Eight or so weeks ago, our lives were quite interrupted by a job change for my husband, which took us from Wisconsin to Northern Minnesota. I’m used to moving. We’ve done it five or so times in our ten years of marriage so when I found out we would be moving again, I was like, “Yeah, no biggie, I’m a mover, man! I could write a book about moving. I’m on it. We’re good.” And then my How-To-Survive-Moving-Guidebook idea was quickly thrown out the window as I found myself not knowing how to survive this move which had turned completely chaotic.
What we thought would be a smooth transition was anything but and we spent the first seven weeks of our new lives basically living in a hotel with a few brief respites to visit family in Montana. And I’m here to tell you that continental breakfasts complete with Cocoa Puffs and not having to make your own beds are highly, highly overrated when crammed into a one-room-wonder with five children ages 8 to 5 months. To say it was a stressful time is an understatement.
I get that in the whole scheme of worldwide problems, me having to live in a hotel with a large-ish family rates really, really low on the spectrum. Duly. Noted. But I also can’t tell a lie and I have to admit that those seven weeks weren’t some of my finest moments as I tried mightily to dredge up as many coping skills as possible (other than shoving handfuls of chocolate chips in my mouth) to get through the madness of home-finding and other moving bedlam.Other than trying to convince the children that they were so lucky to be able to go swimming every day of their lives instead of going to Disneyland like some kids, our other methods for coping included legos, Uno, and homecooked meals. Homecooked meals in a hotel, you say? No way, right?
Yes way, my friends, yes way. I admit that I tend to be a total nerd when it comes to food and cooking and I’ll own that, but I was determined, in order to save money and gastronomical distress, to not visit the local Dairy Queen more than once a week. So I pulled out my slow cooker that thankfully made the trip with us instead of getting stored on the moving truck and got to work. I became one with my slow cooker. And as crazy as it sounds, I really think it was that loveable little slow cooker that got us through the long hotel stay with minimal damage.
Knowing we could have a homecooked meal and eat it sitting cross-legged on the hotel beds somehow made us all feel like we were almost at home. Almost, but not quite. One of the crockpot gems that managed to be a total knock-your-socks-off and let-me-live-in-a-hotel-forever hit was this Cherry Cobbler. A perfect concoction of warm, juicy cherries topped with cinnamon and sugar-dusted biscuits made absolutely divine with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And it’s made in the slow cooker. I know, get out, right? We’ve had it several times since the hotel stay, living in a real house and all, and each time, it’s a total winner. Enjoy! (And if you ever end up living in a hotel, longterm, let me know – I may have scrapped the Guide to Moving book but I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve to survive hotel living!)
Slow Cooker Cherry Cobbler
*Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
2 ¼ pounds frozen sweet cherries
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
DIRECTIONS:
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the cherries, ¼ cup flour, 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and almond extract. Stir well to coat the cherries with the other ingredients. Microwave, uncovered, until the cherries being to give up some of their juices, about 5 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Stir the mixture really well to redistribute the cherry juice and transfer the mixture to a large, oval slow cooker (6-7 quarts). Spread the cherries into an even layer.
In a large bowl, stir together the remaining 1 ¾ cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk and butter and mix until combined (add another tablespoon of milk if the mixture isn’t coming together very well). The mixture should be moist but not runny. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.
Using a large spoon, scoop spoonfuls of dough and drop 8 or 9 dumplings around the edge of the slow cooker on top of the cherries, leaving a portion of the center empty (the dumplings will expand as they cook and they will get kind of gummy if they don’t have room to bake completely). Sprinkle the top of the dumplings with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for about 4 hours, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the dumplings comes out clean. Serve warm with a scoop (or two!) of vanilla ice cream.
*Recipe adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe adapted from one spied in the June/July issue of Cook’s Country*