An Outdoor Kitchen

It's hot outside! Hot-lanta is living up to its nickname. We kept the air conditioning off as long as we could stand it. Now that it's on, I don't want to do anything to cause it to run more than it has to and that includes cooking. There are lots of things to try in the summer to avoid heating up the kitchen. Salads and cold meals. Cooking early or late when the temps are cooler. Here's one that's new for us - an outdoor kitchen of sorts. Here are the details on our first venture.

First, trip out to the garden. It's lookin' good, isn't it?
Over to the squash & zucchini section. There's plenty ready for us.

Gather the ingredients - squash, zucchini, a Vidalia onion (which must be used at every meal accordingly to Georgia law), 1/4 cup of water, and a few pats of butter.

Put it all together in the crock pot.
Take it out to the outdoor kitchen, which is set up on our porch.
Now, I have made plenty of things in the crock pot, but never a vegetable dish like this. I have always cooked squash on the stove or in the oven in the form of a casserole. I suspected the crock pot would work fine and a search online confirmed it. I cooked it for 2 and a half hours on low and it turned out perfect - not too crunchy, not too mushy. I have a feeling our outdoor kitchen will get a lot of use this summer!


By the way, there is a marvelous blog on crock pot cooking - A Year of Slow Cooking.