Kat's right, that IS a great box, gals! But....I'm envious over the Amaryllis! :O) I've been eyeballing them for a few weeks now. I found a gorgeous striped one, and a double red that I am hankering for. Just haven't gotten around to buying any plants for myself lately, it's all going for the swaps & Christmas gifts! LOL Kat, just what DID you put in Dan's box to make you so excited??? You've got ME excited, now! Well, with you, I KNOW it will be something awesome. You ALWAYS pack a great box! :O)

I've tried a number of methods from essentially boiling it when you add a bottle of something or too much liquid and you wind up fishing around in this sludge to find the shrunken tough meat to sauces to other methods. Less liquid is better. The key, as Jim said is the proper meat. I like a chuck roast or a pork shoulder roast. They'll give off plenty of fluid. I like to put some onion on the bottom so it's not all gray on the bottom and it gets some flavor. Some put sacrificial veggies in there as a rack thinking it flavors the gravy, OK, maybe it does. But I like the taters on top in a drier atmosphere so it'll brown those babies and they're delicious. They'll give off moisture too so again, adding liquid is a recipe for soup. I definitely vote to brown the meat. Onions & garlic should be sautéed too if you want it better. People think a "slow cooker" is a magical chef that can make a lousy cook a good cook and eliminate basic cooking techniques a thought with which I don't agree but I digress. If you want it simple, put a can of mushroom soup on top of a piece of roadkill, sprinkle it with onion soup mix, make up some instant mashed potatoes and open a can of gravy. Serve with leftover green bean gasserole. (shudder) And of course if this is what you like, go for it and enjoy it, no need to bother bellyaching about it. I also firmly believe that you can easily overcook things in a slow cooker. You can easily boil/steam all the moisture out of meat, turn the vegetables into mush and I really think it's important to realize it's an appliance that needs to be properly used to achieve best results. I've had delicious meals from slow cookers and I've had what I wouldn't feed as dog food that was made in a slow cooker. Cook's Country this weekend did a show about using a pork roast in a slow cooker. Their emphasis was what I've found. Less moisture is better. Here's an adaptation using a beef roast

OK, bottom round is a good candidate for pressure cooking. Yes, brown your meat before dropping it in the pressure cooker with enough broth to come about halfway to 3/4ths of the way up the side of the meat. That way you get lots of good gravy. Pastured meat eats a different diet. However, the diet doesn't have much of an effect on what truly makes meat tender or tough -- connective tissue. Connective tissue is a function of how much work a particular muscle does. The more work it does, the more connective tissue it has. That's why the tenderloins are so darned tender, they do almost no work, and are almost completely devoid of connective tissue. Unfortunately, the amount of work a muscle does also helps with flavor development. Tenderloins and other ultra tender cuts of meat often have very subtle beef flavors, and it's not uncommon for them to have virtually no beef flavor at all. A chuck roast, a bottom round roast, or a skirt steak? Tons of fat and connective tissue, and normally incredible flavor.

It's cold here this morning, and a crockpot with pork roast in it sounds very inviting! I have 2 recipes I use for pork roast in the crockpot. The first one is probably what you're looking for - we like it with mashed potatoes. The second will feed a big crowd, and has Mexican flavors. CRANBERRY PORK ROAST (serves 4-6) 1 boneless pork loin roast (approx. 3 lbs) 1 16 oz. can jellied cranberry sauce 1/4 c. sugar 1/2 c. cranberry juice 1 tsp. dry mustard 1/4 tsp. dry cloves Place pork roast in a slow cooker. Mash cranberry sauce in a bowl, mix it with the sugar, juice and spices. Pour over the roast - cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat from the pot and keep warm while you make the gravy. Skim fat from juices, measure 2 cups (adding water if necessary) and pour into a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Make a paste with 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1 1/2 Tbsp. cold water - stir into gravy - cook and stir until thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Note: I don't always thicken the gravy, sometimes I just use what's in the pot by itself). ------------------------------------------------------------ CHALUPA PORK ROAST 3 lb. pork roast (bone in) 1 lb. pinto beans 2 very large cloves fresh chopped garlic 2 Tbsps. chile powder 1 Tbsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. oregano 1 can chopped green chiles 1 Tbsp. salt Trim fat off meat, wash and sort the beans, combine all ingredients in a large crockpot and cover with water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours - remove bones, break up roast - continue to cook until beans are tender and mixture is thickened. Serve burrito style (flour tortillas, cheese, chopped veggies, sour cream etc.) seagrass