternative ways to bring brightness and warmth into our lives.  Luckily, many people in my circle have been contributing their own rays of sunshine this week.

For example, Peter's mom visited a couple of days ago, entering with a big bunch of tulips and the pronouncement that we have to have colorful flowers to combat the winter blahs.  I agree, Sonia!  How could I stay grumpy around these bold, red-and-yellow beauties?

Ahhhh — fresh flowers!

My day ended yesterday with a warm, happy moment, this one courtesy of my little sister, Sara, who texted me to say she was enjoying the blog.  I didn't even know you were reading, Sara, but I'm glad you like what I'm doing!  Have a great day in sunny L.A.!  Congratulations on your recent passing (1st attempt) of your social work certification test!  (I have another brilliantly smart little sister, Beth, and we are all lucky that we have remained close — in spirit, if not always geographically — into adulthood.)

Cold weather calls for warming foods — am I brilliantly smart too or what, to have figured that out? — and my readers have inspired some hot hot hot cooking ideas that I am going to implement this weekend.  Many of you have touted the convenience of the slow cooker, and my sweet D.P. (=domestic partner, the closest thing to marriage available to us in our state) went out shopping (on Amazon, anyhow) and bought me one.  It arrived yesterday, entombed like Tutankhamun in a series of 3 (!) nested boxes.

Here she is, excavated from her sarcophagi and situated on the shelf I cleared for her in the kitchen:

What a beauty, adorned with her snazzy spoon chapeau, which is apparently there for when she makes appearances at potlucks, for which there is also a cheesy but cute label holder and a sheet of pre-printed labels included in the package:

Hot wings?  Belgian Beef Stew?  Asian Spareribs?  I just don't see myself contributing any of these delicacies to the next potluck I attend.  (What in heaven's name is Belgian Beef Stew, anyway, and is it so common a dish at potluck suppers that it would make the top-ten list for this sheet of labels?)  There are some blank labels included, too, and these might actually come in handy, because what I DO tend to contribute to potlucks often needs some explanation for the uninitiated.  (e.g., the silver foil is edible.)

Anyway, back to my plans for creating warmth this weekend.  I am going to christen the slow cooker with some kind of soup, I think, possibly the split pea soup for which treadle27 contributed a recipe recently.  (If I can find some ham hocks, or maybe even if I can't.)  I'm actually a little unsure of what kind of things to make in a slow cooker, never having used one, and would appreciate readers' suggestions/recipes.

One of my main questions is, did we buy too big?  There are various sizes of slow cookers, and the Amazon comments on the smallest-sized one indicated that many people found it TOO small, so we upgraded our original plan for the small-family model to the full-size Hummer which is now parked on our sideboard.  The crock is intimidatingly huge — how am I ever going to fill that at least half full, as the instructions recommend?  And then what are 2 skinny guys with 2 micro-dogs going to do with all that food?

We have a potential trade already lined up, in any case.   Peter was talking to a fellow member of our raw-milk cooperative at yesterday's pick-up (Amish cottage cheese — Yum!) and discovered that she has a small slow cooker but is interested in having the larger model.  We'll see. . .after this weekend's experimentation, I should have a better idea of our needs.  I'll let you know if we need to trade, Angela!

And my other weekend plan is to make stock from my frozen stock-pile.  I haven't amassed much yet in my container inspired by pikojiko's mom, but L.H.C. assured me that I can do worthwhile small batches.

Next week, you'll be able to read all about my adventures in the kitchen this weekend.  I only wish that I could share the smells that will soon be emanating from my slow cooker and my stock pot. . . .

I wish you all warmth — especially the inner kind that comes from friends and family — whatever season you are experiencing outside your kitchen windows at the moment.

[A service for my readers: Peter's blog entry from today — in which he models his "new" WWII-era wool one-piece bathing suit — could provide another means of raising your temperature a few degrees.]