To get your tickets, please drop a check, made payable to “Project Graduation” to Kathy Mortara, 28 Derwent Avenue. For more information, send her an e-mail. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Project Graduation is the alcohol- and drug-free all-night celebration that takes place immediately following the seniors’ high school graduation.

Who: Children ages 3-12

When: Saturday, February 11

Where: Geyer Family Center YMCA

Time: 1-2 p.m.

Fee: $25  members/per family
$30 non-members/per family

Please call to register in advance: 973-783-7640

**Please be aware that the YMCA is a nut-free facility, but that some of the products they use may be processed in a facility that processes nuts.

I love risotto. What I don’t love is constant stirring. Aside from being lazy, the probability of me actually being able to stand at the stove, stirring constantly, without a major disaster involving a permanent marker is slim to none.  I just don’t live in the “all day in the kitchen by myself” world anymore.

The beauty of my Crock-Pot is that it’s the perfect environment for making risotto. Slow, constant, moist heat means that this little piece of cookware does all the work for me. So, one day I raided my refrigerator and took whatever I could find that would seem to make a tasty risotto and threw it together. This went so well that I have plans for other flavors to try. So, here is a great weekday side dish that requires very little work and is just the kind of food you can get started as homework is being done and it’s ready when the rest of your dinner is.

Slow Cooker Mushroom Leek Risotto (serves 6)

Ingredients:

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and sliced.

4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine

5 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 cups arborio rice

6 white button mushrooms, stems removed and cut into quarters or sixteenths if they are big

1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

What’s Next:

Place butter and olive oil in large 10″ skillet.

Just when butter is about halfway melted, add leeks. Keep heat on low to medium while cooking to soften the leeks without browning. About 10 minutes.

Add salt and herbes de Provence. Stir together.

When leeks are soft, add to slow cooker.

Add mushrooms, broth wine and rice to slow cooker. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours.

Turn slow cooker off.  Sprinkle cheese on top. Recover for 10 minutes so cheese can melt.

Notes from my experience:

This was great on the first night, but the leeks tasted a little bitter on the second night.

This recipe makes a lot and is best for a group and a one-time serving. On the second night it was more like glue.

This recipe smells amazing while cooking, and the taste was even better. Sweet, but with a kick. Were I to make it again, I’d use habanero peppers to make the spiciness just a little more intense without adding so much heat that it becomes inedible.

Slow Cooker Spicy Sweet Chili (serves 6-8)

Ingredients

2 pounds 93% lean ground beef

2 cans of creamed corn

2 10-ounce cans of diced tomatoes (one drained, one not)

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (heaping)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 12-ounce bottle of chocolate-flavored beer (I used Sam Adams Chocolate Bock)

1/2 cup bottled barbecue sauce

What’s Next

Measure and set out garlic, peppers, and spices in small bowls. Trust me, it’s easier.

In a large pot or Dutch oven brown meat. Transfer to slow cooker leaving fat in pot. (There shouldn’t be much if you used the lean ground beef)

Add spices, peppers and garlic and cook for five minutes in pan drippings from beef.

Add to slow cooker with meat.

Add beer, tomatoes, creamed corn and barbecue sauce. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours.

Notes from my experience:

I had a hard time initially not using either onions, green peppers or beans in this recipe. I almost caved at one point and added them, but then decided to stick to the plan. I’m glad I did.

I made the mistake of putting shredded Cheddar cheese on my chili. I’m so used to it, and I love cheese on food, that it was almost instinctive. The flavors did not go well. If you really want cheese, I think it needs a milder cheese like Monterey Jack or mozzarella. If you try either of those, let me know how it goes.

From now through February 4, if you bring in five or more non-perishable food donations such as canned food and cereal, Liberty Tax Service will give you a coupon for $20 off your tax preparation fees. You can also complete an entry form to win a catered “Soup or Bowl” party for 10. Liberty will draw one winner at 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 4. On that day, there will also be some family fun and entertainment at Liberty’s office from noon to 4 p.m.

“There’s no Super Bowl hype to this chance,” says Andrew Santamaria, owner of Liberty Tax Service. “Anyone can donate and save or enter to win. The odds are pretty good.”

The Human Needs Food Pantry provides food, clothing and other services to people in need who live in Montclair, Verona and other neighboring communities. That includes more than over 2,000 bags of groceries each month. The Santamaria’s Liberty Tax Service office is  located at 295 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, which is just before Grove Street as you are heading east.

I will also say that this season I’ve made more recipes with a pork shoulder (also referred to as a pork butt) than I have in past Crock It! seasons. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite cuts of meat. Here’s why: much of the fat can be trimmed before cooking, it cooks up very tender, and it’s extremely inexpensive. I typically purchase an 8-pound shoulder from Fresh Direct and it usually costs me only about $8 and change. I’m not aware of many other kinds of meat where I can get eight pounds for $8. So, in our post-holiday money-saving meal planning, I’m getting creative with pork shoulder.

This recipe fed our family of five with plenty leftover. My kids loved the mild taste of the meat and I think one of them even said, “this is the best pork you’ve ever made.” My kids like my cooking, but I don’t hear this one often.

Slow Cooked Pork With Fennel, Carrots, and Onion

Ingredients:

1 pork shoulder, 2-3 pounds

1 yellow onion, diced

6 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 fennel bulb, cut in large chunks

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

4 cups chicken broth

What’s Next:

In a large dutch oven, brown pork shoulder on all sides. Place in slow cooker.

Add onion, carrot and fennel to same pot, adding oil if necessary. Season with Italian seasoning. When vegetables are soft (after about 5-7 minutes) add to slow cooker, spreading around pork.

Add broth. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

Remove pork from slow cooker, and shred with two forks.

Combine pork and vegetables, discarding most of  the cooking broth. Toss with pasta (I used rigatoni) and serve.

 Notes from my experience:

This is a really easy meal, especially if you are feeding a lot of people or want leftovers for later.

Because the pork shoulder is a relatively large piece of meat, it’s also very forgiving. This meal could sit on the warm setting in the slow cooker for a while and not be ruined.

I would definitely make it again, adding diced tomatoes and maybe some large-leaf spinach at the end.

You can follow all of my cooking adventures on Twitter @TracyCooksIt

North End Grill, which is located at 104 North End Avenue at Murray Street, features wood-burning grills and seasonal ingredients, with a strong focus on seafood. It is already open for lunch, and dinner and weekend brunch will follow soon. Cardoz was the executive chef of Union Square Hospitality Group’s Tabla restaurant for more than a decade before in closed in December 2010 and last year was the winner of “Top Chef Masters”.

“Floyd, my partners and I conceived North End Grill to celebrate its neighborhood–adjacent to the Hudson River and across the street from TriBeCa,” says USHG restaurateur Danny Meyer. “We’re excited to serve the people who live and work there – and also to introduce this peaceful plot of Manhattan to others who may never have heard of North End Avenue. People adored Floyd’s cooking at Tabla and they’re in for a real treat when they taste what he’s up to now.”

So, when a friend of mine gave me a recipe for a cornbread casserole she makes, I headed straight for my mixing bowl and oven. It’s been a couple of years since I made it, but last week I had one of those great brainstorming moments which usually starts with, “I wonder if….” What happens after that is either fabulous, or something that I just chalk up to a learning experince. I have a 50/50 chance either way, but I love when it works out. This time it did.

All I needed was a way to convert a recipe meant for the oven into something that can work in my Crock-Pot. It’s possible, but doesn’t always quite work out the way one might want. Some of the recipes I’ve made in the past have involved placing a kitchen towel over the top of my Crock-Pot between the stoneware base and the glass lid. This absorbs the steam, creating a drier cooking environment. Using that technique for this recipe was just the adjustment I needed. In the end, this recipe had the same crispy edges that are produced in the oven with the melt in your mouth cheesiness of the rest of the dish.

Slow Cooker Corn Bread Casserole

Ingredients:

1 can of corn, drained

1 can of creamed corn

1 egg

1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix

1 8-ounce container of sour cream

1 stick of butter, melted

1/4 cup diced jalapenos or any other hot pepper if you like hot peppers (OPTIONAL)

1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

What’s Next:

Mix all ingredients except for the cheese in a large bowl.

Place in slow cooker.

Add kitchen towel folded in half to the top of  the slow cooker.

Crock Pot with Towel Folded Over Twice

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

Sprinkle melted cheese on top and cook for another 20 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serve as a side to just about anything and enjoy!

You can follow all of my cooking adventures on Twitter @TracyCooksIt

My first challenge is creating a variety of  soups– I get bored. I easily have five or six cookbooks for just soups and a plethora of other cookbooks that have soup recipes included in the content.

My second soup challenge is the timing. By the time I’m making lunch for myself I’m starving and the act of making soup from scratch just takes too long.

So, I turned to my Pasta Soups and Salads cookbook from Williams Sonoma and the Tortellini Soup looked really good. I had just bought one of those large containers of cheese tortellini at Costco and this seemed like a good way to use some of it. However, I still had my timing issues as well as my goals to make the soup heartier and to make it slow cooker friendly.

I played around in my kitchen and the result: a hearty Chicken and Tortellini Soup made ahead in my Crock-Pot that’s worthy of any cold winter day.

Chicken and Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, cut in half and sliced thin

3 carrots peeled and sliced

6 cups of chicken broth

half of a 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach

2 split chicken breasts

8 oz cheese tortellini

1 small green zucchini cut lengthwise, quartered, and in a large dice.

fresh grated Parmesan and lemon juice for garnish (optional)

What’s Next:

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
2. In a skillet with some olive oil, brown the chicken breasts skin side down for about 5-7 minutes. Set aside.
3. Saute the onion and carrots, for 5-7 minutes in the same pan adding more oil if necessary. Add browned onion and carrot to slow cooker.
4. Place in slow cooker on top of carrots and onion.
5. Pour in the chicken broth.
6. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours.
7. Remove chicken and when cool enough to handle, remove skin and meat from bones and shred with two forks.
8. Add chicken back to slow cooker. Along with zucchini and spinach.
9. Add cheese tortellini, cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes.
10. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes from my experience:

The tortellini actually held up well for the next day or so in the refrigerator. However, if you are making a single serving, add less tortellini  and eat it all in one seating. When re-heating the soup on another day, more tortellini can be added.

I added a little lemon juice and grated Parmesan to my soup. Delicious.

You can follow all of my cooking adventures on Twitter @TracyCooksIt