November approaches and so does Caleb's first birthday. My baby is almost one year old. One YEAR. Three hundred and sixty-five days of being a mother, of waking in the dark, of puréed sweet potatoes and ceiling fan worship and the slow, miraculous transformation from a screaming newborn to a babbling, cruising, pumpkin-wearing human.
I've been planning the birthday party with the intensity that Mom brings to Thanksgiving. (I am becoming my mother. This is both inevitable and slightly alarming.)
The guest list: Soo-Jin and Mia, a few neighbors with babies, Ryan's Marine friends who tolerate birthday parties for the free food. Small. Intimate. Military.
The cake: homemade. Obviously. I'm making a smash cake for Caleb — a small cake just for him to destroy with his hands, because apparently this is a thing now and it requires a cake that photographs well while being systematically demolished by a one-year-old.
The smash cake will be vanilla with buttercream, because Caleb hasn't tried chocolate yet and his first birthday feels too early for chocolate (Mom disagrees: 'I gave you chocolate at nine months and you're fine.' FINE IS A STRONG WORD, MOM.)
The food: pulled pork. Because every Abernathy celebration involves pulled pork. It's the family dish. The potluck dish. The 'something important happened' dish. Caleb's first birthday is important. Therefore: pulled pork.
I made Mom's pulled pork recipe this week as a test run. The slow cooker, the rub, the twelve-hour cook, the vinegar sauce. In my California kitchen, with my California light, for my California friends. Mom's North Carolina recipe, traveling.
Soo-Jin tasted it and said, 'This is the best barbecue I've ever had.' Which is a high compliment from a woman who lives in LA, where every cuisine on earth is available within a twenty-minute drive.
'My mother's recipe,' I said.
'Your mother's a genius.'
'Tell her. She'll pretend she doesn't care.'
(She would absolutely care. She would care SO MUCH.)
Mom and Dad fly in on the 20th. Two weeks. They're coming for the birthday. Dad is probably packing tomato seedlings in his luggage. Mom is probably packing her slow cooker. Some things you can count on.
Caleb is standing at the couch and looking at me with those enormous blue eyes and I think: you're almost one. You survived your first year. I survived your first year. We both learned to eat solid food (him literally, me metaphorically). We both found our feet.
Happy almost-birthday, baby. The pulled pork is in the slow cooker.
Mom’s pulled pork has a permanent place at every Abernathy celebration, and while that slow cooker was already spoken for this week, I kept coming back to what makes that recipe work: the low-and-slow magic of a crockpot, the kind of dish you can set before guests arrive and forget about until the room fills up. That’s exactly what this Hearty Crockpot Taco Soup delivers — bold, warming, feeds-a-crowd energy that feels right at home on a birthday party spread. Ryan’s Marine friends alone would empty the pot.
Hearty Crockpot Taco Soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 6–8 hours (low) | Total Time: Up to 8 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
- 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Ro-Tel)
- 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
- 1 packet (1 oz) dry ranch dressing mix
- 2 cups beef broth
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Optional toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced green onions, tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, sliced jalapeños
Instructions
- Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and diced onion together, breaking the meat apart, until no pink remains, about 7–8 minutes. Drain off excess fat.
- Load the crockpot. Transfer the browned beef and onion to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the black beans, kidney beans, corn, diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chiles, taco seasoning, ranch dressing mix, and beef broth. Stir to combine.
- Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours or on HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the soup is hot throughout and the flavors have melded. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve and top. Ladle into bowls and set out your toppings so everyone can customize. Shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and a handful of tortilla chips are the non-negotiables.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 21g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 8g | Sodium: 840mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 188 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
