“Why is there a new Crockpot in the kitchen?” my husband asked me.

“Because I have a small-appliance addiction. You know that.”

“But why buy another one?” he asked. “How many Crockpots is this now?”

“Just two.” I held up my fingers. “Technically. Then there’s the big Instant Pot, and the little Instant Pot and the Wonderbag.”

“Plus the rice cooker,” he reminded me. “Don’t forget that.”

“And I use all of them,” I declared. “This new one was only $9 and it’s for dips.”

“When’s the last time you made dip?”

“Not for a while, because I didn’t have the right type of Crockpot.” I hurried off to the kitchen before the conversation could continue. My husband was right, we did not, under any circumstances, need another slow cooking device. But now that I had my sweet little dipper, I was going to use it every day, at least for the first few months until the novelty wore off.

The first recipe I tried was a classic: spinach artichoke dip. I added one bag of frozen spinach, one block of cream cheese, one cup of sour cream, half a bag of frozen artichokes, a teaspoon of crushed garlic and a handful of feta cheese because I didn’t happen to have parmesan on hand. After mixing the ingredients into the tiny Crockpot, I turned it on low for four hours. By the time the kids came home from school the dip was ready to serve with fresh bread. They thought I was a hero. “See?” I told my husband. “Tiny Crockpot for the win.”

The next morning I prepared a small batch of chili. I added a pound of ground turkey, a can of drained kidney beans, a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, one chopped yellow onion, two tablespoons of taco seasoning and one tablespoon of cumin. I turned the dial to high and four hours later it was ready for lunch.

Could I have made these same recipes in the small Instant Pot, the large Instant Pot, the casserole Crockpot, the Wonderbag or the rice cooker which I already owned? Yes. But do we really need to dwell on that? The small Crockpot is so darn cute.

For me, it goes deeper than that. When I was in college I spent one year living in an on campus apartment. I had two jobs, no money, no car and was taking a heavy course load of 18 units. The nearest grocery store was 2 miles away. Feeding myself was a challenge, but thankfully, my cousin had given me a tiny Crockpot. I could usually buy a small cut of meat for a couple of dollars, add a potato, a carrot, an onion and some water, and make a really nice pot roast for under $4. In retrospect, I wish I had known how to make artichoke dip, because yum — that stuff is good. I also wished I had kept that Crockpot. I have no idea what happened to it.

Hello, new little Crockpot. Welcome to the family. You’re definitely my favorite appliance … for now.

Jennifer Bardsley publishes books under her own name and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Find her online on Instagram @jenniferbardsleyauthor, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as Jennifer Bardsley Author. Email her at teachingmybabytoread@gmail.com.