Cast Iron Chatter

A Bear Came To Visit

Mark — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:39:52 +0000

Last Sunday I looked out the back window just to check on the
horses. What I saw surprised me. There was a small black bear
on the other side of the corral eating grass with the horses. We
watched for awhile and took some pictures and the the bear left.
Next thing we know, he is up on our deck walking around and
trying to get into the house and BBQ grill. I went and got one
of our aluminum frying pans and a metal spoon and started
whacking them together to chase the bear away. He high tailed
it pretty quick. You should have seen that aluminum pan, it was
destroyed from hitting it. Next time he comes back, I am going to
use a piece of my cast iron cookware. Oh the many uses of cast iron.

Who Does the Cooking In Your House?

Mark — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:04:59 +0000

Who does the cooking in your house? Is it you the husband or you the wife? In our house, it’s me the husband.
The main reason for that is because I am a better cook and my wife just doesn’t enjoy it much. I guess the second
reason is, is because I do about 95 percent of the shopping. Why do I do that? Because I cannot send my wife to
the grocery store. She just cannot stick to the list. She will come home with 15 different items that were not on the
list because they looked good. You cannot go the the grocery store when you are hungry, everything looks good.
So, I thought I would feed her before she went so she would not be hungry. That didn’t work either. She fell asleep
on the couch and ended up going anyway. So, I go, come home and cook her favorite, blueberry muffins in our
cast iron muffin pan.

Chili In May?

Mark — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:19:06 +0000

Here it is May 11th, spring has come, the flowers are supposed
to be blooming and the weather is supposed to be warmer. In the
last week at our home alone, we have gotten 2 snow storms. The
first part of May we got 6 inches of snow and in the last two days
we have gotten 4 inches. What happened to spring? Spring came in March
and now we are getting winter. With it so cold, a salad didn’t sound
very good so we pulled out our cast iron dutch oven and made chile,
a dish we normally make in the winter. Well, I guess it is winter here,
even though the experts tell me it’s spring and close to summer. I
should bring the experts up here,as I write this it is 30 degrees outside.

Sometimes Good Mistakes Happen

Mark — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:07:37 +0000

The other day, we went to Costco to stock up on supplies. One of the things on our list
was olive oil. We’ll put it on our pasta or use it to make salad
dressing. We even use a little bit when frying in our pre seasoned cast iron cookware.
What we bought by mistake was OlivExtra. We didn’t realize it until we got home. We
should of known by the price, we got 101 ounces for what we would have paid for 12
ounces of olive oil in the grocery store. This was a good mistake. We like it as much as
olive oil and we got 10 times the amount for the same price. It’s a mixture of olive oil,
canola oil and grapeseed oil. If you can find it, try it. In these tough economic times
it does not hurt to save a little money.

Calling Our Horses Home With A Cast Iron Wall Bell

Mark — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:23:05 +0000

Now that it’s summer time, we let our 2 horses out in the pasture to graze.
When it’s time to bring them in for the night, I usually go out to the pasture
to get them into the corral. This can take some time chasing them around.
Then an old cowboy told me to train them with a cast iron wall bell. What
you do is ring the bell and then give them an apple treat. We did this every
day for 2 months. I would ring the bell and they would come over for a treat.
The true test wold come when we let them out in the pasture with all that food
and freedom. The first night we tried it, I had to ring the bell a few times, but
eventually they figured it out. What a great idea it was.

32 Degrees And Snowing, What A May

Mark — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:49:52 +0000

Here it is, May 7th and I wake up with 6 inches of snow on the ground.
Friday, it was 80 degrees so I finally took the plow off the ATV and
put the snow shovels away. As they say in Colorado, if you don’t like the
weather, just wait a day or drive 20 miles. Hard to believe that we have
gotten more snow in May than in March which is our snowiest month.
This weekend, I packed a lot of our cast iron cookware away for summer
camping because it was so nice, guess I jumped the gun. One thing nice
about living here is that on Wednesday it will be 78 degrees. We really
needed the moisture because it has been so dry, so no one is complaining.

Using Your Cast Iron Dutch Oven For More than Cooking

Mark — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:18:59 +0000

Some people may think it’s a waste, but I couldn’t convince my
wife otherwise. She actually took one of my cast iron dutch ovens
and made it into a flower pot. She filled it with dirt and then put in
flowers and put it outside. Although it looks really cool and is different
than anything else we have flowers in, it was my dutch oven. Not trusting
her now, I have taken all my pots and pans and have hidden them very
well, just in case she want to make wind chimes out of them.

I Just Don’t Like Oatmeal

Mark — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:10:57 +0000

My wife is trying to get me to eat more healthy, so for breakfast she is trying to get me to give
up the eggs in the morning. She wants me to eat oatmeal because it’s really good for you. I said
I would give it a try. I pulled down one of my cast iron cooking pots and cooked up the oatmeal.
It didn’t smell to bad but when I tasted it, it was horrible. Since then I have tried every brand and
mixed everything you can think of into it to make it taste good and I still can’t stand it. How do people
eat that stuff. I finally gave it up, I would rather starve. Not all is lost though, I have cut down on the
eggs. Now I am eating yogurt and banana’s for breakfast with a piece of toast. I gave it a try but that
oatmeal is so bad, if I was a kid I would just sit there and cry.

We Found A New Use For Our Cast Iron Trivet

Mark — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:21:53 +0000

Normally we use our cast iron trivet for hot food. When we take a hot
dish to the table we always put the trivet under it. This stops the table
from getting burnt or discolored from the heat. We found another
use for it last weekend when we had a party. We had a ice bucket full
ice that we put on the table for guests to get ice for their drinks. It sat
on the table all night with the ice. When the party was over we removed
it from the table and low and behold, the cold from the ice bucket had
discolored our table. As an experiment we put the ice bucket back on, but
this time using the cast iron trivet. No discoloring from the cold.

Why Does The Same Food Taste Better Outside

Mark — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:28:50 +0000

I don’t know how many of you like to go camping or just cook outdoors.
But if you do, have you ever noticed how much better the food tastes.
If you cook breakfast at home in you cast iron pans and then cook the
same thing outdoors, the outdoor breakfast tastes so much better.
Maybe it’s because of the fresh air or maybe it’s because you are away
from home and work and just relaxing. Everything seems to smell better
when your cooking outdoors. Even if you get a little dirt in the pan or
burn the food slightly it does not seem to matter. If you have never tried it,
give it a go. Get out for the day or weekend and enjoy life and see how much
better the food tastes.