Cooking with the sun

Today while I was at church my dinner was cooking in my back yard.
Inside that box (which is actually a solar oven) as you can see, is a pot. Inside the pot is a roast. I compiled the whole thing and set it in a sunny spot in the yard first thing this morning.

At 12:30 just before I left for church I opened it up, added carrots to the first pot and tucked in a second, this one full of bread dough.
When we got home from church I walked through the back door sniffing. I was sort of hoping to send delicious aromas floating around the neighborhood. I hear that's a good way to make friends. It didn't work out though. One thing I can say about the solar oven: it's stingy with the aromatics. At least until you open the lid. Then it smells all kinds of good. Here's what I found in my pots.
Yum...

Yummer.

I used my regular old stove top to make mashed potatoes and gravy. I tell you what, solar cooked pot roast makes for some mighty tasty gravy. You don't add any liquid to meats or vegetables when solar cooking so the drippings are extra flavorful. Like I said, mighty tasty gravy.

When I was a kid I refused to eat pot roasted carrots. If I could go back in time and change one thing, I'd tell myself to eat the carrots.

Bread, on the other hand is something I've never missed an opportunity to devour.

Here's hoping your Sunday dining experience was equally good.