Proscrastinating
Thanks to Animal for the tag! ('Cause you guys don't know enough about me already...)
A- Available or Single: This one's easy. I have a husband and son, both whom I adore. So I'm only available to Johnny Depp and Mr. Darcy.
B- Best Friend: Hubbo.
C- Cake or Pie: As long as you're talking about homemade, I can't choose...Here's something neat: my brother made our wedding cake and it was so delicious it was gone in about five minutes, all three tiers of it!
D- Drink of Choice: Bell's Oberon, when it's in season. I'm also loving Wild Fruitz these days.
E- Essential Items: Such a broad category! When I'm out with Daniel, board books and a spare diaper. In the kitchen, a good chef's knife and a cast iron skillet. When I'm traveling, a knitting project and a good book. In general, my piano and the Internets.
F- Favorite Color: Red.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: I like the sour worms. They're great for sneaking into movies.
H- Hometown: Growing up, a small town in central Kentucky. Now, it's Madison. Later, dunno.
I- Indulgence: Yarn, dark chocolate and in the summer, interesting-looking plants at the farmers' market.
J- January or February: Whoever came up with this meme clearly has not spent a winter in Wisconsin. Let's go with February, 'cause it's shorter, closer to spring, and contains Daniel's birthday.
K- Kids: the Danimal, which of course if you read this blog with any regularity you already know, seeing as I can't resist putting up pictures of him on a weekly basis.
L- Life is incomplete without: Good beer, good food, good friends and good music. Not necessarily in that order.
M- Marriage Date: August 4, 2001.
N- Number of Siblings: Nur ein. And he never updates his blog.
O- Oranges or Apples: Fresh apples from the farmers' market, particularly the Empire variety, are far superior. But when it's out of season and you have to choose one or the other at the store, I'd go with oranges.
P- Phobias/Fears: Throwing up. Heights.
Q- Favorite Quote: "Bloody hell. Blimey sodding shagging knickers bollocks. Oh God. I'm English!" (If you're not a Buffy nut, never mind.)
R- Reasons to smile: Naptime, naptime, naptime.
S- Season: Spring!
T- Tag Three: 1) Whoever 2) Wants 3) To
U- Unknown Fact About Me: Wish I had something good to put here, like I have six toes or three nipples, but I don't. Despite being a really terrible athlete (I can't hit, throw or catch a ball to save my life), I'm a pretty good swimmer.
V– Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Mostly veggie, but I've been known to Oppress the occasional Animal in the last couple of years due to pregnancy and breastfeeding.
W- Worst Habits: forgetting bread dough until it gets so big it threatens to take over the kitchen
X– X-rays or Ultrasounds: I've only had my mouth X-rayed, and I hate having ultrasounds. That whole full-bladder thing really sucks. So I guess my answer is neither!
Y- Your Favorite Foods: Homemade tortillas with either refried beans or scrambled eggs and salsa, grilled asparagus, fresh in-season strawberries on shortcake, double-cream Brie on fresh French bread, raw peas from the pod straight off the plant, chocolate croissants from La Brioche...not all in one meal, of course.
Z- Zodiac: Capricorn. We're mysterious, you know.
That's it, folks. I've got a proposal to write. If you do this, leave me a comment so I can go read it!
A- Available or Single: This one's easy. I have a husband and son, both whom I adore. So I'm only available to Johnny Depp and Mr. Darcy.
B- Best Friend: Hubbo.
C- Cake or Pie: As long as you're talking about homemade, I can't choose...Here's something neat: my brother made our wedding cake and it was so delicious it was gone in about five minutes, all three tiers of it!
D- Drink of Choice: Bell's Oberon, when it's in season. I'm also loving Wild Fruitz these days.
E- Essential Items: Such a broad category! When I'm out with Daniel, board books and a spare diaper. In the kitchen, a good chef's knife and a cast iron skillet. When I'm traveling, a knitting project and a good book. In general, my piano and the Internets.
F- Favorite Color: Red.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: I like the sour worms. They're great for sneaking into movies.
H- Hometown: Growing up, a small town in central Kentucky. Now, it's Madison. Later, dunno.
I- Indulgence: Yarn, dark chocolate and in the summer, interesting-looking plants at the farmers' market.
J- January or February: Whoever came up with this meme clearly has not spent a winter in Wisconsin. Let's go with February, 'cause it's shorter, closer to spring, and contains Daniel's birthday.
K- Kids: the Danimal, which of course if you read this blog with any regularity you already know, seeing as I can't resist putting up pictures of him on a weekly basis.
L- Life is incomplete without: Good beer, good food, good friends and good music. Not necessarily in that order.
M- Marriage Date: August 4, 2001.
N- Number of Siblings: Nur ein. And he never updates his blog.
O- Oranges or Apples: Fresh apples from the farmers' market, particularly the Empire variety, are far superior. But when it's out of season and you have to choose one or the other at the store, I'd go with oranges.
P- Phobias/Fears: Throwing up. Heights.
Q- Favorite Quote: "Bloody hell. Blimey sodding shagging knickers bollocks. Oh God. I'm English!" (If you're not a Buffy nut, never mind.)
R- Reasons to smile: Naptime, naptime, naptime.
S- Season: Spring!
T- Tag Three: 1) Whoever 2) Wants 3) To
U- Unknown Fact About Me: Wish I had something good to put here, like I have six toes or three nipples, but I don't. Despite being a really terrible athlete (I can't hit, throw or catch a ball to save my life), I'm a pretty good swimmer.
V– Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Mostly veggie, but I've been known to Oppress the occasional Animal in the last couple of years due to pregnancy and breastfeeding.
W- Worst Habits: forgetting bread dough until it gets so big it threatens to take over the kitchen
X– X-rays or Ultrasounds: I've only had my mouth X-rayed, and I hate having ultrasounds. That whole full-bladder thing really sucks. So I guess my answer is neither!
Y- Your Favorite Foods: Homemade tortillas with either refried beans or scrambled eggs and salsa, grilled asparagus, fresh in-season strawberries on shortcake, double-cream Brie on fresh French bread, raw peas from the pod straight off the plant, chocolate croissants from La Brioche...not all in one meal, of course.
Z- Zodiac: Capricorn. We're mysterious, you know.
That's it, folks. I've got a proposal to write. If you do this, leave me a comment so I can go read it!
Comments
The stuff they use in non-stick can make people sick if it gets too hot, too. There have been some studies recently about birds that have died in homes where non-stick is used a lot.
One thing to know: get Lodge brand.It's pretty easy to find. I've seen it in Ace Hardware, actually, and I think it's probably also available in Bed Bath and Beyond. I think some off-brands may have lead in them, which is obviously NOT a good thing, but Lodge is perfectly safe.
Anybody else have good things to say about cast iron? I could go on and on...
Ann, if you don't mind your cookware being really heavy, cast iron is awesome. In addition to what Susan said, you can put it in the oven, and it even adds iron to your food (you can't taste it, don't worry). Of course, if you want it to be nonstick you need to keep it well-seasoned. Vegetarians like me wipe theirs with oil a lot; non-vegetarians just fry their bacon in it and wipe the fat around. ;) Eric and I both came into our marriage with old cast irons skillets of different sizes that we'd inherited--his was his parents', mine was my grandparents'. We use both of them almost every day.
Oh, you have to hand-wash and dry right away...otherwise it rusts. BUT, you can always use steel wool to fix that...UNLIKE your nonstick!
Sorry, my daughter. We no longer have that old cast iron skillet you referred to. It was as smooth as a baby's bottom, but also bulged and would not sit still on the stove, especially the one we have now with a ceramic top. Mom was not sorry to get rid of it when we got a couple new ones (actually, it was I, not she, who got them). It is a long story as to why we have two, which i won't go into now. Let us just say she likes them.
And I do like Lodge brand. And for just a little more, one can get "Lodge Logic" which is their stuff that has been pre-seasoned. Much faster out of the box and onto the stove, or into the oven. "Season" does not refer to salt and pepper, but to the oil in the pores of the iron that keep it from rusting and helps with the non-sticking.
I ordered a 9" skillet from "www.lodgemfg.com" and it didn't come in time for Queen Bruinhilde's birthday. But I found a 10-1/4" at, of all places, Meijer for only $9.99; about half the price as from the website. So, The Queen ended up with two skillets for her birthday, eventually.
They are located somewhere in Tennessee. South Pittsburgh, or something like that. Perhaps close to Alabama. And am under the impression that close by their plant they have an outlet store that carries everything. I should not go, as I would be worse then Queen Bruinhilde in a fabric store.
Bed, Bath, and Beyond used to have Lodge stuff, but I haven't seen it recently as they now seem to carry cast iron by Emeril Ware (or whatever it is called). If it doesn't say Lodge, I am not interested in it. I have heard of some people getting some cheaper stuff made in China and it doesn't perform as well.
I have seen a few things at Cracker Barrel that has the Cracker Barrel logo on the bottom (outside, of course), but the tag attached to the handle said it was made by Lodge. Lodge also makes a couple camping dutch ovens and skillets with the Boy Scouts of America logo on them.
Linen 'N Things has a few Lodge items. (That's where I got a little "handle cover" so you can handle the handle when it is hot. It works a lot better then an ordinary hot pot holder. Made by Lodge.)
In the outlet mall there is a new "Kitchen Connections" (I think that's the name) that has a Lodge display, but it certainly does not have everything listed on Lodge's website, and they sell only what they have on display and were not able to order anything for me; specifically, a self-basting lid for the 10-1/4" which I eventually ordered over the phone from the manufacturer. (Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I plan to start something on top of the stove and then pop it into the oven while we are in church, using the 10-1/4 skillet and lid.)
Lodge also publishes a small cookbook. It is so-so, but there are good instructions on the care of your cast iron products. Of course, they have some instructions with all of their products, or they also publish that stuff online.
All this discussion is making me hungry, which means I need to avoid food and wash the lunch dishes, including both cast iron skillets which got used last night. Oh yes. NO SOAP on the cast iron, or you will have to "re-season" them.
One last thing. A few years ago an adult Boy Scout told me that since people stopped using cast iron, women have been having more trouble with iron deficiency. I was skeptical until a couple of years after he told me that, I read the same thing somewhere that I would consider credible.
-Chanterelle