January 28, 2010
A Bone is Good in Any Weather!
I love this picture of Bullet - it's like he's floating in the snow!
These are my boys Bullet and Samson - as you can see, they have their winter coats and this ice storm we're having doesn't slow them down at all!
Sam in the forefront
January 24, 2010
Cleaning a Cast Iron Pan
Let me tell you about an old cast iron pan I recently restored. Here's the finished product.
Here's what it looked like when I started - no lie!
I have since learned a better (and cleaner!) way of rehabbing cast iron. Here is a great website for all things cast iron - I used the oven cleaner method to clean my grandmother's pan. All you do is spray aerosol oven cleaner all over the pan, wrap it in a plastic bag (to help control the fumes), and wait. I put mine in a cold oven just to keep it out of the way and let the oven cleaner sit on it for eight to twelve hours at a time. I did this probably four times over a couple of days.
This removed the vast majority of the carbon build-up, but I wanted to speed things along. To remove the last of the build-up, I used the hot coals method, where you build a fire and place the pan on the hot coals. I think this method could be used for the entire cleaning process and would like to try that sometime.
I used the fire pit in my back yard for this job. I had read that using this method could cause the pan to crack if you heated it too fast, so I built the fire and while it was dying down, I set the pan on the grilling rack to start warming it up. When the fire burned down to coals, I put the pan directly on the coals and left it for an hour or so. Afterwards, the carbon build-up looked gray, and when I touched it, it literally fell apart and blew away like baby powder - wow! I also like this method because it gives me a good excuse to sit by the fire with my dog.
My grandmother lived to be 97, and she fried everything. My mom pointed out that she wondered how many calories had passed through this pan over the years - I can't even imagine!!
Here's what it looked like when I started - no lie!
I started cooking with cast iron a couple of years ago with a 10" pre-seasoned Lodge Logic pan I bought at Wal-Mart. I love cooking with cast iron! It heats very evenly, and you can get it very hot which is great for searing. I had never successfully cooked omlets until I started using cast iron. I have an electric stove, and the coil wouldn't heat the pan evenly - cast iron has solved that! I cook in a cast iron pan almost every single day...
This was actually my grandmother's old cast iron pan. Since my brother had expressed an interest in cooking with cast iron, I thought it would be cool for him to have one with a history, so I asked my parents if they could scrounge up one of my grandmother's old pans. We grew up on a farm next to my grandparents. They've both passed away now, and we fixed their house up to be a kind of hunting house and I knew that most of her old cookware was still down there. Luckily, my parents found two of her cast iron pans which meant one for my bro and one for me!
Since I wanted to give my brother his pan at Christmas, I had to clean it up quickly after arriving at my parent's house, and I ended up grinding the massive carbon build-up off of the pan with a variety of sanders and steel wheel brushes attached to an electric drill. It was a really messy job, and I looked like I'd been working in a coal mine!
I have since learned a better (and cleaner!) way of rehabbing cast iron. Here is a great website for all things cast iron - I used the oven cleaner method to clean my grandmother's pan. All you do is spray aerosol oven cleaner all over the pan, wrap it in a plastic bag (to help control the fumes), and wait. I put mine in a cold oven just to keep it out of the way and let the oven cleaner sit on it for eight to twelve hours at a time. I did this probably four times over a couple of days.
This removed the vast majority of the carbon build-up, but I wanted to speed things along. To remove the last of the build-up, I used the hot coals method, where you build a fire and place the pan on the hot coals. I think this method could be used for the entire cleaning process and would like to try that sometime.
I used the fire pit in my back yard for this job. I had read that using this method could cause the pan to crack if you heated it too fast, so I built the fire and while it was dying down, I set the pan on the grilling rack to start warming it up. When the fire burned down to coals, I put the pan directly on the coals and left it for an hour or so. Afterwards, the carbon build-up looked gray, and when I touched it, it literally fell apart and blew away like baby powder - wow! I also like this method because it gives me a good excuse to sit by the fire with my dog.
Samson, helping...
My grandmother lived to be 97, and she fried everything. My mom pointed out that she wondered how many calories had passed through this pan over the years - I can't even imagine!!
SHA-ZAM!
This pan appears to be a pre-World War II pan based on the weight and smoothness of the pan. It also has a break in the heat ring at the twelve o'clock position which is indicative of a Lodge pan. Here is a great link on old vs. new cast iron pans, and here is a picture of my new Lodge pan on the left and my grandmother's pan on the right.
January 23, 2010
Early Season Leafy Greens - Lettuce, Spinach, and Kale
About a month ago, I decided to try an experiment in my garden.
Last year around the end of March we had a late-season snowstorm. The temperatures dropped down into the mid-20's or so, but I noticed that the lettuce, spinach, and kale I had planted in the garden about two months prior looked really fantastic in this horrible weather. After it was all over, they exhibited no leaf burn or die back of any kind. In fact, they had never looked better!
Now I know that leafy greens need cold weather and will bolt with warm temperatures, but I never expected them to thrive like that in THAT kind of cold!
So this year I decided to plant my leafy greens even earlier to see what would happen. I'd love to have a longer harvest season, and it would be glorious to get something fresh from the garden during even the winter months.
I probably should have planted a fall crop to last through the winter, but I have to admit that I'm usually eeking out the last bit of production that I can from my tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini in the fall and haven't gotten around to cleaning up my garden by that point, so I didn't get a fall planting done. Instead, I planted lettuce, spinach, and kale seeds around mid-December, so we'll see what happens.
Those of you who live in this area know that we've had some tremendously cold temperatures this winter, and we also had about eight inches of snow at Christmas which is unusual for Lubbock. Obviously, with all this cold weather, my germination rates have been pretty slow, but I started seeing some green about two weeks ago. So far the growth has been very slow, but my seedlings have at least progressed enough that you can now see them on camera. Here are some pictures I took this morning. The lettuce and kale have germinated, but so far none of the spinach has - I'll keep you posted.
Lettuce seedlings - planted mid-December
Last year around the end of March we had a late-season snowstorm. The temperatures dropped down into the mid-20's or so, but I noticed that the lettuce, spinach, and kale I had planted in the garden about two months prior looked really fantastic in this horrible weather. After it was all over, they exhibited no leaf burn or die back of any kind. In fact, they had never looked better!
Now I know that leafy greens need cold weather and will bolt with warm temperatures, but I never expected them to thrive like that in THAT kind of cold!
So this year I decided to plant my leafy greens even earlier to see what would happen. I'd love to have a longer harvest season, and it would be glorious to get something fresh from the garden during even the winter months.
I probably should have planted a fall crop to last through the winter, but I have to admit that I'm usually eeking out the last bit of production that I can from my tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini in the fall and haven't gotten around to cleaning up my garden by that point, so I didn't get a fall planting done. Instead, I planted lettuce, spinach, and kale seeds around mid-December, so we'll see what happens.
Those of you who live in this area know that we've had some tremendously cold temperatures this winter, and we also had about eight inches of snow at Christmas which is unusual for Lubbock. Obviously, with all this cold weather, my germination rates have been pretty slow, but I started seeing some green about two weeks ago. So far the growth has been very slow, but my seedlings have at least progressed enough that you can now see them on camera. Here are some pictures I took this morning. The lettuce and kale have germinated, but so far none of the spinach has - I'll keep you posted.
Lettuce seedlings - planted mid-December
Kale seedlings - planted mid-December
January 5, 2010
The Burpee Catalogue Gets Me Jazzed!
Yesterday I received the 2010 Burpee Seed Catalogue in the mail, and I got jazzed about my garden. Purusing all the wonderful varieties, imagining the bounty sure to stock my kitchen, sure that everything will look exactly like the pictures in the book!
But probably not, which is why this year I've decided to scale back to just the veggies that I enjoy the most and that thrive in our extreme climate: tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini mainly.
Well, that's not all actually - I'll also grow onions, spinach, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and a variety of herbs including Italian parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, lavender, and probably some other stuff I'll no doubt be tempted to stick in the ground.
But the tomatoes, peppers, and zuchini will get the bulk of my garden real estate this year. There are lots of other great fruits and veggies to grow in our area, but these are the ones I enjoy the most and traditionally have the easiest time with.
While waiting for the temperatures to warm up (and for the snow to melt! Can you believe that??), there's still lots you can do to prepare your garden for spring.
How about turbo-charging the soil for starters?
My favorite gardening book of all time is The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed Smith. Although Ed lives up north, his tips are practical for any climate. Ed inspired me to try "no-till" gardening for weed control, improved soil conditions, and better crop producion.
I was fortunate enough to "steal" my parents' compost tumbler...
... which expedites (and contains) my compost production. There it is on the right next to some extra mulch (which is a flattened pile because my dog likes to sleep on it) and my leaf mold bin.
After removing the dead stuff from the garden (throw it in your compost pile!), put down a nice layer of compost and top it with a good layer of organic mulch. I use the free mulch that is available through the City of Lubbock Recycling Center.
It's not a must, but I also topped it all off with a layer of black plastic to help warm the soil underneath. Here's what it looks like now.
During the cold winter months, the compost will enrich the soil, and the mulch (organic and plastic) will help to retain moisture and regulate the ground temperature. All of this allows worms to do their job - breaking down organic matter and aerating the soil through the small tunnels they create. If the soil temperatures fluctuate too rapidly, worms risk freezing at night (they can't move down through the soil fast enough to escape freezing temperatures) - and dead worms can't do their job! The same concept applies to mulching in the summer time during which scorching afternoon temperatures can also be detrimental to worm health.
By the way, that purple ratty looking mess in the front is swiss chard that I left in place to help protect my Italian parsley (the green stuff) which seems to be overwintering a bit. This is the first year that I've grown the parsley, and I wasn't sure what it would do in the winter time. At least there's enough alive for me to have a little for cooking - delicious!
By the way, that purple ratty looking mess in the front is swiss chard that I left in place to help protect my Italian parsley (the green stuff) which seems to be overwintering a bit. This is the first year that I've grown the parsley, and I wasn't sure what it would do in the winter time. At least there's enough alive for me to have a little for cooking - delicious!
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