"New" Cast Iron

 On our Colorado trip I did some thrift store shopping. I purchased three pieces. Get this...a square skillet and the round one below were marked $4. When I paid out...they were HALF PRICE! These are American made cast iron. The third purchase at another store was a Dutch oven for $18. I am really excited about the Dutch oven. It is THE name in old collectible cast iron - Griswold. :D Price in an antique store would have been $50 - $80 even without a lid.

Photo before cleaning and seasoning. Doris (friend in Colorado) could not believe I bought these as rusty as they were. Her husband told her, Oh yeah. They will clean up and look like new.

I did not need the skillets but look at every piece I see in junk/resale stores for American made at a good price for the kids. At our stop-off at John and Erin's on the way home I offered them one of the skillets - they picked the square skillet that did not need seasoning.

That left this skillet for Brook.

Since he is living in a camper right now, Jonathan just has a piece or two there and the rest is packed away.

A couple of weekends ago, I decided to set my oven on the cleaning cycle. GREAT time to burn off cast iron if you don't have a brush pile to burn. I grabbed the lid that fits my chicken fryer - which also fits my new Dutch oven - and tossed it in the oven too.

After burning, scouring with steel wool, greasing with lard, and baking in the oven...

I cooked with Brook's "new" skillet until her visit this weekend. It now has a new home.

My one piece of Griswold...

My first loaf of bread in my new Dutch oven...

Doris also took me to the Apple Shed. In the pottery area, I purchased a sugar shaker to replace my boring white sugar bowl.

See the dimple in the side? There's a mate on the other side for your finger and thumb to fit when you pick it up. If you look for it, you can see the hole on the upper right side of the slope...looks to be rimmed in red.

The Apple Festival was last Saturday and the shop had their seconds for sale...I told Doris if she saw anything she thought I'd like... ;)

As Seen on TV

 Baby brother Joey had a slushie cup. I found one for Jonathan when he was little. I found this at a local store. It's soft sided. The insert has salt water in the walls. You freeze it. Pour your liquid in it. Let it sit a minute or two. Then squeeze it.

Verdict with chocolate milk?

THUMBS UP!

I bought one of these for each grand! Colt, Isabel, and Cain. :-)  
I had no intention of purchasing an Orgreenic pan. Sigh. But I did. The small saute pan. 

I washed it. Seasoned it. Put it on the stove. It did not sit flat...it rocked on my burner. The handle was too heavy for the pan. So I returned it to the store for a refund.

I still don't know why I purchased it. My cast iron is virtually non-stick. I used all three pieces (plus the lid) shown here for supper one night.

CAST IRON RULES!

Absentee

 It's not that there's nothing going on..it's just that...there's nothing going on. ;-)

From the living room, it looked as though my Rhipsalis (just found out what's it's called after posting a photo on HGTV garden forum - smart people there)...anyway, it looked as though it had a fungus. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was blooming! Either that's the first time it has ever bloomed, or I just forgot. :-D Sometimes I'm like a baby goose - wake up in a different world every day.

I just had to brag once again on my delicious cornbread from scratch AND my cast iron. I have four cornstick pans and the divided pan which I use for scones as well. 

Christmas rolled around and I didn't know what to give the four commissioners. I take phone messages for them, distribute their mail, etc. I finally hit upon the idea of giving them a coupon for a "Sweet Thing" - a cake, a pie, one batch of cookies, or one batch of candy. The lone bachelor in the group cashed his coupon in last week for a buttermilk pie.  

Because my boss is actually the judge and she's is a very good boss, I gave her four coupons. She cashed in one this week for a batch of oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips instead of raisins. 

The post with the buttermilk pie recipe also has a crust recipe. While that is a good crust, sometimes I had trouble getting it moist enough. Too much water is one of those things that toughens pie pastry. When I got my KitchenAid food processor, I did some sleuthing for a recipe. I found a delicious recipe! 

I've been doing some sewing and other sewing related stuff, but can't post until after Isabel's second birthday party on Sunday just in case her parents visit here. :)

All recipe links can be find in the right sidebar.

Cast Iron

I mentioned my covered cast iron skillet in the Irish Soda Bread post. Everyone...and I do mean EVERYONE who likes cast iron and sees my covered chicken fryer...well...they are just flat out jealous! I've had it...like forever! Initially used for frying chicken...which I don't do any more...it is the best bacon fryer ever! I can tuck and layer six slices of bacon in the skillet and cover it. The grease does not pop all over the stove top. I do not drain the grease off every time I use it. I just cover the skillet with the lid. And just leave it on the stove top. I know...I know! Not 'classy' at all. But hey! This is my kitchen! And MY COVERED CAST IRON CHICKEN FRYER!

Week's Almost Over

I subbed at high school every day this week except for Monday. Because of slipping on the ice on Sunday, I told the secretary that I couldn't go down to the fifth and sixth wing and explained why. I had three very light days. ;o) Friday was full, but I still didn't do any harm to my leg.

Oh, my! That heating pad still feels so good wrapped around my left calf and foot. What little swelling there was is now gone. Just feels a bit achy at times. Other than that...I could run a mile...if I really, really wanted to. Well...not really run a mile, but I could walk it rather fast. ;o)

Thursday, I subbed next door to the home ec kitchen. I had a brownie and a slice of chicken pot pie. Those kids did a great job. Funny thing...I've been trying to make chicken pot pies all week. I have not cooked one meal at home. The chicken HAD to be worked up. (It was fully cooked and frozen. I put it in the refrigerator to thaw, so at least it hadn't been refrigerator temperature all week.)

So...I had chicken pot pie for lunch AND supper! Now how often does that happen in real life?

This is the last photo because I forgot to take one of the fully cooked pies. Even the bottom crust was flakey and crispy! Lard!! I rolled out the cut-off dough into a rectangle. Buttered it and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Rolled like for cinnamon rolls and cut in 1" pieces. Baked those. Sam (me too) eats them as if they were good. Well...they are.

A friend, THANKS NANCY!, gifted me with a cast iron cornstick pan. She has not used it in years because she had to scoop the cooked sticks out with a spoon...they stuck.

My guess is she just didn't put in enough bacon grease, LARD ;o), Crisco, or oil. I'm going to give it a try today. I cleaned it - didn't need much cleaning - smeared it with LARD and put it in the oven after I got the pot pies out.

It's a Wagner. Good USA brand.