buying a slow cooker (lyn)

I need to leave the house.  The apartment where Silvia once lived is now empty.  My lovely, quiet next-door neighbor has been replaced by workmen with hammers and drills and other loud tools.  The renovation of Silvia’s apartment has begun, and will continue for months. 

I’m also hungry, and I’ve already accounted for all the food I plan to eat today. 

I decide to go to Bloomingdales and check out the slow cookers (or crockpots, as they used to be called until some marketer decided to re-brand them into something more contemporary-sounding).  At my last WW meeting, a few people there were espousing the benefits of this appliance, so I decide to check them out.  I figure that if I do this, by the time I get home it’ll be about time for dinner, and then I’m meeting Zelia to see Next to Normal, the Tony-winning musical about a woman who is bi-polar.  Nice and cheery for the holiday season. 

Before even leaving the house, I spend a considerable amount of time online researching the perfect slow cooker.  It’s absolutely amazing how many sites there are that have reviewed and ranked this appliance.  All-Clad seems to be the winner, but it’s 6.5 quarts, and would take up my entire counter.  I’d have to get rid of my Kerig coffee maker and toaster;  two items I wouldn’t dream of parting with.   So after considering aesthetics, features, and size, I settle on the Cuisinart PSC-400.

I arrive at Bloomingdales, and it appears that every tourist visiting New York is also there.   It is so crowded.  I make it to the appliance section and find the slow cookers, but they don’t have the one I want.  Not a problem, as I’ll buy it on Amazon. They have a similar model and I like that one so I’m sure I’ll like the one I order.  Really, I was just looking for a reason to leave the house and not eat.

I get home and order the slow cooker on Amazon;  it comes with a little cookbook.  I’m anxious to try out some new recipes, but first I’ll have to figure out where to keep this thing. 

I decide to clean out a rarely used cabinet to make room.  I live through previous eras as I discard: Instruction manuals for appliances I haven’t had in over ten years; old cookbooks, one a xmas gift from my sister in 1973;   and a couple of packages of “lightweight/micro headphone replacement pads” from a world before iPods.  

I’m now ready to welcome the new slow-cooker to our home.