Dear friends,
I've moved! With life changes and new interests I have renamed the blog and moved everything over to the new site. See what's cooking at The Primal Gardener!
Aloha!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Soon to be Cooking on Cast Iron
Last June I bought a set of Wagner cast iron skillets. No pitting, no warping, but a lot of old, nasty seasoning and rust. I knew if I could just get down to the metal I could re-season these beauties and bring them back to life.
Notice I said "last June"? Yep, in the past 7ish months I have tried just about everything to get these poor old things cleaned. I tried fine grit sandpaper, heavy grit, steel wool, the self-cleaning setting of the oven (and broke the setting somehow), and finally oven cleaner. Oven cleaner had the best results but there were still layers and layers of burnt crud.
Last night I finally said the hell with it and threw two of the pans in the fireplace, added a bunch of wood and crossed my fingers. At once point the fire was so hot I thought the pan was actually starting to turn reddish (which is when I started to worry I'd pull out this warped, melted lump of iron goo that was once a nice fry pan and started pushing coals to the sides). Instead of stoking the fire and shutting the damper when we went to bed I let the fire die out and this morning pulled out two beautiful rusty pans, not a speck of old sticky seasoning anywhere.
Right now they are sitting in a vinegar solution to help remove the worst of the rust and then its cleaning with oil and FINALLY seasoning!! I can't wait to cook with these beautiful pans. I already plan on finding some neat hooks and hanging them off the wall. Make the place all nice and cottagy looking.
So, how did y'all fair over the Super Bowl? I'll admit, I succumbed to chips and dip and chocolate-chip cookies. Today my belly is bloated and my eyes feel weird. *sigh*
Tonight I have ham and bean soup planned. I know, I know, legumes, but its a step up from wheat flour!
Notice I said "last June"? Yep, in the past 7ish months I have tried just about everything to get these poor old things cleaned. I tried fine grit sandpaper, heavy grit, steel wool, the self-cleaning setting of the oven (and broke the setting somehow), and finally oven cleaner. Oven cleaner had the best results but there were still layers and layers of burnt crud.
Last night I finally said the hell with it and threw two of the pans in the fireplace, added a bunch of wood and crossed my fingers. At once point the fire was so hot I thought the pan was actually starting to turn reddish (which is when I started to worry I'd pull out this warped, melted lump of iron goo that was once a nice fry pan and started pushing coals to the sides). Instead of stoking the fire and shutting the damper when we went to bed I let the fire die out and this morning pulled out two beautiful rusty pans, not a speck of old sticky seasoning anywhere.
Right now they are sitting in a vinegar solution to help remove the worst of the rust and then its cleaning with oil and FINALLY seasoning!! I can't wait to cook with these beautiful pans. I already plan on finding some neat hooks and hanging them off the wall. Make the place all nice and cottagy looking.
So, how did y'all fair over the Super Bowl? I'll admit, I succumbed to chips and dip and chocolate-chip cookies. Today my belly is bloated and my eyes feel weird. *sigh*
Tonight I have ham and bean soup planned. I know, I know, legumes, but its a step up from wheat flour!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Missed the Garbage Man
Have you ever noticed that, when your eating crud, the garbage tends to fill up three times faster than when your eating healthy?
If I ever needed another indication that we haven't just fallen off the wagon, we've BROKEN the wagon, its the utter panic I woke up to this morning at the sound of diesel engines revving and revving and then slowly fading away. Its garbage day and after going through all the cupboards last night and throwing crud away my bin is beyond overflowing. But, because of the wind and the storm coming in, I didn't set it out by the curb last night. Oh no, I'll wake up on time.
Meanwhile, kiddo decided that at 2am it was time to get up and paaaaaaaaar-tay. I finally got her back to sleep around 5am and then burrowed under my covers, only to awoken at 9 by the rumble of engines. *sigh* And the trucks keep going up and down the street, teasing me.
This morning's breakfast was awesome! Leftover meatloaf topped by fried eggs yum! Now to figure out what to do with all the hot dogs I found during my cleaning frenzy. There are two 5 pound bags (there must have been a sale at some point) just waiting to be used...anyone know a good hot dog recipe?
If I ever needed another indication that we haven't just fallen off the wagon, we've BROKEN the wagon, its the utter panic I woke up to this morning at the sound of diesel engines revving and revving and then slowly fading away. Its garbage day and after going through all the cupboards last night and throwing crud away my bin is beyond overflowing. But, because of the wind and the storm coming in, I didn't set it out by the curb last night. Oh no, I'll wake up on time.
Meanwhile, kiddo decided that at 2am it was time to get up and paaaaaaaaar-tay. I finally got her back to sleep around 5am and then burrowed under my covers, only to awoken at 9 by the rumble of engines. *sigh* And the trucks keep going up and down the street, teasing me.
This morning's breakfast was awesome! Leftover meatloaf topped by fried eggs yum! Now to figure out what to do with all the hot dogs I found during my cleaning frenzy. There are two 5 pound bags (there must have been a sale at some point) just waiting to be used...anyone know a good hot dog recipe?
Friday, January 20, 2012
Resolutions...Not Going So Well
It has been a crazy month. Between health issues, school starting, insane weather, and hubby neck-deep in an intense project we have not been making the life changes we were hoping for.
Our diet has been all over the charts. There have been more veggies and good meats, but also more sugar...sigh. I've also been trying new recipes and have NOT had good results (stringy ribs, tough roast beef, mushy veggies). My goal was to try a new recipe every week but I am getting very discouraged with the poor results.
The cool thing is we got a smoker! The butcher we get our meat from is supposed to be getting pork bellies next week and I can not wait to make bacon! I'm drooling just at the thought. Winter salmon and steelhead season should start soon and I'm looking forward to smoking my first fishy (maybe smoking will make them edible!)
Hubby is off next week and the week after on business trips so its just me and kiddo. That always makes it easier as Mr. Finicky won't eat certain things kiddo and I love. And, strangely, the house stays cleaner! We miss him a lot when he's gone though.
School is hell. I'm taking four classes and the workload is intense. I set up my mid-term and final proctoring today and suddenly feel under intense pressure. There is just not enough time! AHHHHHH!!
And to top it off our street flooded the last couple days:
Our diet has been all over the charts. There have been more veggies and good meats, but also more sugar...sigh. I've also been trying new recipes and have NOT had good results (stringy ribs, tough roast beef, mushy veggies). My goal was to try a new recipe every week but I am getting very discouraged with the poor results.
The cool thing is we got a smoker! The butcher we get our meat from is supposed to be getting pork bellies next week and I can not wait to make bacon! I'm drooling just at the thought. Winter salmon and steelhead season should start soon and I'm looking forward to smoking my first fishy (maybe smoking will make them edible!)
Hubby is off next week and the week after on business trips so its just me and kiddo. That always makes it easier as Mr. Finicky won't eat certain things kiddo and I love. And, strangely, the house stays cleaner! We miss him a lot when he's gone though.
School is hell. I'm taking four classes and the workload is intense. I set up my mid-term and final proctoring today and suddenly feel under intense pressure. There is just not enough time! AHHHHHH!!
And to top it off our street flooded the last couple days:
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