Crock pots have magical powers.

There are some ridiculously easy recipes out there. Like what I made for dinner tonight. The main dish is a recipe a 3 year old could follow. Possibly even while asleep. I know I had no problems doing it this morning and that's saying something. I saw this recipe in one of my cookbooks and thought it was kind of strange. Ok, A LOT strange. I wasn't going to make it at all until a friend (Yes, you Molly) mentioned the very same recipe last weekend.

"Coke Roast" (3.5 quart pot)

~3 lbs boneless chuck
~1 envelope onion soup mix
~2 cans of regular Coke (do not sub diet)

Place roast in crock pot.
Dump soup mix on top of roast.
Pour coke into crock pot.

Cover and cook for 8 hours.

4 servings.

It was actually really good. It wasn't the most flavorful roast, but you kind of expect that with the ingredients, right? The meat was tender and, umm...Coke did that? That's pretty awesome.

And the there are the super complicated recipes. I was going to make it a few weeks ago, but it was so intimidating, I kept putting it off. It does have the word pumpkin in it's title, though, so I knew I'd be making it eventually. Now, I just need the canned pumpkin shortage to be over. Pretty please?

"Steamed Pumpkin Cake" (6 quart pot)

~1 1/2 cups flour
~1 1/2 t baking powder
~1 1/2 t baking soda
~1 t cinnamon
~1/2 t salt
~1/4 t ground cloves
~1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
~2 cups packed light brown sugar
~3 eggs, beaten
~1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix...just plain ol' pumpkin. I had to use half of a 30 oz can I had hidden in the pantry. Guess I'll just have to find another pumpkin recipe to try.  Darn it.)

Grease 2 1/2 quart souffle dish that fits into crock pot; Set aside.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in medium bowl; set aside.
Beat butter, brown sugar, and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared souffle dish.
Fill crock pot with 1 inch of hot water.
Prepare foil handles. Use heavy aluminum foil to create 3 18x2 inch strips. Crisscross under souffle dish in crock pot.
Place souffle dish in crock pot.
Cover and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours on high or until toothpick comes out cleanly.
Cool for 15 minutes.
Invert cake onto serving platter.

12 servings.

3 hours into cooking, I thought the cake was hosed. I went into the kitchen to check on things and noticed that the water was boiling and flowing into the souffle pan. It looked like pumpkin soup! Did I not choose a deep enough pan? Did I add too much water? No idea. Another 30 min lapsed and I checked it with a toothpick. Done. Really? After the 15 minutes of cooling time, it actually looked like cake. Yummy, yummy cake. The crock pot is magical.

Oh. My. Goodness. So pumpkin-y. So moist. Maybe just a a touch more than it was supposed to be, but who cares? Delicious. I want need this pumpkin shortage to be over. Stat. It was worth the complexity.