I busted out the Crock Pot last night for the first time ever. My mom used it incessantly during my childhood, but for some reason ours has remained in its wedding gift box for over a decade now. Why now? I don't know, but I've been cooking a bunch lately and had an idea.

I chopped an onion, 4 red potatoes, two stalks of celery, 10 small turnips, one carrot, one bunch of green onions (like chives), diced fresh Italian parsley and a fresh clipping of rosemary, and threw it in the pot with 2 bay leaves and about 5 dried cloves. 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 2/3 cup water, 1/6 cup Worcestershire sauce. I threw a 3 lb. chuck roast on top, also salted and peppered, turned it on low and left it for 12 hours. That was our lunch today, and it was fantastic. The cloves were a nice touch. It was easy too, I'll be using the pot more often.