Between the extra-special dinners, the festive invites, and the everyday meals, menu planning can get tricky. In months filled with shopping, decorating, wrapping presents, and entertaining, who has time to slave over the stove?

No one.

But thanks to your slow cooker and these recipes, holiday cooking—and eating—can be simple.

You won’t have to baste, or share oven or stovetop space with other dishes, or worry about burning anything, or be stuck at home the whole time dinner is cooking. If you’ve only prepared meats, soups, or stews in the slow cooker, you are in for multiple treats as you learn to prepare breakfasts, desserts, and a variety of side dishes. You’ll find recipes for everything from Christmas favorites like baked ham, prime rib, mashed potatoes, and fruitcake to extravagances like chocolate mousse and duck confit, to yummy classics like sausage-and-egg breakfast casserole, or artichoke and spinach dip, short ribs, chicken stew, and mushroom risotto.

Learn to make risotto without having to be the only one in the kitchen, stirring constantly, while the rest of the party gathers round the fire in the other room. Wake up Christmas morning to overnight eggnog-cranberry steel-cut oatmeal. Indulge in a citrus-cinnamon spiced ham for dinner. And proudly pass apricot glazed chicken wings at your company potluck.

We’ve got a recipe for baked ziti that doesn’t even require that you cook the pasta before putting it in the slow cooker. Some sauce, the pasta, some cheese, and you come home 6 to 8 hours later to a marvelous baked ziti. And it is delicious enough to take to a party, too.

The slow cooker is also a great tool for making the best holiday drinks—for everything from mulled wine to steamy white Russians. Any and all of these make for great fireside fare, or a way to keep a large batch of something special warmed up for carolers, the guys who put up your lights, or the neighbors who help you shovel after a snowstorm.

With this book, you’ll learn to really use the slow cooker. You’ll get a feel for cooking times, amount of liquids, and what to throw in when. You’ll grow more comfortable experimenting with ingredients, including spices. You’ll discover that, just like wrapping presents or making lists or heading out with your family to look at the light displays in the neighborhood, you’ll be counting on your slow cooker to help create the kinds of memories that these moments are all about.

You might even ask Santa for another slow cooker.