I still get excited about every batch of bone broth - I've got one going right now! From something I would have thrown away (chicken carcass) I get an amazing, tasty, nutritional broth that enhances all my recipes and will get my dog to eat anything. The crockpot makes it so easy. And speaking of chicken, it may not make the best looking roast chicken, but it comes out so juicy and tasty (just put a whole bulb of garlic, cut up, under the skin, put chicken on foil balls to keep out of juice so it's not so soggy). Spicy pop pulled pork (pork roast, half a Dr. Pepper, a couple of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, brown sugar, salt) is heaven on buttered, broiled ciabatta rolls. My mom makes a plum sauce that involves pitting plums, putting them in the crockpot and letting them go until they're mush and putting them through a food mill. It's so good, makes everything delicious. Also excellent for apple sauce. It's the first cooking appliance I recommend to new cooks, because you can cook many delicious meals with very little skill. Second appliance would probably be an immersion blender.