I need to depart from my usual subject matter for a spell… I’m having an issue with a beef stew.
Over the last several months I’ve managed to destroy the ingredients of several would-be crock pot masterpieces. I don’t know where I got the idea that slow cooking was any more forgiving than fast cooking, but I’ve made a bad habit out of throwing things together and coming back 8 hours later to see what’s for dinner. It hasn’t been good. Mushy vegetables, tough meat, either too much liquid or completely dry. There’s really no excuse for this. I do have Google.
In any case, I decided to go the no-brainer route and bought a frozen version – Marie Callender’s Crock Pot Meal: Old Fashioned Beef & Vegetables.
So I’m making it, and here are the instructions:
1) Remove sauce and potato pouches from bag. Place potato pouch on a plate in refrigerator. Thaw sauce pouch by holding under warm running water for 20 seconds.
Check.
2) Pour sauce into a Crock Pot Slow Cooker, add 2 1/2 cups of HOT water and stir until dissolved. Wash hands.
Whoa there…hold up. Wash hands?
3) Stir in beef and vegetable mixture from bag. Cover and Cook on low 8-10 hours.
Ok, they just breezed right by that whole “wash hands” deal. Why are they telling me to wash my hands? Do they imagine I’ve stirred the hot water into the contents of the sauce packet with my HANDS?
4) 35 minutes before serving, pour refrigerated potatos into Crock Pot Slow Cooker and stir. Wash hands.
Again with the wash hands! What exactly is Marie Callender insinuating? I haven’t touched anything except the plastic packaging and a spoon! Are they concerned that there’s something bad on the plastic? On my spoon? Or just that I probably don’t wash my hands enough in general? Does Marie have a wicked case of OCD and assumes everyone shares in her compulsion for hand washing?
I’m going to call Marie and get to the bottom of this! Stay tuned.
Posted by Lanie 
