Iron Does a Body Good and Other Things
April 22nd, 2008 by ToniHey there folks! I know I haven’t written in a while but I’ve been saving up. This promises to be a really exciting post… or really boring. I haven’t decided which yet. If it is really boring and you stay, you might regret it. But if it turns out to be really exciting and you leave; well, you might regret that too. Choices, choices….
- About three years ago I swore off teflon and went in search of a better skillet. Will suggested cast iron and I was game so we got one. It pretty nice as far as cast iron skillets go - pre-seasoned and everything; but it was heavy and hard to clean and things stuck to it. That skillet and I made an uneasy truce and parted ways. My replacement came from Calphalon. I paid way too much for two incredibly easy to use hard-anodized skillets that worked marvelously up until about 3 weeks ago when they started to peel…just. like.teflon. Grrr! So, I am back to cast iron. It’s going okay so far. I’ve matured some since my last attempt and I’m more patient than I used to be. In any case, iron is said to be good for people like me so at least that’s a plus.
- We’ve been doing some gardening around here. At least we’re trying. Sister and I started some seeds in March which means that we should be planting seedlings about now. “Should” would be the operative word here. We are not planting seedlings. Our cat found the seedlings to be irresistible. At least I assume that’s why she pulled them from their containers and used them to play kitty soccer around the house. Despite this ‘cat’-astrophe, (Oh, I am so clever.) we are undaunted. We have re-done our front flower garden. The morning glories went in today. And for veggies we will just have to suck it up and visit a nursery. Yep, it’s spring and things are growing, growing, growing.
- Speaking of nurseries reminds me of the one we’ve been going to and that reminds me of the custard store just outside its gates. They have the most out of this world frozen custard. In particular, I like “The Salty Dog.” It has vanilla custard and caramel mixed with pretzels and roasted pecans. Mmm, the perfect blend of salty and sweet…. if you crave that sort of thing.
- I tried my hand at bread baking again a couple of weeks ago. I really, really want to make all of my own bread but numerous disappointments have left me feeling like an inadequate baker and I was about to give up when I happened upon this recipe. It seemed easy enough so I tried it. And it worked! It really worked! I made two loaves just like she did because I didn’t want to mess with the recipe the first time out but it occurs to me that if you have the dough you could make all sorts of shapes in your oven: loaves, twisty things or even buns.
- Finally, I can’t believe it’s April already. April is almost May and May is almost June and June is summer. Last year I promised myself that I’d lose some weight so for once in my life I’d actually look good in a swimsuit but let me tell you, I just don’t think it’s going to happen.
So. Boring? or Exciting? If you think you know what this post is really about leave your guess in the comments. Leslie, Jen & Jenni can’t play. Hmm, that would exclude 3 of my 5 readers. What the heck. You girls can join in too.
Well, it does get me thinking about whether or not I should buy new pots. Or at least buy a cast iron skillet.
My vote is interesting.
We don’t do seedlings because I have no good place for them–our table space is all book covered.
As for bread–if you have a food processor bread is easy. We make all our own now. Someplace I have info on figuring out what went wrong when it is too wet or dry or whatever–should post that.
And I just realized that at the very end you are hinting at something–der. Either you are pregnant or iron deficient.
Ooh, that Heather is sharp. I like her guess.
mom uses calphalon and loves it…if you want to try it again and don’t want to pay the price, look at Tuesday Morning or Wall’s (if you have one)…any kind of discount store…it’s kind of a hit-and-miss, but if you can find it it’s usually a pretty good price…and I’ll just keep to myself my comments about buns in ovens
Love you!
I just use stainless steel pans. I love ‘em. I have a set of Cuisinart that I love. They are easy to clean and you don’t have to worry about the flaking! I also have a large T-Fall skillet I bought as an extra from Wal-Mart and it works great too!
That bread looks awesome! I bookmarked the recipe! Thanks.
[…] I wasn’t just blabbering on about my boring life yesterday. See this […]
Have you seasoned your cast iron? Rub it all over w/ lard and bake it in a 250-300 degree oven for 15 minutes, take it out to pour off any melted lard and then pop it back in for 2 hours.
After that, never use soap to clean it, just get a veggie scub brush and scrub it w/ water. Pretty soon it will be as nonstick as any teflon! Plus you’ll get some awesome biceps just from lugging it around!
Hmmm…seedlings, springtime, nurseries, buns in ovens…I wonder what could be more exciting than all that???
I’m guessing that congratulations are in order…
I was wondering if/when you were going to announce your “good news”!! I am really happy to hear it anyway~ yep, Shannon blabbed!
Love to you all ~ Teri
I was wondering if/when you were going to announce your “good news”!! I am really happy to hear it anyway~ yep, Shannon blabbed! ~ BTW, I have a wonderful bread recipe I would share, from one of my dear, dear neighbors from the farm, who is gone now, but certainly not forgotten!
Love to you all ~ Teri