Mom's pot roast

After the long, hot summer, there's a crispness in the air announcing the arrival of autumn. I had to switch on the heat a few days ago for the first time. The leaves are starting to turn. And for some reason, the first hint of cold weather got me thinking about making a crock pot roast. This isn't a recipe, per se -- just a simple, delicious meal I learned from Mom.

1 2-lb. pot roast
2 envelopes Lipton onion soup mix
1 medium yellow onion, chopped

In a frying pan greased lightly with Pam, brown the roast on all sides. (This only takes a couple of minutes. It helps to seal in the juices and give the roast a more appealing color.) After browning, place the roast in the crock pot.

Mix each Lipton onion soup mix envelope with two cups of water. Pour over the roast in the crock pot. (It might seem like overkill to have four cups of liquid in there, but I'm a big believer in plenty of liquid when it comes to crock pot cooking.)

Add the chopped onions. Put some on top of the roast and the rest in the liquid around it. Cover and cook on high for about four hours. (I checked the roast after about three hours and it was almost done, so I switched it to low heat. Just have to keep an eye on it.) You can add red potatoes and/or carrots if you'd like, but make sure you add them when there's only about an hour or so of cooking time left or you'll have a smooshy mess on your hands (as I have learned the hard way).

The best part of making a roast this way is that the liquid can be made into a rich, flavorful gravy. (I've just recently figured out how to make gravy that's worth eating -- I was a slow learner. But after much patient tutoring from Mom, it finally clicked.) Just take some of the liquid from the crock pot and put it in a medium saucepan (how much you take depends on how much gravy you want to make). Mix together about two tablespoons of corn starch with about a cup of cold water. If you're doing it right, the corn starch water should be about the consistency of whole milk. Bring the roast liquid to a boil, and stir in the corn starch water slowly until the gravy reaches your desired thickness. If you're doing it right, it will thicken immediately.

With the roast and gravy, we had mashed potatoes, rolls, and a green salad called "Harvest Blend." The salad was a Dole mix with greens, radicchio, almonds, dried cranberries, and apple cider vinaigrette. It was a nice contrast to the rest of the meal.

The roast practically fell apart because it was so moist, and it was delicious. This is an easy meal to scale -- if you have more people, get a bigger roast. Pretty simple!