Better than shaking the box
...is living with a two year old.
Last night Edith and I went into her darkened room to change her diaper. She pointed to a wrapped box in the corner and said, "See that? That's your birthday present. Daddy and I wrapped it. I did the tape, but Daddy said not too much tape. It's for you to cook with. You can do all kinds of cooking. It has butter and all kinds of things for cooking."
I looked at the shape of the gift, remembered some conversations from before Christmas, and deduced that the box with a picture of butter and other things on it was likely a crockpot. I didn't even have to prod it.
Edith's excitement about my birthday is touching. When I picked her up from school yesterday all her teachers wished me a happy birthday--two days early. Edith had been talking it up. When we dined with her cousins at their house last night, she eagerly led the singing of "Happy Birthday" and told everyone she had helped Daddy frost the cake.
I'm glad someone is excited. Edith is 32 months old. Tomorrow I'll be twelve times her age. I can't help thinking of Meg Ryan's crying jag in When Harry Met Sally:
"And I'm going to be forty!"
"When?"
"Someday!"
"In eight years..."
"But it's out there!"
I realize we're overdue on Christmas and New Year's photos. Coming soon. In the meantime, please start posting your crockpot recipes.
Edited to correct the When Harry Met Sally script.
2 comments:
That's sweet! We miss Edith.
Crockpot recipes? Let's see:
4 feet of polished copper tubing
1/2 gal. ceramic pot
1 rotary switch with power-on LED
1 power cord with plug, insulated; strip ends of wires
Coil the copper tubing and affix to bottom of pot. Solder one end of...
wait, that's not what you meant.
-g
Happy birthday!
One of our favorites from the crockpot:
Chicken and Chorizo Stew
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken (thighs, breasts or a combination)
1/2 lb sliced chorizo or other flavorful cooked sausage such as kielbasa
2 cups tomato sauce, either pasta sauce or canned tomato sauce...if you use a plain canned tomato sauce, you may also want to add some herbs, such as a pinch of herbs de provence
1 can chicken broth
salt and pepper
olive oil
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and brown it in a frying pan with olive oil. No need to cook through. Add to the crock.
Add the sausage to the frying pan and allow to brown for a few minutes. Add to the crock.
Pour the tomato sauce and broth over the chicken and sausage.
Cook on low for 6 hours until the chicken is very tender and falling apart.
Serve with rice, couscous or crusty bread. Salad or a green vegetable alongside. A good variation is to add a can of white beans about 30 minutes before you want to serve. Another variation is to triple the broth, making it more of a soup than a stew.
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