My life is better for it.

By Brittaney Meyer

(Brittaney is my best friend. In all the years we have been friends we have only had one fight which centered around her desire to tour the It's It Factory and a 3-pack of underwear purchased at Target. I don't have time for the full description of the fight but all you really need to know is that I won. Looking back, the randomness of our one fight actually made perfect sense because when Brittaney wants something, as random as it may be, she will not rest until she gets it. This also pertains to her food cravings. Like the time she wanted nothing else to eat besides garlic green beans and tangerine juice. Or the quite lengthy period of time when all she wanted to eat for lunch was a chicken sandwich. Her passion for things makes for a wonderful friendship and some great meals.)


My 27th birthday was the best one yet. You might ask, "How could that be? Did she win a million dollars? Did someone take her on a surprise trip to Rome? Did she meet the love of her life?" No. No... and yes. For my 27th birthday my Mom and Dad gave me a Red Le Creuset French Oven. My life was changed forever on that day.

I had always wanted a Le Creuset but, seeing as $150.00+ is a lot to spend on a cooking item, I put off buying one. And then my mother came across an end-cap at Costco. That small act of making a discount purchase at a warehouse store changed my life forever. I have to admit--I was intimidated by the idea of slow cooking at first. Although I had wanted one for so long I didn't quite know where to start. Should I begin with a staple, like pot roast, or go for something more adventurous? After a couple of weeks of deliberation and some searching on the food channel website I decided on short ribs. They were, if I do say so myself, amazing. I was amazed. The pot was magic. It took ordinary carrots, celery, onions and beef and turned it into something that was so much... more. I was hooked. Since that day I have used my Le Creuset three to four nights a week. I think I'm on my way to being 300 pounds but I just can't go back. This is the best part: You can make something that you normally would make in a skillet or a regular, run of the mill, stainless steel pot and, by the magic hands of the slow cooking gods, it just comes out BETTER. Take spaghetti sauce for instance. I use to do your normal thing--take some ground beef, add a jar of sauce, some extra vegetables to make it a little "fancy" and call it a day. Occasionally, I would add a couple of garlic cloves or a splash of wine. Same old; same old. But then it hit me--what about slow cooked spaghetti sauce? Would it be better? Of course it would. This is what I did:

1. Cut a pot roast into large chunks and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add a little olive oil to the Le Creuset and brown all sides of the meat.
3. Move the meat to the sides and pour your cut, "fancy" vegetables into the middle of the pot.
4. Brown for 5 minutes.
5. Pour in one jar of sauce, half a jar of water, 1 cup of wine, 2 bay leaves and 3 sprigs fresh thyme.
6. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
7. Remove meat, shred, add back to sauce and serve.

That's it! The prep time was exactly the same! With the exception of the simmering time (during which I watched episodes of Big Love and folded laundry) nothing was that much different. However, the end results were phenomenal. People actually thought I made the sauce from scratch. Eat your heart out Sandra Lee. I'm telling you, if you know what is good for you, and you want to impress those that dine with you, buy a Le Creuset and start cooking. Slow is the way to go baby.