Fibermania

Changing Scenes

Our woods. Deep dark primeval.

But things don't always stay that way. The son of our across the street neighbor bought the property next to our woods and in one day removed a huge amount of trees. Two bulldozers and a mini bobcat as well as two sawmen did this.

I talked to one lumberjack and he said they had a three day job here, which can only mean more trees will come down. It is so strange to see sunlight where there has only been dark green forest for a hundred years or more.
The soil that they uncovered is lush, and I am considering taking my wheelbarrow down for a sample. Except it is uphill on the way home. O well.

I am really hoping that a beautiful home gets built on this site. Fingers crossed.

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On the homefront, I decided I had to have this electric skillet. Why? Because my crazy stove only has one setting, full flame. When I want to simmer or cook anything less than on high heat I have but one burner that will ratchet down to low.

Or I just wanted it.

Full disclosure. Brooke, my sis, has a slow cooker and in my past life when they were first in fashion I had one too. I rarely used it. But I got to thinking that I could slow cook in this pan, or braise or even stir fry.

My first thing was to cook a pound of bacon and then make a nice pot roast, starting with onions and garlic. Notice the nice spoon rest. This pan was only $21, so as an experiment, it was pretty much a no brainer.

But before I committed to buying it, I looked for enticing recipes to make sure I would use it. First I did a search on electric skillet and then slow cooker recipes. (I have a zillion cook books, but really it is so much easier to look for recipes online, isn't it?)

The thing I noticed first is that I don't have this or that ingredient, so when I was at the store I loaded up with items that I don't usually stock.

Here's the short list:

coconut milk
fresh grated horseradish
lard for pastry
chopped green chiles
2 lbs ricotta

baby portabello mushrooms
whipped cream cheese
orange marmelade
And this. Surprise surprise. Over the years I have been buying those boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese, and tossing out the cheese packet and using just the pasta. I like that shape so much, and wished that someone would come out with just the pasta by itself. Now finally the ban has been lifted and I can make my mac and cheese with these.
So I wanna know your favorite recipes to use in my new pan. Email me. It can be for a slow cooker or not. I'll post my faves here. Thanks in advance.