Peckish Sister's Profile

From: Central, FL USA

Joined: December 11th, 2010

About me: I have always liked to cook, particularly breads, fruits, vegetables, vegetarian, poultry and lamb dishes. After marriage we cooked together progressively more difficult dishes with him doing the meat, grilling and frying, and I did the "dough" and the same type of things I had before. After children we started cooking more simply. After discovering the cause of my frequent migraines was an evolving long list of chemicals and odd ingredients, I began getting back to cooking from basic ingredients, and found I could be well again. I also try to cooking from what I can get in season at the ever present fruit and vegetable stands.

Favorite cookbook: America's Test Kitchen / Cooks Illustrated Books

Manchester Stew from Skinny Instant Pot & Slow Cooker Cookbook

I switched up the vegetables and canned beans to reflect what I had on hand. It was my very first use of the Insta pot and I was skeptical of the 3 minute cooking time since I had increased the amounts... read more >

recipe reviews (465)
book reviews (18)
useful review votes (420)

• Bookshelf Home
• Reviews
• Recipe Box
• Favorite Members
• Photos
• Covers

Peckish Sister's Reviews

Cookbook Reviews

Slow Cooker Revolution

By The Editors at America's Test Kitchen, America's Test Kitchen
Boston Common Press - 2011

So you don’t have a slow cooker? Even better, you can take advantage of their section on buying a slow cooker. I was chagrined to compare my two bargain models to their superior one, but I can’t see buying a third one. However, I am envious of the picture of a wall of slow cookers. Wouldn’t that be great for potluck meals at work or church?
I have learned the idiosyncrasies of the slow cookers that I have and try to use it to my advantage. These recipes are all for 5 quart Crockpots and they are usually filled to the top. This is now my favorite Crockpot cookbook. I used to buy the cookbooks based on the length of time that the recipes cooked; I wanted to be able to load up the Crockpot, and come back 12 hours later. So now I am more likely to use one of these shorter cooking time recipes on the weekend or when someone is working from home. These are not the standard fare of beef stew, baked beans, chili, etc. recipes that you would expect in this kind of cookbook. There are many that you would not think of as traditional Crockpot fare. I love the polenta recipe, not having to stand there stirring for 30 minutes. I like how they state how long the dish can stand after it is through cooking and what to do to return it to optimal condition. I hate searing meat at 4 AM, and these recipes have you skip that step but instead build flavor by microwaving onion, garlic, oil and spices instead. I love the little extras on most pages – a recipe for a quick side dish of slaw or couscous, or what to look for in buying polenta, etc. I have cooked over twenty recipes so far and look forward to cooking many again and continuing the exploration of this education and delicious cookbook. If I had to only pick one slow cooker cookbook this would be it.