Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger, Julie Kaufmann
REVIEW This is a great book for those new to slow cookers, or for those who have previously been disappointed with slow cooker recipes. The first 20 pages offer a solid body of information about all things pertaining to slow cooking: What is slow cooking? About the stoneware insert; Slow cooker shapes & sizes; how to use the new "smart pots"; temperature settings; breaking in a new pot; high altitude slow cooking; the basic "rules" of slow cooking; cooking times; adapting conventional recipes; useful cooking techniques, and more.
Each section of recipes includes a nice introductory informational section, and each individual recipe has some introductory information as well. Recipe groups include soups, veggie stews, side dishes, a rice section, and there's a whole section on cooking various types of porridge...cinnamon apple oatmeal, overnight steel-cut oatmeal, maple oatmeal with dried fruit & spices, and various other grain type porridge recipes. Put all the ingredients in the pot at night before going to bed, and wake up to warm, creamy porridge of one type or another. Each recipe indicates number of servings, general type of crockpot to use, and cooking time.
My main complaint, and the reason I can't give this 5 stars, is that nutritional information is not given for any of the recipes. Also, a minor layout complaint is that sometimes a recipe will start on one page and finish up on the next so you have to turn the page to see the rest of it. I would prefer to see one recipe per page. Other than these two things, this is a good cookbook with a nice selection of recipes, and definitely very useful for someone new to slow cooking as it will familiarize you with all the techniques necessary to successful slow cooking. CMCM, Nevada City, CA (Amazon.com)
