• Yarnia on May 28, 2024

  I have the revised and updated version 1995. The isbn number is the same in mine as the 1975 first edition. I’m hoping the index is the same and maybe she just updated the recipes.

• ellabee on November 20, 2013

  Amazed to learn that this book sold in the millions; but then, I once owned it myself.

• gcottraux on January 27, 2010

  The recipes all work well. The crock pot is a great underutilized appliance!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Mulled cider

  • mharriman on December 13, 2022

    Ms.Hoffman’s instructions are straightforward and the recipe itself is easy to put together. The most difficult part ( not difficult just a step that needs planning) is straining the spices from the liquid, after it has cooked, into a large enough pot to hold it and then pouring the finished product back into the slow cooker for serving. Guests enjoyed this on a chilly afternoon during a holiday open house. The flavor is fairly subtle but full-bodied.

• Lentil soup, Crescenti style

  • JKDLady on November 23, 2015

    This is a very good soup, but we found it laking in lentils. I made it again and added more lentils. Definitely the way to go.

• Touch of green soup with goat cheese topping

  • mharriman on February 28, 2019

    4 stars with half and half added. The best thing about this Cauliflower soup is how fast and easy it is to get the ingredients into a slow cooker. There are only three ingredients that need chopping. After 9 hours on low, I puréed it and was not pleased with the strong taste of the cooked leeks and celery which seemed to overtake the cauliflower and left somewhat of a bitter aftertaste. I added 1/4 cup of half and half, garnished bowls with roasted pine nuts and the crumbled goat cheese, and it became a lovely, delicious soup. I didn’t want to add calories to this but felt the dairy was needed to smooth out the flavor.

• Hamburger soup

  • micheleK on July 02, 2011

    Easy dish. Added a little more herbs - we like very tasty food.

• Congressional bean soup

  • monicatgood on February 19, 2025

    Page 45.

• Down East corn chowder

  • mharriman on July 12, 2019

    A rich, hearty soup. The ingredients were easy to prepare, the slow cooking time was long, and the addition of milk and butter after puréeing produced a very comforting, creamy soup. If you like creamed corn (me - not so much), this preparation is a reminder of it. That being said, this would have been a really good cold day Winter meal. Yesterday it felt pretty heavy. Served with a sprinkling of crumbled pan-fried bacon, French baguette slices, and a green salad.

• New England clam chowder

  • mharriman on February 20, 2019

    A rich, hearty, and satisfying soup. I used bacon instead of salt pork. I liked that the base broth ingredients slow cooked all afternoon creating flavor depth. I poured the slow cooker vessel ingredients into my soup stock pot and added the half and half and clams. I used three 7 ounce cans of clams instead of two which balanced out my two larger than medium diced potatoes and cubed bacon slices. Served with a baguette and green salad. Perfect at the end of a snow/sleet storm day.

• Black Forest pot roast

  • nicolepellegrini on March 28, 2019

    The S.O. commented the next day how much he enjoyed this, so I take that as a win. This is a super-simple, old fashioned pot roast recipe that's great to prep the night before, then throw in the crock pot the next morning before work. Came home and it was ready to serve. Meat was tender and flavorful with minimal ingredients.

  • mharriman on November 02, 2019

    I agree with nicolepellegrini that this recipe is simple to put together and flavorful. We especially liked the mushroom sauce that we spooned over it. Served with garlic mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus and a green leaf garden salad.

• Pot roast with creamy mushroom sauce

  • nicolepellegrini on February 15, 2019

    After a thoroughly exhausting week I needed an ultra-simple dinner recipe for today. It couldn't seem any simpler than this three-ingredient slow cooker pot roast. I did use a venison roast instead of beef, and to dress it up slightly I added some dried porcini mushrooms and some of their soaking liquid (since venison is so lean it needed that extra moisture). Came out just fine, lots of tasty gravy for potatoes. Nothing gourmet here but satisfyingly homey, and easy.

  • mharriman on May 13, 2023

    This recipe is just like one I used to make in the ’70s and ’80s, only that one was baked in the oven in aluminum foil. This version was tender and delicious, especially with the gravy over the beef. I browned my chuck roast before putting it in the slow cooker and I added sauteed shitake mushrooms to the finished product, which elevated the flavor. About as easy as a recipe can get.

• Scandinavian dilled pot roast

  • JKDLady on November 18, 2015

    While this was a pretty boring recipe, I did like the tip at the top of the recipe to add whole potatoes on top of the roast. I used large Yukons, and they were perfect! The best part of the dish. I would recommend adding hot liquid to the sour cream before just stirring it in to prevent curdling.

• Homestyle short ribs

  • monicatgood on August 30, 2024

    page 75

• Old-fashioned beef stew

  • nicolepellegrini on February 10, 2022

    A basic, classic crockpot beef stock that's not bad for a starting point. I used much less broth to keep the flavor from bleeding out/getting too bland and also used some jarred, balsamic grilled onions instead of basic pearl onions to elevate it a bit.

• Indonesian pork

  • JKDLady on November 18, 2015

    This very overcooked and dry. I would cook it less. The flavor was good, so there is potential.

  • nicolepellegrini on December 12, 2018

    I made this with a few tweaks, and it was the surprise hit of my holiday party this year. I didn't have any problems with it being too dry but that may have been the changes I made, based on what I like/don't like in slow-cooker cooking. 1. I brined the pork roast overnight; 2. I seared the pork with salt & pepper seasoning before putting it in the crockpot; 3. Instead of resting the meat on a metal rack inside the slowcooker, I put it on a bed of thick-sliced onions, which gave it more moisture and flavor. The whole 5-pound roast was gone before I had more than a small taste and people were asking me for the recipe the next day, so it's definitely going on my regular recipe rotation list.

• Buck County's spareribs

  • nicolepellegrini on November 01, 2015

    Ribs came out very juicy and tender and the sauerkraut was extra-sweet from the apple. But this was extremely bland without doing anything to jazz it up. I added a half bottle of beer to the crock pot while it was cooking, and also made a maple-barbecue sauce to serve with the meat for more flavor. So, decent technique but lacking in a memorable taste.

• Cranberry pork roast

  • nicolepellegrini on February 21, 2019

    I've seen a number of slow-cooker pork recipes using canned cranberry sauce but was intrigued to try this one since it used fresh cranberries (and I had a bag sitting around in my freezer.) The results were pretty good! The pork came out pull-apart tender after 9 hours on low and even seemed to have a little crispy char on it since there was so little liquid in this (I did actually add a little bit of orange juice.) It was more tart than sweet and my only issue was the aroma was a little...funky? The S.O. raved about it so overall I'd say it's a good option to have in my backpocket for an ultra-simple pulled pork.

• Kielbasa & napa cabbage

  • nicolepellegrini on January 24, 2019

    More flavorful than I expected, given the short list of ingredients, I think because I used a good quality local kielbasa sausage that really infused flavor into the cabbage. The cabbage itself almost ended up tasting like sauerkraut because of the long, slow-cooking with onion and sweet apple, and threw off a good amount of liquid to make it more like a stew.

  • eathealthy on April 14, 2023

    This actually was simple and good. Used turkey kielbasa, did not need to peel apples

• Hot sausage & bean stew

  • nicolepellegrini on August 15, 2019

    Very simple, yet tasty! My S.O. especially enjoyed it. I did add about a cup more liquid to the slow cooker (1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup red wine) as I was afraid the listed amount wasn't going to be enough, and I'm glad I did--the slow cooker contents might have burned otherwise but as it was the beans were nicely cooked and it wasn't too soupy after 9 hours cooking while I was at work.