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substitute 2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch pieces, for the ground pork.

substitute hot Italian sausage for the sweet sausage.

Sweet and Saucy

The slow cooker takes the guesswork out of sweet sauces, jams, marmalades, and chutneys. When fruits are in season, I’m at the farm stands stocking up for slow-cooked sauces that will keep in the freezer. Serve these sauces alongside entrées, or for dessert over ice cream, cake, or cream pie. With these sauces, the slow cooker relieves you of having to watch the sauce or jam constantly. The slow cooker takes good care of your fruits and turns them into splendid sauces.

Berry Good Sauce

I love blackberries, but then again I love all berries. When they are in season, you will see me loading up the back of the car with berries to make into this sauce. Not only do I make this sauce for myself, but I also make it for my friends so that they can share in my obsession. This deep purple sauce is a mixture of berries in lemon-flavored syrup thickened with cornstarch. You can choose your favorite berries, mixing and matching, or use only one type. Serve this sauce over ice cream. It’s delicious hot or cold over cake, waffles, pancakes, or as a sauce to serve over cream pie or cheesecake. It’s also delicious layered with cake and whipped cream in parfait glasses.

2 pints fresh blackberries

2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled, cut into quarters if large

2 pints fresh blueberries, picked over for stems

1 to 1½ cups sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons cornstarch

mix all the ingredients together in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, stirring twice during the cooking time.

allow the sauce to cool before removing from the cooker. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

makes about 10 cups

* * *

slow-cooker savvy

Frozen fruit doesn’t really work well in this sauce. It tends to fall apart, and the resulting sauce is mushy and the fruit unrecognizable.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

This ruby-red sauce flavored with orange and a hint of nutmeg is terrific over ice cream, served with French toast for breakfast, or alongside scones or biscuits. Rhubarb is sold in stalks, and the redder the stalk, the more flavorful the rhubarb. When cooked, the rhubarb melts into the sauce and is almost indiscernible, except for its tart flavor. The sauce is delicious warm, cold, or at room temperature.

2 pints strawberries, hulled

2½ cups granulated sugar, plus more as needed

4 to 6 stalks rhubarb (about 12 ounces), tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces

¼ cup orange juice

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

place the strawberries, 2½ cups sugar, rhubarb, and orange juice in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 2½ to 3 hours or low for 6 hours. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the nutmeg and taste for sugar. If the sauce is too tart, add up to ½ cup additional sugar and cook for another 1 hour on low.

remove the sauce from the insert and allow the sauce to cool. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or the freezer for up to 6 months.

makes about 4 cups

Applesauce

Highly spiced with cinnamon, this applesauce will wake folks up when they taste it. The apple flavor is very intense and delicious. If you like Granny Smith apples, I recommend you use half Granny Smith and another cooking apple (see savvy), because the tart Granny Smiths will need more sugar.

10 cups peeled, cored, and quartered cooking apples (about 12 large)

12/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup apple juice

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and apple juice in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8