by Emma L. Willey

I have always loved to work in the kitchen.  I loved to cook big meals, bake cookies, pies and cakes.  That is, I loved doing that when I was younger, but now that I’m older, I still like to do it but need to take the easy way out.  Since I don’t see too well, I don’t like to take time to find a magnifying  glass to read recipes and my poor old back gives out if I spend too much time in my kitchen.

“What would you like for dinner tonight?” I ask my poor old hubby as he sinks into his recliner for a nap.

“I don’t care,” he says, “Just so it’s something to eat.”

Well, if that’s the way he feels about it, I say to myself.  I’ll fix the old guy.  I’ll just get out my crock pot and throw some things in it and see how he likes that.

First, I need a hunk of meat.  I guess I’ll start with an onion because we like onions in everything.  So I find a sliced one in the fridge and cut it into small pieces and let them fall into the bottom of the crock pot.   I turn it on low.  Then I rummage around and find a stalk or two of wrinkled -up celery.  I might as well throw that in for flavor .It’s too good to throw away.   Now, for some meat.  I find a couple pork chops in the freezer so put them in the microwave to defrost. The veggies already smell wonderful.  I put the pork chops on top of the onions and celery.  Now what?  If I cook potatoes I’ll want some gravy, and the easiest way to get that is to throw in a can of mushroom soup.  Good, it’s done.  I turn the pot on high until I can see the stuff bubbling in there, then turn it down on low and forget about it for about three hours.

            I’m sitting at my computer in the back room when a wonderful aroma reaches my nostrils.  I run out to the kitchen and add garlic, salt and pepper. I think this is going to be really good.   I throw a couple potatoes in the microwave and my dinner will be done in 15 minutes.  I didn’t have to work very hard either.

I love my old crock pot.  It does most of my cooking for me.  I don’t even have to have a recipe.  Just start throwing food in and it gets it ready for me.  When I want some good old-fashioned soup, I just clean out the fridge, throw everything in but the kitchen sink, add a can of tomatoes or maybe a can of navy beans, and there it is, a couple hours later, soup fit for a king.

            I can make dessert in my crock pot too.  Throw in some rice, raisins, cinnamon, a little brown sugar, some milk. A couple of beaten eggs,  and magically,  a couple hours later, I have a delicious rice pudding. 

            What would I do without my crock pot?  We’d probably starve in this house without it.  When you get old and tired, it’s absolutely the best way to put a meal on the table with little effort.  And with the modern dishwasher, cleaning up is no big deal either.  So I wonder why old people move to assisted living places where all their food is prepared for them.   You’d have to be quite old and feeble not to be able to make a pot of soup or complete a nice meal in the crock pot.    

By the way, the old guy still likes anything I put on his plate, just so it’s something to eat.

The End