SLOW BOAT TO CHINA
I feel the need to come clean. I'm embarrassed to admit my misstep, but know honesty is the best way to heal. I've had take-out Chinese food four times in the last week. I'm not proud now and I certainly wasn't proud then...just hungry, desperate and feeling incredibly cheap. How could I resist the $5 lunch specials, I thought? Judge me if you must, but what would you have done? As Joe and I sat by the fire tonight...Joe reading The Help and me busy designing a master bath for a major client...the Peking Duck in me started to quack. Before I could come up with a story for my rumbling tummy (we've been dieting) Joe looked at me and said, " I have an idea for something really yummy". Last year for Christmas I bought Joe something to help him slow down from our fast-paced life...a slow cooker. At first I thought it was a joke gift, as images of my mothers brown and orange crock pot from childhood popped into my mind, then I realized he might really like it! Target had several models ranging from $19.99-$100, who knew there were so many slow cookers racing to win the edge in this market? He eventually cooked one meal in it (the obligatory gift appreciation moment, I thought) but tonight he announced he'd purchased a slow-cook cookbook on Amazon.com. Something "fun" to do during the long, cold winter months he said. Humm. "Fun" in the winter, to me, is skiing, sitting by a fire watching the snow fall, slow cooking?? Okay. But, he has a point. As we both race off to our busy daily lives, he can throw something in the slow cooker in the morning and by the time we come home at night, our house will smell great and we'll have a delicious meal waiting on a warm plate. So, if you need a gift for someone neat or just want something nice to eat, grab a slow cooker and a cookbook and you'll be on the fast track to a slow meal!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Slow Cookers and cook books are available at Target, Walmart and on Amazon.com. Buy now and you can enjoy a slow meal as early as this weekend.
COST: Starting at $19.99 for the slow cooker and $1.99 for cookbooks.
STRESS LEVEL: Slowing down long enough to enjoy a hot meal: LOW
