It has been a fairly uneventful couple of weeks. The wind chills and snowstorms have kept me inside besides going to work. I keep hoping for a day or two of still air and seasonably warm temperatures so I can finish mulching some flower beds. But maybe that is a far-fetched wish in the middle of winter?

On my mind today are slow cooker recipes. I’m a big fan of using my crockpot, because besides the initial preparation, you can leave the food cooking while you go about other things on your to do list. I have made homemade applesauce and potato soup in my crockpot – mostly applesauce, since it is such an easy way to eat up a horde of apples.

Applesauce – wash apples and cut them into slices. Peel the slices using a sharp knife and chop into chunks. Add a little bit of water and the chunks into the crockpot and slow cook it into applesauce, stirring occasionally. I like throwing in tart apples with regular eating apples to add good flavor. The slow cooking and stirring will make it naturally into applesauce – you don’t need a blender or a food processor. So easy! If you use a metal apple slicer (hand tool), you can minimize waste.

Potato soup – this is fairly easy as well, especially if you forgo thickening with flour. Chop up onion, celery, potato, and carrots (removing skins and bad spots) and slow cook them in chicken broth, stirring occasionally. Make sure food chunks are similar in size so that they cook at similar rates. You can season with a bit of salt and pepper as well as garlic and bacon bits if you wish. My family seasons potato soup with leftover bacon grease from frying bacon for breakfast. (Pour excess bacon grease into a glass jar, let cool, and store in the fridge for use in the future.) I don’t really follow a set quantity of each ingredient for my cooking – I just use what is available and what ends up tasting good.

There are hundreds of slow cooker recipes out there. Bookstores and google can offer variety. I think I have a slow cooker cookbook, packed away somewhere in my boxed up kitchenware, that I bought at Sam’s Club. My next venture may be squash soup. Butternut squash is in the store at the moment and that is a good winter squash for cooking.

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I am planning to visit DC this weekend and to finish up two rolls of film. Between digital and film photos, I hope to have new content to share next week. I have been trying to brainstorm new images and places to visit on this trip.

Reminder: Everyone who joins my email newsletter list, between now and 12pm Valentine’s Day, is entered to win my giveaway of a free mini session and a Starbucks gift card. Email me at sarahderrphoto@gmail.com with your preferred email address to join.

Thank you all for visiting my blog today!