Carnitas - the Crockpot Killer

I seem to have killed my crockpot. It gave its life so we could eat Carnitas. Although I forgot to make them on Monday, I did successfully chuck all of the ingredients in the slow cooker before racing out the door on Tuesday. I’m not normally much of a pork eater (except for bacon – bacon doesn’t even count, right? Or, sausage. Sausage is good – whatever!) but I’m trying to branch out. The results were pretty good. I kept it super simple by just eating the shredded meat with some sliced avocado and grape tomatoes.

The only problem is that when I went to put the leftover chicken bones, water, apple cider vinegar, and garlic in the crockpot last night to make chicken stock, the darn thing wouldn’t turn on. Now, I’ve been known to declare small appliances dead, when they are really just not properly plugged in (I’m only human, after all), but I think this one is actually a gonner. Good thing I had my double slow cooker on hand (it has two smaller pots on one base) that I normally use to keep stuff warm during parties. In went all the chicken stock goodness which is bubbling away all day as I type. I look forward to getting home to the smell of Jewish penicillin. I plan to add a few sprigs of rosemary for the last hour or so before letting it cool and straining it. There is absolutely nothing better than homemade stock. Best health food ever!