A few years back I was gifted a brand new 10 inch cast iron skillet. I didn't know what all the fuss was about cast iron at the time, but I learned that with proper "conditioning" it would become naturally non-stick, without all the scary synthetic non-stick coating flaking off in your food. That sounded great to me.
But there was a learning curve. Through trial and error I learned that one should never cook acidic tomatoes in the skillet because they will remove the non-stick coating being built up (that's why it seemed to take mine so long to become conditioned...) and that you should never wash it with soap. It took some time, but eventually the inside of the pan became as smooth as silk. Now after I cook with it, all I have to do for clean up is use *very* hot water and a clean rag to wipe it out. Coconut oil also helps keep it silky and smooth and conditioned, so we occasionally wipe the inside of it with a dab.
I love this pan because it's sturdy, makes my food more nutritious (it adds iron), and it will go from stove top to oven without worry. I try to use it as much as possible.
Here's a yummy recipe for apple crisp that you can cook/bake in your cast iron skillet. Because apple crisp is still perfect this time of year.
7 medium sized firm, tart apples, peeled and cored and cut into slices or chunks
1/4 cup maple syrup
Juice of one medium sized orange
2 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs butter (Kerrygold is fantastic)
Topping
Topping: Combine 6 Tbs melted Kerrygold or other pasture butter with 3/4 cup oats, 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup sucanat or raw sugar, 1/2 tsp salt until mixture is evenly coated. You can also optionally add a handful of flax seeds or 1/2 cup roughly chopped nuts (pecans would be fantastic). Set aside.
Mix apples and cinnamon together. Melt butter in skillet over medium/low heat and add apples. Toss and cook for 10 minutes or so, until the apples begin to soften. Combine maple syrup, OJ and corn starch, whisk until smooth. Crank up the heat a bit (med/high) and add mixture to apples. Let bubble away, stirring frequently until liquid has reduced, and is a slightly thicker consistency. Remove from heat. Even spread topping on top and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet (for easy clean up of dribbles) in a 425 degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until top is evenly browned. Keep a watchful eye - the topping can burn easily if left in the oven too long!
I grew up in the suburbs. My parents did their best to keep my siblings and I sheltered and conservative and protestant. For much of my youth, both my parents worked full-time to maintain our safe vanilla existence, and parent-less suburban summers were the best. Sleeping in every day, eating bowl after bowl of Cap'n Crunch, water gun fights with the neighborhood kids - until the jerk with the super soaker showed up and ruined everyone's fun...
While my parents were busy working during these formative years, I was often left in the expert care of my older, bad-ass teenage rocker sister and her acid-jean-and-boot-wearin' best friends. Our summer days were filled with fun activities like "doing our (their) hair" - a hot, sweat-inducing ritual involving crimping irons of various intensities, singed bangs, and can upon can of EXTRA STRENGTH Aqua Net, because more was always better where Aqua Net is involved. I can still recall the feel of the thick, sticky spray on my bare feet in the bathroom...
The hair ritual was usually preceded by an afternoon of sipping clear Pepsi and/or Diet Coke and me observing sweet hand gestures/dance moves and expert lipsyncing to GNR's Appetite for Destruction while "laying out" in our (their) high waisted bikinis, weather permitting of course. When the clouds rolled in, there was an almost daily slamming of the door in my face so the girls could three-way-call each other and maybe make out with their Poison posters.
Not weird at all...
But this is all just a guess because I was never brought into the secret fold of teenage girl room-time. Much like a book in the Babysitter's Club series, getting shut out of her room and playing Barbies solo led to an AMAZING development of imagination, so thanks sis for that.
Needless to say, with all this free time I watched A LOT of tv. And movies. I can't really
testify to whether or not I feel like it was too much. Every study I've
read about too much tv tells me that my brain waves were probably highly affected and that I definitely have some sort of attention deficit disorder, and I am an armchair doctor so I would know.
If you've seen my vast array of half-finished (let's be real, barely
started...) home improvement projects, craft projects and kitchen
gadgets (make your own ____!) you'll venture to guess those studies
might be onto something.
Every once in a while I had the genuine pleasure of watching MTV, usually at one of my sister's friend's houses while they ignored me.*
*I should also mention, that I love all of these girls who are some of
my closest friends now, and my sister and I are best friends. So for
the most part I've gotten over it.
I don't know that any single activity from childhood made more of an impact, I'm very sorry and mildly embarrassed to say. It doesn't make any sense to this day why I loved it so much. Maybe because it was forbidden fruit. But there was nothing better in my sheltered middle-class world than to see Steven Tyler prancing around like a mating rain-forest bird, or Bel Biv Devoe warning us, no, demanding that we listen: never trust a big butt and a smile. The late 80's and early 90's were full of countless rock music video gems. Living Color offered me a new perspective on wet suits and what metal bands should look like. The limber and talented Tawny Kitaen cartwheeling across a car was highly motivating to exercise. Chris Isaak's make out moment with a supermodel on the beach was certainly formative to a 12 year old's idea of (ahem) romance. Life lessons learned, people. Music videos brought songs to life visually for me and it some twisted way probably shaped me as an artist.
I think my favorite video might be Land of Confusion by Genesis. It contains a rare gem of cultural context that some of might remember better than others: The Spitting Image puppets.
I had no idea what any of it meant at the time, just that it was hilarious in my 8 year old mind. I watched it again for the first time in probably 25 years recently and still have no idea what it means, but was nonetheless impressed all over again.
As my kids get older, I sometimes wonder if I'm sheltering them too
much. I'm not ready to sit down for a Nightmare On Elm Street
marathon/walk down memory lane just yet, but I kinda want to share some of this weird childhood MTV obsession with them. Carefully filtered, of course.
I've shown them the music video that I worked on with Elk and Boar, but
they couldn't be bothered because Mom made it, and how could it possibly
be cool?
Thank the 80's gods for YouTube. You can see all of your 80's/90's favorites if you dig hard enough. Some friends and I conjured up a few playlists for our newly founded "80's ladies music video night" and it was the most hilarious and sadly enjoyable evening I've had in a long time. I highly recommend adding 13 or so of your favorite music vid gems to a playlist, cracking open something pink and sparkling and inviting some same-aged girlfriends over for an all-night cackle-fest. Truly the makings of a remarkable evening.
And thanks Mom, Dad and Sis for making all these glorious memories possible. ;)
