Last night at 9:30 p.m., my in-laws came by on their way home from my sister-in-law’s house with the object of my desire: the chest freezer.

We bought the freezer from Sarah because, as I continue to collect bags of frozen tomatoes and freezer paper-clad venison roasts, my regular old freezer keeps getting smaller and smaller. Upon returning from the grocery store lately, it’s been a feat of sheer genius just to wedge in a few more Lean Cuisines and a package of burger.

Just opening the kitchen freezer at times lately has been a dangerous proposition. Flying pork ribs feel pretty much like a big rock hitting the toes. And an overstuffed freezer can tax the appliance and affect the quality of your foods.

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I’ve decided to award this week’s free cookbook to frequent blog reader Henry.
Henry offered up several fine ideas for jazzing up dishes with products that most cooks keep on hand on a regular basis.
For that, he gets a copy of “Mealtime Magic” by Joey Green.
Henry’s comment was:

Boullion.

You can jazz up gravy with a shot of Cream of Chicken soup. Of course, these are casserole standbys.

I especially like the suggestion that boullion cubes can be substituted for salt in various recipes. I can see myself adding boullion to all kinds of steamed veggies to add flavor without fat.

Henry, shoot me an e-mail at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com to claim your book. Don’t forget to include your address!

The house was cold, I had a half-day off and I hadn’t cooked a nice dinner for my husband in weeks.
This Monday, after returning from the second marathon wedding weekend in a row, I decided to go to the grocery store, pick out a nice roast and haul out my Lodge cast iron Dutch oven.
I’m so glad I did.
After years of trying to get a crockpot roast to turn out exactly the way we like it– juicy and tender and falling apart– I just couldn’t get it to work. Then I purchased my Dutch oven during a sale at Northwest Hardware, and I’ll never go back.
I’m sure crockpot roasts turn out very nicely if you do it right, but I cooked the darn things for 8 hours and still didn’t get the consistency I liked.

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