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You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Previous Site Maintenance / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  December 26, 20076:59 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance

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I just can’t muster the energy to talk about politics.

At any rate, the maiden voyage of the crock pot was a great success. I decided to just go with something simple. I cleaned some turnips, potatoes, onions, and carrots, threw them in the crock with a big hunk of beef, seasoned it with kosher salt, pepper, and some rosemary, and et it go for about 6 hours.

It was pretty amazing, although the wait was excrutiating because it smelled so damned good. I think tomorrow I am going to make a gallon or so of french onion soup to freeze up for the next couple weeks.

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Previous Post: « Best & Worst Gifts
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Reader Interactions

42Comments

  1. 1.

    demimondian

    December 26, 2007 at 7:16 pm

    Don’t ever go into the machine learning or statistical pattern recognition business, then, John.

  2. 2.

    daryljfontaine

    December 26, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    For future voyages, plan on setting up the meal and then leaving the house. It avoids the olfactory torture you put yourself through, and provides a nice meal upon your return.

  3. 3.

    SoulCatcher

    December 26, 2007 at 8:04 pm

    I am going to make a gallon or so of french onion soup

    Where’s your white flag you surrender monkey.
    /snark

    In all seriousness, French Onion soup is darned tasty…

  4. 4.

    Jake

    December 26, 2007 at 8:11 pm

    Don’t try to wash it in the dishwasher!

  5. 5.

    J Bean

    December 26, 2007 at 8:34 pm

    Flip it on before you go to bed. Hop out of bed in the morning and pop the insert out and let it cool while you get ready for work. Into the fridge as you leave and (skim fat first) then reheat when you get home from work. I am away from home for longer than the 8 hours most days and that works better for me.

  6. 6.

    D-Chance.

    December 26, 2007 at 8:38 pm

    The Pats will be simulcast nationwide. Oh, goodie.

    Al Gore loses to Bush in 2000, and goes on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
    John Kerry loses to Bush in 2004, and goes on to get a freakin’ football game moved to basic cable.

    Don’t set the bar TOO low, there, John…

  7. 7.

    Billy K

    December 26, 2007 at 8:56 pm

    although the wait was excrutiating

    Ha. I went big with the Crock Pot this year, and that’s exactly how I feel every time I cook something. The wait just kills you.

    Crock Pot is the greatest thing ever. I even had a party in honor of the Crock Pot this year.

  8. 8.

    A different matt

    December 26, 2007 at 9:01 pm

    This is an open thread, right? So it’s okay to side track the onion dip conversation with:

    Has anyone ever gotten a lazier gift than a forwarded chain letter? I just received a forwarded chain letter from a friend. Not even a personalized “Happy Holidays, man!” greeting precluded said chain mail – that, apparently, would’ve taken too much effort.

  9. 9.

    RSA

    December 26, 2007 at 9:02 pm

    Don’t ever go into the machine learning or statistical pattern recognition business, then, John.

    Is this about energy minimization techniques being ineffective or something?

  10. 10.

    jrg

    December 26, 2007 at 9:07 pm

    Don’t try to wash it in the dishwasher!

    You don’t even have to wash a crock pot if you line it with an oven bag or turkey bag before you stew.

  11. 11.

    demimondian

    December 26, 2007 at 9:10 pm

    Is this about energy minimization techniques being ineffective or something?

    Well, that, too, although I was thinking about excruciating waits, myself.

    I’m running a big job across Christmas vacation, so that I can ignore it. That, of course, accounts for my continual presence on line, while I ignore the job by refreshing the current state display.

  12. 12.

    LiberalTarian

    December 26, 2007 at 9:26 pm

    I gave my daughter a crock pot last year, and told her how to use it, but as with some good intentions, this year the crock pot was still never-been-used. So, this morning I bought a bag of 15-bean soup, and put it in the crock with yesterday’s left-over nice meaty ham bone and some chunky cut celery and onions, and viola, she called me this evening to tell me the ham and bean soup was a totally yummy way to wrap up the holiday.

    Gotta tell ya, unused crock pot aside, that girl is a sport. She’s hosted my least favorite holiday the last three years, and all I have to do is cook. Heh. And this year, I even got them to help with that. Meanwhile, I got to play with my just-learning-to-crawl granddaughter (the other daughter’s really early xmas present to the family).

    Woo hoo!!

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! [[early. :)]]

  13. 13.

    Mike S

    December 26, 2007 at 9:27 pm

    Tis soup season. We had a Honey Baked Ham yesterday and I am looking forward to the split pea soup.

  14. 14.

    srv

    December 26, 2007 at 9:39 pm

    Don’t try to wash it in the dishwasher!

    Someone had a posting somewhere recently that said safety labels pose a significant threat to the natural course of evolution.

    I thought it was a croc of shit, but I’m stewing on it now.

  15. 15.

    Gus

    December 26, 2007 at 9:45 pm

    It’s virtually impossible to fuck something up using a crock pot as long as you don’t try to get too fancy.

  16. 16.

    Tim in SF

    December 26, 2007 at 9:58 pm

    French onion soup. Ugh… Last week started out with French onion soup. The rest of it didn’t go so well.

  17. 17.

    ThymeZone

    December 26, 2007 at 9:59 pm

    Um, nobody sets up a crock pot full of comestibles and then waits for it to be done.

    They fill it up, and then go and pull a motor out of a car, or deliver a sofa bed to a relative in the next county, or paint a shed, or take the Harley out for a ride in the hills.

    Then they come home and eat.

    That’s the whole idea of the crock pot. Otherwise, you just need a regular covered pot, and a stove.

  18. 18.

    Bucky

    December 26, 2007 at 10:18 pm

    Please post your french onion soup recipe. I have a crockpot but never use it mainly because I am suspicious of recipes I have not tried. I am so lazy.

  19. 19.

    over there

    December 26, 2007 at 10:41 pm

    You don’t even have to wash a crock pot if you line it with an oven bag or turkey bag before you stew.

    Needless garbage much? Come on, just wash the damn pot.

    On another topic, turnips are a sadly underappreciated vegetable. Glad to see Cole is a believer.

  20. 20.

    Ron Beasley

    December 26, 2007 at 10:50 pm

    My X-wife made me eat turnips – I hate turnips. I do have a suggestion how ever, my crock pot favorite – split pea soup. A hamhock, split peas, carrots, onion, a bay leaf or two and some cloves. Fish out the bay leaves and cloves before eating.

  21. 21.

    RSA

    December 26, 2007 at 10:57 pm

    Well, that, too, although I was thinking about excruciating waits, myself.

    D’oh! I should have realized.

  22. 22.

    whatsleft

    December 26, 2007 at 11:10 pm

    mmm… my brother the chef made cream of broccoli & mushroom soup in the crockpot as a part of the Xmas Eve extravaganza – it was soooo excellent over the baked potatoes he made, as well as a sort of “gravy” over the vermicelli I made (with fresh parsley and a tiny smidge of alfredo sauce) – in fact it pretty much went with everything!

    Happy Holidays all.

  23. 23.

    OxyCon

    December 27, 2007 at 12:26 am

    Here’s an easy one that will have you drooling for 6 hours while it cooks:
    Boneless pork chops, vadalia onions and your favorite barbecue sauce.

  24. 24.

    Krista

    December 27, 2007 at 12:31 am

    Yep — all this talk is definitely making me want to haul out my crockpot. I suppose I’m in a kitchen frame of mind, too, as I spent several hours this evening with my father-in-law, designing our future kitchen.

    After being in an apartment with (literally) a 2-foot-long amount of counter space, going over various permutations of custom cabinetry felt soooooo decadent.

  25. 25.

    Johnny Pez

    December 27, 2007 at 12:59 am

    Open thread, eh? Time to do some blogwhoring.

    In my latest post, I offer a humble suggestion to Lee Siegel.

  26. 26.

    andante

    December 27, 2007 at 7:45 am

    “turnips, potatoes, onions, and carrots, threw them in the crock with a big hunk of beef, seasoned it with kosher salt, pepper, and some rosemary, and et it go for about 6 hours.”

    Very similar to my pot roast, minus the turnips.

    Before freezing, I remove the potatoes. They don’t suffer freezing gladly.

  27. 27.

    p.a.

    December 27, 2007 at 9:34 am

    Hope you have better self-control than I, or when you do overnight cooks you will enjoy the occasional breakfast of chili, pot roast, gumbo etc. I have I small house so the smell permeates my bedroom at night. I think I gain weight just from that. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!)

  28. 28.

    Barry

    December 27, 2007 at 12:08 pm

    Throw the bones of the beef roast/ham/whatever in there, with veggies and lentils. cook overnight. Package and freeze.

    Lunch for the semester taken care of.

  29. 29.

    Dreggas

    December 27, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    Corned Beef and Cabbage all the way

  30. 30.

    Dreggas

    December 27, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    And damn Bhutto for being assassinated when poor Paris Hilton won’t be getting much of the fortune since gramps left 97% to charity THE HORROR!

  31. 31.

    Dreggas

    December 27, 2007 at 4:18 pm

    Morons…

  32. 32.

    Zuzu

    December 27, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    And apropos of nothing at all, possibly the (not unpredictably) silliest RW response to the tiger mauling at the SF zoo:

    The Second Amendment and the Zoo

  33. 33.

    Dreggas

    December 27, 2007 at 6:25 pm

    From Zuzu’s link a comment:

    Yet another example of why victim disarmament zones are a bad idea.

  34. 34.

    Zuzu

    December 27, 2007 at 6:30 pm

    I’m thinking of buying a crockpot in the new year … my last one expiring sometime in the ’80s.

    Anyone agree with these ratings?

    http://www.slate.com/id/2113226/

  35. 35.

    Zuzu

    December 27, 2007 at 6:32 pm

    Dreggas:

    “Victim disarmament zones” – why, it’s like newspeak!

  36. 36.

    Dreggas

    December 27, 2007 at 6:54 pm

    Zuzu Says:

    Dreggas:

    “Victim disarmament zones” – why, it’s like newspeak!

    I mean that has to be an instant classic. That would make the area beyond the security checkpoints at the airport a victim disarmament zone, hence these are the types of asshat that bitch about needing the security but would bitch if they weren’t allowed to carry a gun past the security.

  37. 37.

    Nikolai

    December 27, 2007 at 7:06 pm

    Hey John,

    I’ve got a recipe for you. Take all the same stuff you used in your “maiden voyage” stew, but this time use a couple cans of cheap beer (Budweiser works well) as the broth base.

    My dad was very culinarily-challenged and raised 3 kids on microwaveable food and this beer stew. It may sound kinda gross, but it’s actually pretty tasty. I still find myself with weird cravings for this. In fact… I think I’ll prep it and cook it for dinner tomorrow!

    Best,
    Nik

  38. 38.

    Zuzu

    December 27, 2007 at 8:11 pm

    I love the idea that the kid would have lived if only he had been allowed to pull a handgun on a charging 350-lb tiger.

    PS, yes, he was 17 years old.

  39. 39.

    MNPundit

    December 27, 2007 at 10:27 pm

    Taking the crock pot’s virginity… classy.

  40. 40.

    MonkeyBoy

    December 27, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    If you are going to make a soup, stock, stew, or even something like a pot roast from long cooking meat it helps with the flavor to brown it first.

    For hunks of meat, put them into a very hot cast iron frying pan with a little fat and brown on all sides.

    For something like a turkey carcass, stick in a high oven for a while until the meat scraps start to brown.

  41. 41.

    J Bean

    December 28, 2007 at 2:18 am

    Onion Soup
    8-10 lbs onions
    2-3 T olive oil
    1/2 – 1 c. white wine
    thyme
    bay leaf
    1 qt box beef broth
    1 pt box chicken broth
    1-2 T. brandy
    bread and cheese

    Halve and slice the onions, toss with olive oil. Crockpot on high for 9-10 hours. Divide up into three or four batches and freeze. To make into soup, thaw and heat onions. Add wine and reduce the liquid by about half. Add the herbs and broth and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add brandy. Ladle into oven proof crocks and top with slices of baguette and cheese (Comte, gruyere, Swiss, etc. +/- a little parmesan). Put the crocks in a rimmed baking dish (trust me on this one) and run them under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly.

  42. 42.

    Surabaya Stew

    December 28, 2007 at 4:24 am

    One more point to make is that women absolutely adore a man who can cook up a wonderful homemade chicken soup! I found this out in the best possible way… Thank you Mr. Crockpot!

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