Hasta La Gadget!

Slow cooking at low temperatures has been around for a long time in many forms, from pit-roasted whole pigs in Samoa to sand-pit clambakes in New England.

But you don’t need a tropical back yard or a private beach to enjoy this succulent cooking method. Starting in the 1970’s, the popular and versatile countertop slow cooker, or “Crock Pot,” warmed its way into the hearts of home cooks looking for convenience and deliciousness combined. The early models offered simply a turning dial for control; now you can find computerized displays that offer varying temperatures and multiple options for timing and holding anything from a pot roast to chili to vegetable stews. And removable ceramic liners make cleanup quick and easy.

This slow, contained method of cooking also allows you to retain maximum nutrients in what is essentially a closed system; minimal evaporation occurs, and the wholesome goodness of your ingredients remains largely intact.

Recipes tend toward the simple and straightforward, with good reason: elaborate concoctions are not necessary to achieve spectacular results, and time is of the essence to the concept. After all, the raison d’etre of the slow cooker is freedom from being confined to the kitchen for extended periods of time. Prep a few items, toss them in together, push a button, and go on your merry way, making the world a better place while your delicious dinner cooks itself.

There are just a few things to keep in mind as you select and utilize your slow cooker:

Size. The heating pattern requires that the container be at least half to two-thirds full, so be sure to choose the right volume cooker for your needs. If you’re mostly cooking for two, then a smaller version will do, say a two- or three-quart model; if you’ve got a big family to feed, or like a lot of leftovers (I do!), then a six- or seven-quart model is the way to go.

Features. Possibilities run from the simplest single-dial heating control to an array of options including insert thermometers, automatic warm settings, and clips to secure the lid for transport. Consider how you will use your cooker: will you be making just simple family meals while you’re at home? Will you be taking generous offerings to pot-lucks or the in-laws? Will you need your crock to cook and then hold while you’re at work? All these will affect what features you want.

Meat. For both flavor and safety, it is best to sear meats before adding to pot. And by the way, the best meats for this cooking method are also the cheapest! Clod roasts, stew meat, shoulder cuts, rump cuts – all these have connective tissue that breaks down during slow cooking and adds flavor and tenderness. Just be sure they’re covered with the liquid. One of my all-time favorites is a simple bison clod roast – a few carrots and onions, some broth and herbs, and magic happens.

Liquids. They will impart a great deal of savor to your finished dish, so be sure they are high-quality and flavorful. And heating them before adding to the pot will cut down on cooking time by about half an hour, plus it helps the flavors to merge more fully.

Leave It Closed. The condensation liquid that forms inside the lid helps return moisture and heat to the dish, and provides a seal around the edges to enhance the process. If you need to open the lid, keep it brief.

Choosing Your Pot. There are many good brands and options, so I’m going to recommend that you do a little homework, read the reviews, figure out what you need, and then go for it. I am blissfully happy myself with my six-quart programmable Hamilton Beach, but you’ll want to determine what’s best for your own needs.

There are tons of cookbooks nowadays that can guide you as you explore the wonderful world of slow cooking. Browse a few, pick up a couple of recipes off the internet, and enjoy the extra time and terrific comfort food that this modern convenience provides. Here are a few ideas to get you started!

Chunky Turkey & Black Bean Chili

4 lbs. boneless skinless turkey thighs, cut into 1″ cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 10-ounce cans Ro-tel tomatoes
1 15-ounce can organic black beans, rinsed & drained
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 cup chopped brown onion
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon chipotle flakes (optional, for heat!)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cups organic chicken broth, heated
Salt & pepper to taste

Grated cheddar & chopped red onions for garnish

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat; add turkey thighs and saute, stirring often, until just barely cooked through.

Place turkey in slow cooker with all remaining ingredients, stir well to combine. Cook on high for 4 hours. Check occasionally, add more broth if needed. Best if refrigerated overnight and re-heated.

Serves 6-8.

Eggplant & Chickpea Stew

4 cups eggplant, cut into 1″ cubes
2 15-ounce cans organic chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1 cup red onion, coarsely chopped
2 large zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup fresh oregano leaves
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 cups organic vegetable broth, plus extra
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on high for 2 1/2 hours. Check occasionally and add more broth if needed.

Serves 6-8.

[ A version of this post appears in my “Kitchen Matters” column in Better Nutrition Magazine. ]

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A Florida woman who became a fugitive earlier this year over the issue of her son’s circumcision was arrested Thursday, according to the Sun-Sentinel, a South Florida newspaper.

Palm Beach County Judge Jeffrey Gillen ordered a bench warrant for Heather Hironimus after she failed to appear in court in March. Hironimus was supposed to hand over her 4-year-old son, Chase, so his father, Dennis Nebus, could have him circumcised.

“There have been no safeguards put in place to protect the child’s psychological and emotional condition with regards to this surgery,” Hironimus’ attorney, Thomas Hunker, said in March, after the judge ordered the woman arrested.

When Nebus and Hironimus split in 2012, they agreed on a parenting plan to have Chase circumcised. But Hironimus then changed her mind and decided she did not want her son to be circumcised, prompting a legal battle with Nebus. Although Nebus won in court in May 2014, Hironimus maintains that Chase is terrified of the procedure.

Hironimus fled with the boy in March and remained in hiding for two months. Meanwhile, her attorney filed a federal civil rights complaint challenging the court decision that ordered Chase to be circumcised.

Potential surgeons backed out of the procedure after receiving threats from Hironimus’ supporters, according to the Associated Press. Anti-circumcision activists have rallied around Hironimus, raising thousands of dollars to cover her legal costs.

“We all feel like this is our son,” Amber Baxley, founder of the support group Chase’s Guardians, told Vocativ in March. “We’re fighting tooth-and-nail against this abhorrent, disgusting decision.”

Baxley’s group has raised more than $47,000 for Hironimus to date, and has launched a social media campaign in response to Hironimus’ arrest.

Gillen has put Hironimus and Nebus under a gag order, and the whereabouts of the child has not been disclosed, according to the New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

Hironimus faces contempt-of-court charges.

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When we think of our favorite feminist quotes, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s now iconic insight on women helping each other is easily near the top of our list.

“I have a saying,” Albright told the WNBA All-Decade team in 2006. “I think there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”

But Albright, the first woman to ever lead the State Department, has made more of her share of memorable comments on women, empowerment and global equality.

In honor of her 78th birthday, here are eight more spot-on remarks from the trailblazing diplomat:

Speaking at the United Nations in 2013. Image: Getty.

In conversation with Karen Tumulty at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women in 2013. Image: Getty.

Q&A during 2010 TEDWomen conference. Image: Getty.

Q&A during 2010 TEDWomen conference. Image: Getty.

Remarks at USAID Development Forum in 2012. Image: AFP/Getty.

As quoted in a 1997 Time profile. Image: AP.

Interview with Marianne Schnall published on The Huffington Post in 2010. Image: Getty

Interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Rebecca Blumenstein in 2012. Image: AFP/Getty.

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Parishioners of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church must end their 11-year protest vigil and vacate the shuttered Roman Catholic church, a Massachusetts judge ruled Thursday.

But the Friends of St. Frances, the group that has been occupying the Scituate church day and night since 2004, say they’re not going anywhere. They intend to ask the state court to stay the ruling pending an appeal.

“As of today, nothing changes,” Jon Rogers, one of the organizers, declared late Thursday. “From Day One, we made a promise that we would exhaust every appeal that was available to us, and that includes the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.”

The Archdiocese of Boston, which had sued to evict the group, urged protesters to end the vigil and respect the judge’s ruling, which it called “clear and thoughtful.” In a statement, it invited the protesters to “participate and join in the fullness of parish life.”

In his ruling, Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Edward Leibensperger declared the former parishioners were “unlawfully and intentionally” trespassing on the church and said they would be barred from the property effective May 29.

The ruling followed a one-day bench trial earlier this month in which lawyers for the archdiocese argued the group was trespassing on church-owned property. Lawyers for the Friends of St. Frances argued that the group had a right to occupy the space and that church law must be considered in the case.

Leibensperger disputed that notion. “The right to control access to one’s property invokes no ecclesiastic issue,” he wrote in his 16-page ruling. “An owner of a property has clear and unequivocal interest, supported by property law, to prevent uninvited and unsupervised persons from being inside the building.”

Rogers, the protest organizer, called the ruling and the abbreviated trial “incredibly disappointing.”

“This is not just about us. This is about all the churches,” he said. “What this ruling says is that our houses of worship are not ours and that we’re just invited guests. We don’t believe that’s right. We’ve been told our whole lives that these churches are ours. This is our spiritual home.”

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church was among dozens of parishes closed as part of a controversial plan to restructure the Boston Archdiocese’s debt.

Opponents had said the closures were the archdiocese’s way of paying for clergy sex-abuse settlements, a charge the church has repeatedly denied. The archdiocese blamed the closures on falling attendance, a priest shortage and financial problems.

The Friends of St. Frances have been occupying the now-deconsecrated space since October 2004, with at least one former parishioner holding vigil in the space day and night and supporters holding Sunday services.

The group has sought a number of ways to save the church, from appealing to higher church authorities and the Vatican for relief, as well as a civil suit that was ultimately dismissed.

The archdiocese, which is led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, had given the group until March 9 to leave. When it refused, the archdiocese took them to court.

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WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Friday that clears the path for spending tens of billions of dollars on overseas wars, including the one against Islamic State militants that Congress still hasn’t authorized.

Lawmakers voted 269-151 to pass the fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which would, among other things, permit Congress to spend $89.2 billion on war funding. Republicans allowed 135 amendments to the bill, which covered topics ranging from immigration to remotely piloted aircraft to fire hoses being exempt from certain purchasing requirements.

But they shut out any debate on the need for an Authorization for Use of Military Force to put limits on the months-long war against the Islamic State. At the same time, the defense bill authorizes spending billions more fighting the group also known as ISIS. A handful of lawmakers tried to attach AUMF amendments to the legislation, but were denied.

“Last night, the Rules Committee voted down an amendment I offered to the NDAA in the form of a limited and narrow authorization against ISIS,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Thursday. “The majority’s objection was that the defense bill was not the place to debate the war. Perhaps not, but if not here, where?”

It’s been nine months since President Barack Obama began directing airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The Constitution requires Congress to declare wars, but in this case, Obama argues he doesn’t need the legislators’ sign-off because a sweeping 2001 AUMF covers his actions. Lawmakers in both parties disputed that point for months, so Obama finally sent them a new AUMF proposal in February, saying he welcomed their vote even if he doesn’t think he needs it.

Nothing has happened since.

Democrats say Obama’s proposal is too broad, Republicans say it’s too restrictive, and their differences have given way to complacency. That leaves the U.S. engaged in a war with no parameters on its duration, cost or endgame. To date, the U.S. has spent more than $2.1 billion fighting the Islamic State, participated in more than 3,700 airstrikes and sent roughly 3,000 military personnel to Iraq.

Lawmakers have to overcome three main points of dispute to get an AUMF done: how to use U.S. ground troops in the battle, if at all; how to define what the mission is, given Syria’s ongoing civil war; and what to do with the 2001 AUMF. Some Democrats want to repeal the earlier authorization entirely, on the grounds that it’s too broad and wasn’t intended to apply to a war 14 years in the future. Republicans are loath to do anything that would rein in the president’s war authority.

If there’s any action, it’s likely to begin with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the chairman and ranking member of the committee, respectively, have been in talks about finding a bipartisan way forward. In the meantime, the House isn’t doing a thing.

For House Democrats long frustrated by their chamber’s lack of attention to war authorization, the debate on the defense bill was their window in which to demand action.

“The president did his job, and still Congress fails to act. Why? Because the leadership of this House says they can’t find their way to 218 votes on an AUMF,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said during Thursday’s debate. “I’m sorry, that’s not how it works. … We don’t have the right to say this is too tough of a job. If you want to be in charge, then you have to govern.”

Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), who ran part of the floor debate, said he agreed that lawmakers should pass a new AUMF. But he said it should get its own debate, not be part of the debate on the defense authorization bill.

“This is about the defense of the United States of America,” he said of the bill.

McGovern seemed beside himself at Byrne’s comments.

“This is the NDAA. This is the bill. This funds the wars. This notion that this doesn’t belong here, well, where the hell does it belong?” McGovern asked. “We treat war as if it’s nothing. We have men and women in harm’s way. … This is disgraceful.”

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