Crockpot or no crockpot? That is the question.

Do you have a crockpot or do you not have a crockpot? That is the question. You see, it is January and with this cold month comes my friend Peg's annual lentil soup party. Lentil soup party you might ask...yes...all soup and all lentil! It is a fun gathering filled with prizes for those who get the bay leaf in their bowl and lots of music singing and well...it is just the cure for these dull January days. So, I am always prepared for the summoning of my crock pots from Peg. She sent out a group e-mail this year and I found it rather fascinating that there were those of us with crockpots and those of us without...and it got me wondering....just what kind of people DO have crockpots? I have not only one, but TWO crockpots. For me, getting a crockpot at my wedding shower was just a given. It was given to me by one of my many teacher friends and any of you who are in education realize and understand that having a crockpot is like having chalk for your chalkboard. You just do! There is no question!

I remember one day being at a school and it was "soup" day. Every teacher brought in his or her favorite soup in a...yes you guessed it...crockpot! The halls were lined with more soups than you could ever imagine. Choosing one to try only meant that you were afraid you would miss another! I left that day with more soup recipes than I will ever be able to make in a lifetime!!
Floating around the teachers rooms were crockpot recipies for the taking. As working mothers, there was nothing better than when you had actually planned ahead, fed your crockpot before you left that morning allowing you to walk in the door, the have the smells of the evening's delight wafting up your nose! Ummm...this was especially satisfying on a cold nasty day...kind of like today.

And yet, I wonder...has the art of the slow cooker gone out of style? Again, when Peg asked for the crock pots, two of my friends who are fabulous in the kitchen did not and have not ever owned a crockpot!! I own not only one, but two!! What does this say about us? Are gourmet cooks above the crockpot because slow cooking is not the best way of cooking or were they just never given one? Or have they never found the need for one? Do they know the joy of a crockpot and all that they have been missing over the years? Is there some line drawn around those who own and those who don't? And so I ask you...do you own a crockpot? And even more so...what do you think it says about you?

Even more importantly...am I crackpot for writing and wondering about crockpots? Who knows! I think I will dig out that Chicken Santa Fe recipe and throw it in the crockpot for dinner tonight! Yummy! Now that sounds good!

Just thinking....

President Obama...I like the sound of that!!!!

I keep thinking to myself that I HAVE to write about this past week. This past week where history was made and there was nothing to dampen my enthusiasm and great sense of hope. This past week where we came together as a nation, not in a time of crisis like 9/11 but in a time of celebration of change and hope. This past week where I sat and watched the inauguration at the Sunapee Bar in front of the big TV, had a beer and settled in...knowing this was a moment in life that I would never ever forget where I was, who I was with and the mood that was in this typically very loud bar!! This past week where everywhere I went and everything I watched had more meaning because we are in a current of change and that change is in the air and it is something I am riding along with the rest of the nation. This past week where I found myself in tears at the drop of a hat. Emotions running clearly, purely and freely. It IS all right to cry! This past week when I ripped off the cover of the Newsweek magazine and hung the picture titled, Obama's America on my magnet board because his America is OUR America. This past week where I have been trying to figure out what my part in all of this is going to be!!

And then in the midst of this, one of the teachers I work with told a story about one of her students whose mother is prejudice and not happy with Obama in office. Her history in the school includes one day where she saw someone wearing and Obama t-shirt and wanted to know if that woman worked in the school or not and if she did then she should NOT be wearing that t-shirt. (It was, a mother, volunteering!!) Anyway, it was inauguration day and this student seemed to walk into class very nervously. As the morning wore on the teacher noticed he was constantly fidgeting in his desk. Finally, she went over and what she discovered was a tiny tape recorder disguised in a little black container. The mother asked the child to record the teacher for the day so that she could find out what the teacher was going to do and say about Obama as our next President. Can you say Obamagate?? Phu-leese!!

I put this in because although I am riding the high of all of this...I am also keenly aware of those nay-sayers out there who are determined to put this man in a bad light. But here is the thing...I truly believe there are so many MORE of us who are behind Obama that the voices of these people will sail off into the horizon. This is a time where that collective psychology is going to work in our favor....
Can't you just feel it?