sprinklefingers

hopefully you’re not tired of soup - because i have to say, i’m so soupy right now it’s not even funny.

in fact, i’m so soupy that this week, on ladies night, i served soup and cornbread instead of my usual nachos and champagne. what the what? exactly.

one of my favorite soup varieties is split pea. thick and hearty. especially delicious with lots of meat. and a giant slice of cornbread on the side. yum.

and because i’ve been busy lately i’ve been turning more and more to my slow cooker for help in getting dinner on the table before bedtime. split peas + slow cooker = soup perfection.

slow cooker split pea soup
serves 8

you need:

• 6-8 qt slow cooker
• 2 lb bulk italian pork sausage - mild or sweet or a mixture of both
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 1 t thyme
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 2 1/2 cups split peas, rinsed & picked over

to make the soup:

1. in a pan large enough to hold the sausage and vegetables, cook the sausage over medium heat until nearly cooked through.
2. add the carrot, celery and onion and cook until the onion is soft.
3. add the thyme, salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes until thyme is fragrant.
4. remove the sausage mixture from the heat and pour it into your slow cooker. add the stock and split peas and stir to combine.
5. set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours (or overnight.)
6. remove the lid of the slow cooker and stir the soup. the peas should be completely cooked, stir to evenly distribute them.
7. if the soup is thinner than you’d like, switch the slow cooker to high and cook a bit longer WITHOUT THE LID until it reaches your desired thickness.

this soup freezes like a dream and is just the thing to tuck away for a rain, cold day. simply scoop it into freezer containers, lable and freeze. defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat to serve.

as previously posted, i love making applesauce in my slow cooker. but there’s one little bit of information missing from my how-to on slow cooker applesauce: overnight applesauce.

take a quick look at the original recipe and you’ll see that i say you can cook the applesauce on high in your slow cooker for 3 hours or on low for 6. i’m here to tell you now that you can also simply peel & cut your apples before bed, put them in the slow cooker while you sleep, and in the morning - no matter how long you were in bed - you’ll have delicious applesauce.

how do i know this? i’ve let applesauce sit in my slow cooker (on low) for 10 hours and it’s come out completely delicious. darker in color and richer in flavor than any other applesauce i’ve ever, ever eaten. i’ve even been told that it tastes more like apple pie filling than applesauce - and it has no added sugar!

the long cooking time reduces the apples down so much that you’re left with a sauce that’s packed with flavor. yes, please.

[and, yes, you can still make slow cooker applesauce in 3 hours (on high) or 6 hours (on low) - it’ll be just as delicious…but you should try the easy-peasy overnight version!]

here’s the applesauce i canned this morning. after 10 hours of overnight slow cooking. yum!

i had this other elaborate post planned - it involved grits (!!!) but i forgot all about it because i bought 30 apples this afternoon and wanted so. badly. to turn them into applesauce tonight. so, the grits will have to wait.

‘tis the season for applesauce making. if you have a slow cooker i highly recommend you try my recipe for slow cooker applesauce. it will change your life. and you can leave the slow cooker to work it’s magic overnight. cross my heart.

now i’m going to go rest my hands. they’re tired from all the peeling.


here are my slow cookers (yes, i have two.) in the morning they’ll be full of applesauce!