Okay, Roll With It, you want to know about the terra cotta pots for pot roast? Well, you've been very generous with the cooking tips (and you've made me very jealous . . . I love cooking!), so I"ll give up the info.
I broke mine. Or maybe I gave it away during a move. I'm not sure. So I googled images, and I found one that looks exactly like the one I had:
Google Image Result for http://media-files.gather.com/images/d466/d671/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg
WOW! Look how that link came out!
I got mine for a song at an outlet mall. I don't think I even paid $10 for it. I also got pot scrapers on that shopping trip. Those things are great. Better than brillo pads, which gross me out badly. ANyway, you do not have to pay a lot for one of these pots. And I bet you can get one very cheaply on eBay.
Anyway, what you do with them is soak them for a while so that they're completely wet. I think I would stick mine in the sink for an hour or so before I needed it. This is the key. Of course, you have to make sure your kitchen sink is sanitary and very well rinsed.
Then you just toss food into it, whatever you want to do. I did pot roasts in them and I've never had better pot roast. However you'd do your regular pot roast is what you'd use for the terra cotta pot. I know I added beef broth to mine, a bunch of vegetables, red potatoes, celery, all kinds of stuff. OH, and shallots. I do a lot with shallots. THen you just roast it like you would in a regular, run of the mill roasting pan. But this is much better because it's being cooked in that super moist medium. Good stuff.
I also did Cornish hens in that thing too. They were sooooo good. When you're using the terra cotta, with all that water inside the actual cooking pot, everything comes out so moist.
With the Cornish hens, I just made my regular stuffing (a lot of apples, pears, raisins, celery, broken up bread, etc) and put two hens inside the cooker. Then I just roasted it with the top on the pot for about an hour. It's easy. But people do think you've been slaving at it all day, and I love those kinds of dishes. You can also do the stuffing with whatever you like to do: the sausage stuff (which I've never understood), the stuff with lots of chardonnay, apricot vinegar, enochi mushrooms, and garlic. OR, tangerines. Just soak them in some wine and stuff the hens with the tangerines. Good stuff!
And like you, I'm kind of a kitchen freak, and I try all kinds of stuff, just dreaming it up. Like, what if I put this in with that and then try cooking it like this . . . granted, I've come up with some stuff that was just not fit for anyone to consume, but I've also created some good stuff.
Like The Ideal Veal Meal. You just get some of that cheap veal stew meat, some canned or freshly diced tomatoes, toss in some Italian seasonings, some beef broth (I like Better Than Bouillon), and let it cook away in the crock pot. But you can also do it in the terra cotta pot. Add some wine to it, some garlic, shallots, mushrooms, then just let it cook until that cheap stew meat is falling apart, or however you like it. Then just shred a bunch of mozarella on top, stick it under the broiler and serve it over pasta. I like penne. I almost always use the whole grain type. The other kind is actually just like Wonder Bread, not very good for you. And the whole grain pasta just tastes better and is much easier to cook al dente.
Here's the pork tenderloin with orange marmalade and chipotle sauce that I found while using what Epicurious used to call the Search Spy. Now, I see it's just called something boring, but it's on the right side of the window on the home page.
Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle-Marmalade Sauce Recipe at Epicurious.com
This is one great dish and very easy to make. You do need a meat thermometer, though, if you don't like it well done. I am guessing you have one, though.
If you read through the reviews, you'll get all kinds of advice and criticisms from others who have made the dish. (But fights do break out when people get crazy on the reviews or, worse, have not even made something and yet rate it poorly). For this recipe, someone way back on the thread recommended making a rub out of garlic powder, and some other stuff. So I do it like that: a rub with garlic powder, cumin, thyme, and some other things if they happen to sound good at the time. Then you just roast it. BUT you can do that one in a crock pot too. And if you can do it in a crock pot, you can do it in the terra cotta pot too.
I serve that one with brown basmati rice and some sauteed green beans and red peppers with garlic. It's so easy, and everyone loves it.
The sauce is really easy too. Just dump some chicken and beef broth into a sauce pan, and then let it reduce. Then add some orange juice and orange marmalade, (I also add orange zest), some honey, red pepper flakes and one or two chipotle peppers finely chopped. Those things can be very, very hot, so I always start with just one and then check it. I like it very spicy, but I usually lose out to others who don't want it so hot.
That's a good, easy meal. Obviously, you can't do the rice or the sauce in the crock pot, but you can do the meat in there if you don't mind it well done. Or since you are the Crock Pot Meister, maybe you can do it so that it comes out at 155 degrees?
Now back to the other important topic on this thread. Music. I think I know what those little disks are that you are talking about. I'm pretty sure I got a sample one inside a Rolling Stone mag about ten years ago? Maybe twelve years ago? It's been a while, for sure. I know nothing about them. They just did not make it on the market.
I thought I was pretty cool with my three-disk cd player too. Now, it's broken, but there's more to that story, and I don't want to go into it. It's sad.
I still have cassettes too. In fact, I was just looking at one that turned up in the rubble on my desk last week: Bob Dylan's No Mercy. Anyone heard that one? There's one song on there that I just love: Everything's Broken. That song is so perfect for some days. It's very upbeat and just speaks to me! Every damn thing I pick up is broken or not charged.
The rest of the cassettes? They're around somewhere, stuffed in some box somewhere. They'll probably turn up in 2034. And my kids won't be able to do much with them, since most of mine were recorded off of disks.
Most of my vinyl was lost or stolen long ago. My cd's are all over the place. And I'm tired of replacing those things. I have a few that I've bought several times. As for the marketing being that they don't scratch? Yeah, sure. I have some that are so badly scratched, they're useless. That's when I WILL download a song from iTunes: When I've got the whole album, but a couple of tracks are scratched. That way I still have the album and the liner notes, etc, and I get the whole album back.
The other thing about disks is how much space they take up. Especially when you step on them? And they crack??? I'm too embarrassed to say how many I've ruined like that.
New music find for tonight. This one was put on my computer last week, but since iTunes had that last update, I am having a hard time figuring out how to get everything ripped to get on there with the name of the artist, the artwork cover, etc. Anyway, check out James Blunt. Two songs I got from a friend are 1974 and Give Me Some Love. This is some good stuff, and I cannot wait to hear the rest of this album. Very good stuff.
I ate at Chick Fil A today. No time for anything else.
Edited to add: How come crock pots and cooking are girl stuff? A man who can cook is one worth keeping! And as some sexist jerks like to say, "Well, all the best chefs are men." Really? Cooking is so much fun. My dad taught me all the basics. I can still hear his voice in my head about roasting beef: 325 degrees, 22 minutes per pound. It's never failed me. Ever. And he was not a girly guy, I assure you!
i rocked a leather jacket with a sleevless denim coat over it!! Of course the denim was bleached and had Zep pathes all over it. ahh the good old days.......
ugg they sucked. 
...well, that and crock pot stuff cause it's soo easy and comes out so good. also cause my wife works during the day so i'm home with the boys and gotta get dinner ready for everyone.lol i have to do all the "girl" stuff, probably why I'm on here talking about cooking.
i'm going have to print those reciepes 2morow. thanks so much. can't wait to try the terracotta when it gets colder.
