I was incredibly disappointed in this cookbook. A large number of the recipes seem to be more about proving the varity of foods you CAN cook in the slow cooker, rather than foods it is USEFUL to cook in the slow cooker. Keep in mind that unless you're looking to soften tough meat, you can make almost any slow cooker recipe on the stove if you have an hour or two to babysit it. Slow cooker recipes that require a lot of babysitting (adding ingredients, stirring, or doing something else in the middle of the cook time) run four to six hours and require you to hang around the house all that time.

I'm a working foodie who uses the slow cooker to make fun, interesting meals that I can leave to cook during the work day. Between the babysitting required and the less-than-8-hour cook times, I was very disappointed in the number of recipes from this book I could use at all.

I highly recommend Judith Finlayson's books for a better alternative.

I was looking forward to using this cookbook as the idea of preparing dinner early in the day and having it ready and waiting for me at six o'clock was extremely appealing. However, I have been extremely disappointed. All the entrees I have tried have been, in my opinion, overcooked. Sadly, I am coming to the conclusion that most foods were not meant to be cooked 6-7 hours. Most of the recipes I tried were a bland mushy mess and there is not one that I would subject my family to again. My last and final attempt was the Chicken with Beer which was both dry (due to the required baking for 20 minutes in the oven after 3 to 4 hours in the slow cooker on high) and tasteless. Much to my amazement, one prior reviewer actually liked this recipe! So maybe its just me. In any case I am considering givin the slow cooker to Goodwill, along with this cookbook. There has got to be a better way to simplify the chaos of dinner time preparation.

I've tried a few recipes in this cookbook, & so far I love it! Can't wait to try out some more. Yes, the recipes in this book take longer than the "dump everything into the slow cooker at once" recipes, but the flavor is much better. I don't care for canned soup slow cooker recipes, so this is exactly the type of cookbook I was looking for!

I like this cookbook. I expected to find recipes in this book that I would not find in other more conventional crockpot cookbooks and I was not disappointed. Yes, it does take more time to prepare some of the meals but the recipes I have tried are well worth the effort. I also like the variety of things that can be cooked in the crockpot other than stews and casseroles and slow cooked meats.