Leaping From The Box

You know the saying, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”? Rubbish. Crockpots are a girl’s best friend! No homeschooling household should be without one. Or two. I have two crockpots and I use them several times a week, often both at the same time. Just now I put a pork roast in one and sweet potatoes in the other. This afternoon we are helping a new co-worker of Bill’s move into her new home and I know I will not feel like making anything for supper when we are done unloading her moving van. But we will all be hungry! With supper in the crockpot, the temptation to pick up fast food or spend a fortune at a restaurant on the way home will be much less.

Since I use my crockpots all the time, I am always on the lookout for new slow-cooker recipes. Here is a new favorite, which is in my crockpot right now:

• • 5 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup apple cider
  • 1 dash salt and pepper, to taste

Crockpot Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices; place in crockpot. Whisk remaining ingredients together and pour over potatoes. Cover and cook on low 7 to 9 hours. Stir a few times, if possible, to keep them coated. Serves 4.

It’s very sweet, so I am lowering the amount of sugars used this time around. Next time I might try just one of the sugars, rather than both.

I do not remember exactly where the above recipe came from. Most likely from Chet Day’s Crockpot Recipes, one of the blogs on my Google Reader. There is a Lentil Soup recipe from just a few days ago that I am going to try next, maybe Monday. The weather is a bit cooler here now, so soup might be worth a try.

Two weeks ago I broke one of my crocks and that day went out to replace it. No way was I going to be without two crockpots. In fact, I am thinking of finding a replacement crock, since I still have the outside unit and the lid. I am sure I can order just the inner crock at the Rival website. Three crockpots would be handier than two, wouldn’t they?

Made in USA is a phrase that has taken on new meaning over the past several months. With recalls in food, toys, makeup, etc., many of us have been having second and third thoughts about purchasing items that are made in China. Not too long ago there was a news story of a family that went a whole year without buying anything made in China. Their book, A Year Without “Made In China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in Global Economy (by Sara Bongiorni; ISBN: 0470116137) sounded like it would be an interesting read.

So lately I have been checking the labels of items I want to buy just to see where they are made, mostly out of curiosity to begin with, but now with more concern. For several months I tried to find bath towels that were made in the USA and fit my budget, two seemingly disparate criteria. Finally I found some at Sam’s Club, of all places! And just yesterday I was looking at potato mashers at Publix. They had three different brands, all made in China. Now a potato masher is probably not going to have lead paint on it and likely is pretty safe to buy, no matter where it is made. But still! Is there anything still manufactured in America?

With all that in mind, I have been thinking ahead to Christmas and what I might want to get for Miss Munchkin. She recently discovered baby dolls, but a trip to Toys R Us a couple of weeks ago was not real fruitful in that department. So I spent part of this afternoon looking for dolls made in the good ole USA. And actually found a couple. And some others that were made in Europe. Research indicates that the EU (European Union) has more stringent quality controls that the US, so likely any toy made in the EU is going to be as safe, if not safer, than any toy made here. That’s good to know.

I liked the Corolle dolls found at Kazoo Toys. Their website indicates the dolls are “designed in France” but does that mean they are made in France? I guess I will have to contact them to be sure.

The Kinder dolls at www.usmadetoys.com are cute.

Nico & Zoe has some cute cloth dolls.

If you are looking for toys made in America, or at least not made in China, here’s a couple of websites that will be very helpful:

10 Lead-Free Toys Made in USA.

Toys Made in America — Extensive list of American toy companies, brands and products.

I am definitely looking for a baby doll suitable for an almost two-year-old little girl this Christmas, so if you know where I can find one that is not made in China, leave me a comment! Thanks!

For David’s Speech class, he has to volunteer at a non-profit organization and then do a speech about his experience. Being the out-going people-person that he is (do you hear the sarcasm?), he chose to volunteer at the Friends Of Gypsy Feral Cat Rescue.

So far, he has volunteered eight of his required ten hours over the past three Sundays. He thought his work would consist of helping to socialize the cats, but instead he has been doing a lot of cleaning and grounds keeping as they prepared for an Open House held yesterday. And only in spare moments has he been able to really interact with any of the cats. Even so, he has enjoyed working there and it sounds like he intends to continue his volunteering even after his class commitment is fulfilled. Good for him!

I only had one caveat for David when he told me about the group and I looked over their website. I did not want him telling me about any cats that might need homes! There’s a couple of really cute cats (is there any other kind?) on their website that are up for adoption, but we do not need more animals right now. Two pets in our apartment are just the right number.

This is Penny. A lot of people wonder what breed she is and we tell them she’s a white shepherd mixed with who knows what! She’s a good dog, even if she is afraid of her own shadow.

And this is Copper. She’s a little over a year old and has adjusted very well to being an indoors cat.

So you can see, we really do not need any more animals in our apartment. So I won’t be volunteering with David!