How to Clean and Care for a Cast Iron Skillet

How to clean cast iron

My favorite pans to cook in are my cast iron skillets. I use them everyday.  They are the most versatile and  indestructible  cookware that I know of.  They are the best non stick type of pan as well…better than any of the most expensive  teflon type pans in fact.  They also add a bit of iron to our food which is something I’d prefer over adding a bit of aluminum.

They need to be seasoned to create the wonderful non stick effect. This is really easy to do and nothing to be afraid of.

First, I’ll address seasoning a new cast iron pan, then I will talk about cleaning and caring for older pans.

1. Congratulations, you bought a beautiful brand new cast iron pan! You are so smart! The manufacturer has coated the pan with a coating to keep it from rusting in the store. This needs to be scrubbed off  before you first use the pan. So, squirt some soap in the pan and scrub it with a scrubby. Now, add a little water to the pan, just a 1/4 inch and put it on the burner to boil the water. After it is boiling, dump out the water and watch the remaining water evaporate.

2. Next, add a generous dollop of vegetable oil to the hot pan. Wipe it around with a paper towel. Wipe the inside and outside of the pan.

3. Put the oiled pan into a hot 350 degree oven. “Cook” the pan for a 1/2 hour or so then take it out.  It is now seasoned and ready to be put to use…for the next 100 years or so!

Every time we use a cast iron pan, we add a bit of oil and heat it up so we are in a sense, seasoning it. The best way to maintain and season a pan is to cook in it, a lot!

Now, here is what you need to know about caring for an older pan.

Some people say that we should never use soap in a cast iron pan and we should never scrub it. They advocate a little salt to swish around and wipe it ‘clean’. Some people say that it is a crime to use water at all and all you should do is wipe the pan out with a paper towel and not wash it at all!  Yuck!  I have always use soap, a scrubby and lots of hot water.  After, time and many family dinners, a fully seasoned pan will be simple to maintain.

1. First thing to do is to wash the pan just as you would wash any pan…with soap and water.

2. Now, scrub it well.

3. Next, add a bit of water to the pan, just a 1/4 inch will do. Put it on the stove and turn the burner to high.

4. Dump the boiling water into the sink and watch the remaining water evaporate.

5. Finally, after the water has evaporated, put a tablespoon of vegetable oil into the hot pan and wipe it with a paper towel. Truth be told, if you use your pan everyday, this step can be skipped more often than not.  I do it about once every few weeks. But then again, I am seasoning my pan every time I cook so I guess that I am not really skipping this step.

Take care to never put a damp pan or dish nested inside a cast iron pan. It will rust and make a mess. If this happens, simply scrub off the rust and season it again with a little oil.

One more tip: To make the pan work like non-stick cookware, heat up the oil (and pan) before adding  other ingredients. Food will stick to a cold pot but not to a hot one.

Done! Now get cooking! Try this wonderful corn bread recipe…I changed it a bit by putting the batter into my cast iron pan and popping it into the oven.  The crust comes out golden and crispy. Yum!!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmothers-buttermilk-cornbread/

Enjoy the day!  -Peg

Company Clean – no chemicals required

The Holiday season is upon us; bring on the parties, bring on good cheer and bring on the out of town guests! It is time to ratchet up the cleaning regime. A good place to begin is in the guest bathroom. I routinely swish out the toilet bowl but because my water is full of minerals and some rust (we have a well), my sinks and toilets get hard water rings. Regular cleaners do not do much to get rid of this grunge.

The first time I tried this solution, I was afraid that I would ruin my toilet but it really works. It requires no chemicals, only a bit of elbow grease. Here is what to do…

Get a pumice stone. You can buy one in the cosmetic section of the drug store. Make sure that it is made of 100%  pumice. Pumice is organic rock formed from lava. It is softer than the vitreous china that makes up a  toilet bowl.

Put on cleaning gloves

Scrub the offending stain and hard crusty ring in the bowl.

Swish the bowl and flush.

Step back and be amazed!

Cheers!  -Peg

The Easiest Laundry Tip Detergent Companies Don’t want you to know

Today, I am doing laundry! Surprise!  Here is a little tip that I do to keep me from using too much detergent. I simply draw a line on the laundry scoop to get the correct amount. Here are the reasons I do this:

1. Detergent companies are happy to have you fill that scoop to the top so that you will run out and buy more detergent often. Shocking, isn’t it?

2. It is ecological. Less detergent = less pollution

3. Clothes will be cleaner. Why? Because all the soap will wash away during the rinse cycle. Less soap =  less soap left on clothes

4. Your skin will be less itchy. Detergent residue can be the cause of itchy skin.

5. I like the faint smell of clean clothes but I do not want people to walk around smelling like eau du Tide.

6. The non perfumed detergents can also leave a residue on your clothes and skin if you use too much.

So, read the instructions on your brand of laundry detergent and mark the scoop that comes with it and use only that much or even a little less. you can see from the line on my scoop that it looks like this would be the amount for a small load but NO, it is the amount I should use for a large load! I’m telling you, the big bad laundry companies have studied us consumers. They know that we are not good at eyeballing portion sizes.  More is not always better. I promise that you will have clean, fresh laundry using less detergent!  Happy day!   -Peg

Cheap Ways to Make Your House a Home

Apartment Therapy, one of my favorite websites as you may be able to tell, has a wonderful post today titled “5 Completely Free Ways to Make Your House a Home“. Click on over to that link to find out AT’s five, and then scroll down to read my five!

My suggestions aren’t all free, but are inexpensive and greatly improve your quality of home life.

1. Make A Drink

I often feel better after a stiff cocktail or a glass of California wine or a Sierra Nevada.  A drink at home is much cheaper than a drink at the bar, and while I love having a bartender mix a classic cocktail in front of me, there is nothing like kicking back with your partner or friend on your own sofa with a drink in hand. My favorite right now? A gin and tonic. While you’re at it, set up a nice bar so you can mix drinks whenever you want!

2. De-clutter

I know. Not everyone likes to clean. I certainly don’t. But a clean home is a happy home and it feels good to purge (as long as you aren’t a hoarder!). Get those dishes out of the sink, fold your laundry, or take everything off of the coffee table except for three carefully curated items. You’ll feel way better if you spend 5 or 15 minutes. (Then see number 1 above!)

3. Share It with A Furry Friend

A friendly, furry face greeting you as you come home from a long day at work does wonders on your mood and the atmosphere in your home. If you can make the commitment, it’s wonderful to share your home with a dog or cat that needs a someone to love. My life got way better after I met Daphne. How could you resist a face like this?

4. Add A Plant

If you can’t make the time and emotional commitment necessary to have a pet in your home, and even if you can, a plant adds life to your space. Plants come in so many shapes and sizes too, so you can pick one that fits your personality and the design of your space. Are you quirky and forgetful? An epiphyte would be great! Meticulous and girly? An orchid! Practical and like to cook? Herbs! My favorite plant in my home is this palm-like little tree that is spiky and effortless.

5. Fill It with Color!

Paint the walls, find textiles you love, and enlist the help of friends and significant others so you can have your home visually reflect the exuberance for life you have outside your home. Bring back souvenirs from trips and mementos from special occasions and family heirlooms. Don’t be afraid to have your home reflect YOU, even though you don’t find it in a design blog or magazine. I love my green kitchen walls and grandfather’s art and chandelier from my wedding and mid century table! This room is me

 Anything else you would add to make your house a home?

-Liz

Laundry lines

laundry is something that we all do. Most people look at doing laundry as a chore that can’t be avoided. I enjoy laundry. I like the  fresh smell of clean clothes. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment of having stacks of folded shirts and underwear. I get a certain thrill when I have removed an especially difficult stain. Call me weird. Go ahead, it wouldn’t be the first time…

I have posted about my laundry room in the past. Check out the  floor cloth I painted here.  There is more to my laundry room than just a pretty floor.   This may look like an ordinary cabinet.  You may think that I keep cleaning supplies in there. You may be right but there is also a secret behind those doors.

Check this out! I can hang and dry a full load of laundry on my retractable clothesline. I can also hide the line to tidy up before company comes over.  I rarely use my dryer anymore.  I feel good that I am being a good citizen by saving energy.  When I hang clothes in the winter, I appreciate the added humidity from the drying clothes.  During good weather, I open that window and enjoy a fresh breeze to help dry the load. I have tried using a collapsible wooden clothes rack but it takes up so much floor space and doesn’t really hold a full load of clothes. This works much much better. Here is the clothesline that I use but there are others out there that would work too. I replaced the plastic piece that pulls the lines out from the wall. I made a wooden one that is sturdier and can hold the weight of wet clothes. Make sure that you anchor both ends of the clothesline into studs in the wall. A load of wet clothes is heavy. I hope I have inspired some of you to put up an indoor retractable clothesline. It’s a good thing.

As an aside, I found these clothespins at an estate sale. I imagine that a very kind man painted these for his young wife.  She thought of him every time she  washed his overalls or her children’s dungarees. Her laundry line was between his vegetable garden and her flower garden, near the barn. He was the kind of husband who helped his wife with household chores. He washed windows. They probably held hands on walks together.  He brought coffee to her each morning  in her garden. He was a sweet, sentimental man. They both died within 2 weeks of each other,  happy and content after 60 years of marriage.  It is my honor to take care of these clothespins.   Happy laundry!  -Peg

Laundry Days

Mondays are traditional laundry days and I have a pile of laundry to tackle. We have been gone for 10 days while we drove to Toronto, Canada to a fabulous wedding then camped our way home along the shores of the Great Lakes. Now it is Monday and I am faced with putting away the camping gear and washing everything.  Ugh.

The weather is clear, dry and perfect for hanging the laundry on the line outside. I have all but given up drying my clothes in the dryer. I hang almost everything either outside when the skies are blue or inside my garage or in my basement.

Here is a laundry tip for keeping towels fresh and clean:

When my towels become sour smelling within a few days of being laundered here is what I do;

Mix 1 cup of ammonia with 1 gallon of hot water and soak the stinky towel overnight.  Wash as usual. The mildew spores should be killed.

Dry the towels in the sun for a wonderful fresh smell.

Touch up dry towels for 5 minutes in the dryer to soften them.

Never use softener sheets on towels. They will lose their absorbency.

Damp towels left on the floor will mildew!

Happy Laundry Monday!  -peg

Kitchen Layout 101

I just did a twenty minute mean clean today and I’m back in business after a quick four day vacation to a beach house just north of San Diego, in Encinitas, with my mom and dad (and hubby!).

Wins: Early morning walks and jogs on the beach, modern architecture, and going to Lucha Libre with my brother and his girlfriend.

Losses: Rain on Sunday afternoon, and the layout of the rental kitchen.

The kitchen of the vacation rental we stayed in totally sucked. Here’s some advice to not make your (rental) kitchen suck, with a basic lesson in kitchen layout 101:

• Use real flooring. Lines in laminate halfway across the kitchen do not make for good feng shui.
• Work triangle! Make sure you have a working triangle between your sink, refrigerator, and stove, so you can easily go from one place to another, since these are the kitchen hotspots.  This kitchen did not come close. See below, and how I would fix it, if it were my kitchen. And please bear with my Paint skillz for the layouts.



Kitchen As-Is

Work Triangle As-Is

In the above diagram, the work triangle goes through a wall. So unless you’re Superman, or a ghost, this is not going to work well. And it didn’t. Whoever was cooking at the stove felt cut off from the rest of the room, especially since the area below the diagram opened up to the living and eating area.

 

How I would lay out the kitchen, with an effective work triangle

In this layout, there is an efficient work triangle, and it allows the kitchen to feel fuller and more functional. There is plenty of counter space still, and now a bit of extra space where the stove used to be. What would I do with that abandoned hallway where the stove used to be? I’d make a walk in pantry or bar area. It’s not necessary for a rental, but would add a bit to an otherwise useless space in the kitchen.

-Liz

Better Paper Towels

 

Pull from middle

 

I do not remember when paper towels became a necessity but I do know that I grew up just fine without them. Paper towels were invented the early part of the 20th century but did not catch on in popularity until (I think) the 1970′s. We considered them an extravagance and unnecessary. Cloth rags were free, worked and could be used and washed over and over. I often think about things that I  throw into my grocery cart today that  I consider staples yet were never  on anyone’s grocery list 20 years ago. Paper towels are one of those things.

I like the convenience of paper towels so I decided to make my own. These are free and can be washed and re-used. I still use paper towels occasionally, but I have cut way down.

For this little project,  I use a paper towel for a pattern and cut up some old white cotton tee shirts. I then fold them into thirds, stack them, roll them and put them into an air tight container.  This takes about 5 minutes. I then take 1 cup of water and add  1 ounce  liquid castile soap along with 6 drops of lemon essential oil. I pour it over the rolled up towels. I now have home made ‘wet wipes’. Pull each wipe out from the middle and voila,  instant cleaning cloth. I keep a jar in my bathroom and a jar by my kitchen sink. The cloths can be rinsed out and re-used. If I clean the floor or something gross, I rinse and wash the cloth and then toss it wet into the microwave for 2 minutes.  The cloth then comes out sanitized. Give this a try! It’s super easy! You will be doing something good for the earth!    -Peg

 

Use a paper towel as a pattern

 

 

Fold

 

 

 

 

Add 1 cup water , 1 ounce liquid castile soap and 6 drops lemon essential oil.

 

All Natural All Purpose Cleaner

I am slowly eliminating all chemical cleaners from my life. This all purpose cleaner is wonderful for cleaning kitchens and bathrooms. It takes just a few minutes to make and costs only pennies. The best part is that it really works!  The label makes clear what is in the bottle. The photo is me when I was 3 or 4 years old…I have always loved playing house!   – Peg

Here is the recipe for All Natural All Purpose Cleaner:

1 cup Vinegar –   keeps hard water buildup at bay

1/4 cup Liquid Castile Soap   – it is natural and biodegradeable

4 cups hot water

2tsp. borax –   boosts cleaning power

2tsp. washing soda –   attacks grease

20 drops essential oil – lemon, orange or lime  - use any scent  that you like

1/8 teaspoon tea tree oil –   helps eliminate bacteria and mold

Combine everything in a bucket

Place in a spray bottle

Label

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