Slow Cooking and Library School

Posted March 20, 2013 by Julie Steenson

I have a special relationship with my slow cooker.  It all started when my daughter’s community theater involvement required me to be in the car, rather than behind the stove at meal time. I was not very creative back then, and we had a few standby recipes that I could throw in the pot early in the day and then pride myself on serving my family a healthy meal 8 hours later.

Then came library school and my library job.  Working in a public library often means odd hours.  Public libraries are usually open some evenings, and that night shift is often shared by staff on a rotating basis. To add to it, my classes are all a long distance from home on either the main or West campus, so my school days are long days. By 7 or 8 pm, when I get home, I want a good meal – no canned soup or grilled cheese.  I am tired and hungry and want to be greeted to the aroma of simmering spices and a glass of wine. It is nice to dream, but truth is, my husband could cook only two things when I married him so we needed some help to achieve my dream of absentee gourmet.

Enter the slow cooker.  I buy the ingredients, leave the recipe for my husband, and when I get home after five hours of driving and class on Saturdays, my dream has come true.  He even has the wine poured!

So, if you are considering library school (or are already here), go to your local library and borrow some of my favorite slow cooker cookbooks.  I will include the WorldCat link so you can find them at a library near you…no matter where you are! (And they don’t use canned cream soups…thank goodness.)

Crock-Pot Soups & Stews Recipes (2009) http://www.worldcat.org/title/crock-pot-the-original-slow-cooker-soups-stews/oclc/704272328&referer=brief_results

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking  (2009) by Stephanie O’Dea http://www.worldcat.org/title/make-it-fast-cook-it-slow-the-big-book-of-everyday-slow-cooking/oclc/503449234&referer=brief_results

Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook (2005) by Beth Hensperger  http://www.worldcat.org/title/not-your-mothers-slow-cooker-cookbook/oclc/56729624&referer=brief_results