So, I’m parting with tradition this year, big time. No, I’m not talking about tacos for Thanksgiving dinner or anything like that, you silly goose. I’m no wild and crazy Diane Heroux. To be really honest, when it came time for me to sit down and actually think (ouch.) about writing about Thanksgiving pies and Christmas cookies and roast turkeys and stuffings and such, I just couldn’t do it. Not this year.

See, I think we’re all inundated with good-intentioned cooking shows and magazines and cookbooks this time of year, offering us gazillions upon gatrillions of “helpful” holiday recipes and baking ideas. Which can end up being confusing—too many options, too much information. And really, by now I think most of us have our holiday favorite foods down pat, and we tend to stick with what works. I know I do, despite my sleazy reputation as a cookbook-scouring-new-recipe-addict.

Do you know what I think would really help us all the most this season? How about some really simple and easy everyday dinner ideas? For evenings when you’ve been running around all day like a chicken with its’ head cut off—you ladies KNOW what I mean. Shopping and working and attending school events and gift wrapping and trying to get in a workout and decorating the house and baking and setting the perfect festive Thanksgiving table and everything else that makes our head spin this time of year. Well, this time of year, I need, more than ever, the ultimate one-pot-wonder type dinners. The kind you can throw in the crock pot in 5 minutes at the crack of dawn kind of dinners. So, that’s going to be my gift to you this holiday season—a seven part series of easier than easy suppers that you and your family are just going to love. Dust off those crock pots, folks; they’re gonna get a real workout. Hey, at least somebody’s getting a workout around here.

To be truthful, my real motivation for this series is a selfish one. Because I’m looking at my calendar for the next couple of months and I just don’t know how I’m going to do it all. We’re just finishing up a kitchen remodel, and I’m still trying to clean up all of the sheet rock dust that came with it. (Future column alert: I can’t wait to tell you all about our gorgeous new pantries, granite and cabinets in a future column—all thanks to amazing craftsmen Roger Parent and Mike Risley.) Next up, Big Daddy E. and I will spend a couple of weeks out west again for Thanksgiving, visiting our daughter and the rest of our nutty family. Then, upon returning to New York (on my personal favorite: the ol’ red eye flight, once again), I am literally hopping on an eight hour train ride to Baltimore, the very next day, for a much needed extended stay at the Johns Hopkins Day Spa For The Insane—I’m in need of some serious bodywork. Which sounds like a lot more fun than it really will be—instead of mud baths, massages and facials, think needles and scalpels and stitches. ANYWAYS, after all of that, it will be mid-December, and I probably won’t have done a cotton pickin’ thing about Christmas, so I, for one, will be in desperate need of easy, nutritious meals.

I’ve been researching the hours away in my dust coated kitchen lately (cough cough), coming up with some really great stuff. This week, I’m sharing our new favorite supper that will make your whole house smell sooooo good. Have you ever heard of Carnitas? “Carnitas” is Spanish for a pork filling, which can be used in so many Mexican dishes. This recipe for Pork Carnitas Tacos makes a huge crock pot full of the most tender and delicious spiced pork, ever; just great for filling tortillas along with your choice of “fixins”, like cheese, cilantro, avocado, tomatoes, sour cream, etc. Perfect for that busy day you have coming up—just throw the ingredients in your crock pot before heading out the door. Enjoy.

KILLER CROCK POT

PORK CARNITAS TACOS

Serves 6-8

2 pork tenderloins, about a pound each (or, you can use a less expensive pork roast—just make sure the total weight is about 2 lbs.)

1 16 oz. jar Salsa Verde (green salsa)

1 10 oz. can Rotel tomatoes (if you can’t find Rotel, any kind will do)

1 4.5 oz. can chopped green chilis

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tblsp. chili powder

Flour tortillas

Taco fixins ideas:

Grated Monterey Jack cheese

Fresh cilantro

Sliced avocado

Diced tomatoes

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Salsa

Place all ingredients into a slow cooker. Cook on low for 10 hours, or until pork shreds easily using two forks. Using a slotted spoon, place a heaping spoonful of pork in each tortilla. Top each with fixins.

Please send all recipes or comments to P.O. Box 111, Old Forge, NY 13420, or e-mail them to lnwillard@hotmail.com.