Simplify Your Life Series: In the Garden

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work alongside Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I pick a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

HARMONY

In the Garden

"Country gardens conjure up images of tree swings and trellises, hollyhocks and pole beans, vine-ripened tomatoes and dewy grass tickling sleepy bare feet.  It's a user-friendly setting, perfect for quiet afternoons in a shaded hammock, boisterous holiday celebrations, and easy-living family suppers at the picnic table.  Even if a busy schedule leaves little time for a full-blown vegetable patch, wildflower gardens, ivy, and shrubs are low-maintenance alternatives.  Whether we have an acre to call our own or no more than a window box, the pleasures of getting one's fingers in the wet earth and seeing what comes up has an irresistible pull."  -- Susan Waggoner

A Big Bouquet of All-Purpose Tips
Draw a scale grid of your yard -- front, back, and sides.  Draw in anything that's truly permanent and work with it!  We're working on adding some fruit trees to our homestead this year so we'll be making a grid and trying layouts!   Keep ground plans, notes and inspiration pictures together in a garden notebook.  I print out a grid of our garden and make notes of where everything was planted and where our drip irrigation system pipes were placed. I also keep the shipping list from where we ordered our seeds.  I also keep a list of what types of fruits we bought to can and freeze, amount, how much, and where we bought them along with any other thoughts.  Keep a garden calendar.  If you start from seed it's helpful to know what time of year to do that. I visit Margaret Roach's blog A Way To Garden for tips on what to do when. She has wonderful monthly to-do lists when it comes to yard work, pruning, gardening, etc.  Try planting in the rain!  It's cooler that's for sure and you won't shock your seedlings with the rays from the hot sun!

Natural Pest Control
There are a lot of natural things you can do to repel bugs and critters.  First, use yellow bulbs in porch lights since they don't attract bugs.  To repel ants plant borders of spearmint, peppermint, and pennyroyal.  To keep aphids at bay use a slow-release fertilizer, and plant the same repelling vegetation for ants.  To keep deer from eating vegetation mix two raw eggs and put them in a clean, empty spray bottle.  Fill the bottle with water and leave it in the sun for an afternoon.  Spray whatever the deer are eating.  To repel mice sprinkle some pure, strong peppermint extract around the areas they frequent.  Mosquitoes dislike the smell of marigolds.  Plant them around the yard to keep them away.  Add a few drops of salad oil into bird bath water to make a film to keep insects from laying eggs (don't worry, it won't harm the birdies).  Slugs and snails dislike ashes, sawdust, and beer. Press a jar lid upside down into the soil so that the lip is even with the ground, fill with stale beer, and give them a pleasant farewell.  You'll have to replace the beer every three days. 

My budding ornithologist teenager agrees that the author has a wonderful section about attracting birds and butterflies to the garden!  She shares tips to get you started, what kinds of food to prepare, and what types of vegetation are right.  Try my recipe for homemade hummingbird nectar  HERE.

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Join me as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The last chapter in our series is A Greener Life.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

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Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  
It ends this Wednesday, Feb. 29th!

* * *

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

Craftalicious!

Today's post is not about food at all.  Gasp!  I'm having a Stampin' Up! rubber stamping party tonight so I'm in a bit of a crafty mood.  I thought I'd post a bit of eye candy for your crafting enjoyment.  *wink*  All pics come from my Stampin' Up! demonstrator and friend Linda's Facebook page. 

I love this card!  It looks like a lovely little quilt!

I love these rosettes!  So pretty!

Oh the things you can do!

Pretty pretty!!

So!  Have I inspired you to do something crafty today?  Find your inner craftaliciousness!  I dare you!

What is your favorite crafty outlet? 

Homemade Tortillas

Go visit me over at The Morris Tribe for a tutorial on homemade tortillas.  

Simplify Your Life Series: Better Living Through Baking

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work alongside Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I pick a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

IN THE KITCHEN

Better Living through Baking

"When you bake, you control what goes into your food.  More raisins, less sugar.  A pinch of salt instead of a tablespoon.  Natural ingredients instead of preservatives.  There are probably as many reasons to bake as there are bakers, and I hope everyone finds theirs somewhere along the way.  ... Baking is not hard.  Once you get the hang of it, it isn't even time consuming." -- Susan Waggoner

Simple Guidelines  Good baking is no more complicated than doing the right thing at the right time.  Here are a few simple guidelines to get you off on the right foot.  Baking often will help you develop a feel for how dough should look and feel, how flaky the pie crust should be, or how light the cookies should look when taking them out of the oven.  Accept that you will make mistakes.  Humidity, lighter or denser flour, and a myriad of other variables control your baking outcomes.  Baking a small batch of something until you get the hang of it (or even dividing a recipe) will help you not only hone your skills but help your waistline (unless you have a large family then they'll solve that problem for you *smile*).  

Better Baking   Read the instructions then reread them.  Again.  I once made a mac-n-cheese recipe that had mustard in it.  The first time I made it everyone loved it.  The second time.  Not-so-much.  I mistakenly put in tablespoons instead of teaspoons.  *shudder*  Enough said?  Have ingredients at room temperature such as eggs (they'll have better volume) and butter (it will cream easier). Use unsalted butter since most recipes call for salt at the amount needed with butter that doesn't have any.  Unsalted butter tastes better and is fresher (no preservatives and salt doesn't cover up the natural sweetness).  To sift or not to sift? The purpose of sifting is to mix the dry ingredients and make the flour light and fluffy.  However, the less the flour is touched the better.  Try putting a small strainer over your bowl, strain flour and other dry ingredients together in the bowl.  Or just stir it well with a fork.   Preheat your oven!  Mine has a beeper that lets me know when it's preheated.  If you don't have one just wait ten minutes or so.  All ovens are not alike! Smaller ones bake quicker than larger ones.  Gas cooks differently than electric, etc. The first time when baking something watch it carefully.  In a first time recipe that calls for 25-30 minutes I'll check it at 20.  Then recheck every so often.  If you use an oven thermometer make sure you hang it at the center of the oven.  Try not to peek.  Every time you open the oven door, you lose at least 25 degrees of heat.  It wastes energy and throws off your baking time.

Cakes and More  Go to the cookbook!  Boxed mix cakes only come in a small variety of flavors, but check a vintage cookbook and you'll find a lot of combinations!  To bake a perfect cake make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Don't skimp on the time spent creaming the butter and sugar.  This is how the air that makes cake light gets incorporated into the butter.  Cream butter alone for at least five minutes, then add the sugar and cream until the mixture is no longer gritty (same goes for whipping frosting!).  Combine the cake's dry ingredients in a bowl and stir well to fluff and lighten the flour.  When adding dry ingredients, don't beat. Mix at medium speed, and don't mix longer than necessary to blend thoroughly.  If you use butter or margarine in the cake, use the wrapper to grease the cake pan.  If you don't want to grease or flour the cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with baking parchment and leave the sides bare -- they can be loosened by running a spatula along the edges.   ...  There are oodles more tips in the book! 

Bake Cookies Anytime  Be the lady with the freshly baked cookies.  Almost any cookie dough will work as a slice-and-bake.  Slit the cardboard tube of a roll of paper towels or aluminum foil lengthwise and line with a piece of plastic wrap.  Holding the tube open, spoon in cookie dough, pressing firmly with a spoon to eliminate air pockets.  Squeeze the tube together, scraping off any dough that oozes out.  Wrap the excess plastic wrap around the tube, folding over the ends, then store in a plastic bag in the back of the freezer.  When company drops by, just slice and bake as many cookies as desired.  Keep a few different kinds of dough around, and treat your friends to a real cookie fest.  -- OR --  Use a plastic ice cream bucket and put your premade cookie dough in there, thaw then scoop out when ready to use.  -- OR --  Pre-scoop dough and flash freeze on a cookie sheet.  Put the frozen balls of dough in a plastic ice cream bucket and keep in the freezer.  Take out what you'll need.

When recipes call for creaming butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy, they mean it!  Once it's creamed good and well add dry ingredients and mix on low until only all ingredients are combined.  Avoid greasing cookie sheets.  Greased cookie sheets make cookies brown too quickly.  Use a silicon mat (I love my Silpat!) or parchment paper if you don't have a non-stick cookie sheet.  As soon as cookies are cool enough to slide onto a spatula without breaking, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.  If they stay on the pan to cool they will over bake and not be as crisp if they stay on the pan.  Use two different baking sheets or let sheets cool in between batches to keep warm sheets from causing butter to ooze out of the dough.  If you burned your cookies try using a grater (when they are cooled) to remove the burned edges and bottoms.

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There are many more tips in this chapter!  For more tips on baking powder biscuits, baking the perfect loaf of bread, perfecting your frosting, tricks for cheesecakes, quick cobblers, flaky pie crust, and making leftovers fun with quiche order Susan's book HERE.

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Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is In the Garden.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

* * *

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

* * *

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

Banana Muffins

This recipe is another variation on the Basic Muffin Mix recipe.  See that recipe for the basic instructions!  Hope you enjoy!

Banana Muffins
Add 1/4 tsp. nutmeg into the dry mix.
Mash 1-2 ripe bananas into the moist ingredients of the Basic Muffin recipe HERE. 


Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the topping ingredients together and spoon over the muffins before baking.  Slightly press the topping into the tops of the muffins (helps the sugars to not fall off).


Also try the Chunky Apple Muffins and the Cranberry Nut Muffins!

Mocha-Cream Roll

The following recipe was brought to a Christmas gathering a few years ago by my future sister-in-law.  Of course we loved it and so of course she had to bring it again the following Christmas!  It's super yummy.  Not too mocha-ey (is that a word?) and full of melt in your mouth goodness!  An added bonus is that it's gluten free so my mom can eat it!  Hope you enjoy it, too!

Mocha-Cream Roll
5 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cocoa
Mocha-Cream Filling (below)
One can of Chocolate Frosting
Confectioner's sugar (for dusting)


1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease 15 ½” x 10 ½” jelly-roll pan (or rimmed cookie sheet); line bottom of pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beating at high speed, gradually sprinkle in ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, beating thoroughly after each addition. Continue beating until egg whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl with same beaters and with mixer at high speed, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Reduce speed to low; beat in salt, ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and 3 tablespoons cocoa, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With wire whisk or rubber spatula, gently fold yolk mixture into beaten whites just until the mixture is blended. (Add the sugar and cocoa to the yolks little by little or you will have a dust storm on your hands.)

4. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake 15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched with finger. Prepare a clean cloth towel by sprinkling it with cocoa (about 1 tablespoon). (The cake will get very poofy in the oven, but it will settle back down when you take it out. It’ll have darkened just slightly when it is ready to come out. If the edges start to crisp up, take it out right away.)

5. When cake is done, with small spatula, immediately loosen edges from side of pan; invert cake onto prepared towel. Gently peel waxed paper from bottom of cake. (Loosen the paper around all of the edges first, and then start to peel it back from the cake. A small amount of cake will probably stick to the paper, but that’s fine as long as you’re not taking chunks out. I usually end up pulling one corner up then kind of working around in a circle until the whole thing is off. )

6. Roll towel with cake from narrow end, jelly-roll fashion. Cool completely, placing it seam side down, on wire rack. (If you’ve overcooked the cake a little bit, the edges will be brittle and crack as you try to roll it – if that’s happening, trim those edges off before rolling.)

7. Prepare Mocha-Cream Filling. When cake is cool, unroll from towel. Evenly spread Mocha-Cream Filling on cake almost to edges. Starting at the same narrow end as before, roll up cake without towel this time. Place the cake, seam side down, on platter.

8. Spread frosting over top and down sides of roll. (Putting on a big scoop and then spreading it out works better than trying to be delicate about it. Also I usually cut off the ragged ends before putting on the frosting. (Makes for a good mid-cake-making snack!) )

9. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

Mocha-Cream Filling:
1 ½ cups heavy or whipping cream
½ cup cocoa
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ tablespoon of instant coffee.

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with mixer at medium speed until stiff peaks form.




photo credit

Simplify Your Life Series: The A-Z of Food

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work alongside Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I pick a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

IN THE KITCHEN

The A-Z of Food

"Where ordinary cooks gather, genius happens.  To me, a few really good food tips are more valuable than a four-star chef's most treasured recipe." -- Susan Waggoner  

Since I couldn't decide which of the 26 letters of the alphabet to highlight I decided to share a few tips from the letters that begin with my children's names.

Noah -- N -- huh...this is funny ya'll...there is no "N" in this A-Z chapter. So...I'll give you one of my own!  *smile*  Noodles!  When cooking noodles bring water to a boil, add noodles and remove the pot from heat.  Let them stand for 20 minutes stirring twice! Drain and use them in your favorite recipe!  I have some yummy main dish recipes HERE.

Rebekah -- R -- Roasted duck or chicken is so much better when you let the bird sit, unwrapped, in the refrigerator for a few days before glazing and roasting it.  Just unwrap the bird, rinse inside the cavity and out, and pat dry.  Set on a rack in a roasting pan, breast side up, and leave it in the fridge for three days.  When it's time to cook, rub with the glaze of your choice and roast as usual.  I must add that I like my chicken roasted breast side down.  See my other roasting tips HERE.

Hannah -- H -- Herbs and spices can spice up some common dishes when you're looking for more than the usual salt, pepper, garlic, and onions.  Beef: allspice, basil, bay, caraway, cilantro, coriander, cumin, curry, dill, horseradish, lemongrass, marjoram, mustard, oregano, sage, tarragon, thyme.  Chicken: bay, basil, caraway, coriander, cumin, dill, curry, ginger, lemongrass, marjoram, mustard, rosemary, sage, tarragon.  Pork: allspice, anise, basil, chervil, cilantro, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, ginger, lemongrass, marjoram, mustard, rosemary, sage, savories, tarragon, thyme.

Isaac -- I -- If you love Iced Coffee on a summer's day, keep coffee ice cubes on hand.  Made from freshly brewed coffee, they'll chill your drink without diluting it.

Lydia -- L -- Lettuce ... Salad greens that have gone a bit soggy can be revived by soaking in cold water with some lemon juice.  To store, place in a zip-style bag with a paper towel to absorb moisture.

Elijah -- E -- Most people like egg salad and deviled eggs, but peeling a hard-boiled egg is no picnic if you don't know how.  First, choose older eggs to boil, because fresh eggs are the hardest to peel.  As soon as the eggs have cooked, put them in cold water (I add several ice cubes!).  When you're ready to peel them, gently crack the shells in several places.  Hold the egg under cold running water, rolling it gently between your fingers to loosen the shell.  Begin peeling at the large end, passing the egg under water from time to time.  The shell should slip right off without taking chunks of the white with it.

Abigail -- A -- Add a dash of ... balsamic vinegar to your spaghetti sauce to make it taste like it's been simmering all day.  Add a dash of celery seed to barbecue sauce to add a fresh green note to sauce that has been stored for weeks.  Add a dash of coffee to chocolate to amplify the taste of the chocolate.  Add a dash of nutmeg to muffin batter.  Nutmeg is the spice flavor in plain donuts, subtle yet delicious!  It's an ingredient in my muffin mix!  Add a dash of salt to potato water.  Potatoes absorb more salt taste from the water they cook in than from salt added later on, so salting the water reduces your overall sodium intake.

Samuel -- S -- Substitutions ... Baking powder: 1 teaspoon baking powder equals 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter plus 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.  Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon cornstarch equals 2 tablespoons flour.  Lemon juice: 1 teaspoon lemon juice equals 1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar.  Milk: 1 cup whole milk equals 1/2 cup evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup water.  For more substitutions visit my post HERE.

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Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is Better Living Through Baking.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

Valentine Ideas

I know a lot of you lovely readers out there are hooked on Pinterest.  I have yet to travel down that road.  Maybe some day.  For right now, my version of Pinterest is doing image searches on Google.  I particularly love searching for images from Country Living.  I love their pictures and their ideas are adorable.  When I grow up I want to be a Country Living photographer! So without further adieu ... a few crafty ideas from my latest Country Living search. 

Is that some lovely eye candy or what?

Blogoversary Giveaway!

In celebration of TWO wonderful years of blogging I would like to have a giveaway!  I recently had my Easy Peasy Pork Chop recipe published in Gooseberry Patch's Rush Hour Recipes cookbook!  I will give a copy away at the end of the month!

 
Easy Peasy Pork Chops
2-3 lbs. of boneless pork chops (I buy pork loin and have the meat counter slice it about 1/2 in. thick)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cans water (No need to dirty a measuring cup, right?)
6 T. worchestershire sauce
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. black pepper (depends on how much you like pepper)
a few dashes of salt

Place your chops in a 4-ish qt. crock pot. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl or mixer then pour over the chops. If there are some parts of the chops exposed just pour a bit more water over it or half way through the cooking turn them over so they don't dry out.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours. Remove the chops to a dish and cover so they can rest (that cooking process is tiring, you know?). Strain the bits out of the remaining juices and if you feel it's a bit too runny add 1 T flour to take 1/2 cup of cold water in a small bowl or tea cup. Then when it's no longer runny add it to the juices and mix in a saucepan over medium heat until it's thicker. (I usually do this a bit at a time so it's just the right thickness.)

I serve this with mashed potatoes or rice. With a side veggie dish and rolls. Mmm mmm good, and easy peasy!

HERE'S THE GIVEAWAY SCOOP!

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**GIVEAWAY**

*  *  *

Please be sure you leave something that distinguishes you from other comments like "Carmen from northern Indiana". 

*   *   *

Entry 1

Leave a comment with your favorite Old House Kitchen recipe.

Entry 2

Share the link for this giveaway on Facebook.

Leave a separate comment telling me so. (Another entry)

Entry 3

Blog about this on your own site.

Leave the web addy in a separate comment.

(Another entry)

Please be sure you leave something that distinguishes you from other comments like "Carmen from northern Indiana".

**All entries need to be a separate comment for drawing purposes.  I count up the total number of comments and then enter it into random.org.  Random.org picks a number then I count down to that number in the comment section.  If all entries are left in one comment unfortunately you will only get one entry.**

**Prize**

One blessed reader will win a copy of Rush Hour Recipes!

** Giveaway ends February 29th at midnight EST **

 

hApPy BiRtHdAy!!!

Wishing our little dude, Elijah, a very happy day today!  

I can't believe it was SIX years ago that we welcomed him into the world!  Two weeks after he was born we just about lost him due to RSV and Pneumonia.  We are so thankful for our healthy, happy, little guy who gives us lots of laughs!

Summer of '07 on vacation at Drummond Island, Michigan.

Fall '07 with big brother!

Sharing a giggle with sissy!  '09

Photo shoot fall of '10.

Posing with his big sister Rebekah and the dinosaur cake she made for him.

Happy Birthday Elijah!  

We love you soooo much!

Simplify Your Life Series: Kitchen Wisdom

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work alongside Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I pick a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

IN THE KITCHEN

Kitchen Wisdom

This chapter is chock full of so much advice I want to share, but I'll touch on my absolute favorites and ya'll will just have to get the book and see for yourselves.  *smile*

Organization and Management  Arrange your kitchen to keep the items you need most often near you. I keep my flour, sugar, etc., on the counter by my mixer, which is all conveniently by the section of counter where I do my baking.  By that area I have a small crock that has small tools in it such as potato peeler, small mixing spoons, measuring spoons, strawberry capper, paring knives for the kids to use, etc. I have a large crock by my stove that has cooking utensils in it.  When you run out of the next-to-last of something in the kitchen or pantry write it on the grocery list. Store plastic lids in a plastic bin. I keep lids in one basket (from the dollar store) and small containers in another basket.  It makes left-over storage super easy when my containers are handy! Countertops are magnets for strays.  Once a month clean everything off your countertops and clean them.  When you put the items back that belong there, find a home for the strays or throw them away.

Keeping Appliances and Tools Clean  For firmer, fresher fruits and veggies line your refrigerator crisper with paper towels to absorb excess moisture and your fruits and veggies will keep their snap.  If your refrigerator has become super smelly place a saucer of fresh coffee grounds in a lower shelf.  Within a week replace if needed.  Once the smell is gone put an open box of baking soda in the door to keep it fresh.

Stove Use a paste of baking soda and water to clean a white enamel stove.  To easily clean a grease-splattered oven pour a cup of ammonia in an aluminum cake pan and put it in the oven and close the door.  (Oven should be off and cool.)  In the morning, remove the pan and discard the ammonia.  Wipe clean with a damp sponge.  If you do this every three or four weeks you might not ever need to use chemical cleaners or use the long and very hot "self-clean" setting on your oven!  Keep drips and splattering to a minimum by placing a pan with a bit of water on the rack below anything you think might drip or bubble over, such as a fruit pie.  The drips will then go in the water and not directly on the oven racks and oven floor where they will scorch and harden.  Allow metal baking sheets and cake pans to cool completely before washing them.  Washing them while they are still hot will cause the metal to warp, and it will never bake evenly again.

The Joy of Cast Iron  I do not own any cast iron cookware, but it's on my list of things to do!  From what I hear it's the best way to cook!  If you care for it properly it could last ages and require very little oil to cook with.  Where to buy it? Susan suggests garage or estate sales, flea markets, etc.  Buying a piece of cast iron cookware is best to buy pre-loved!  You need to season your cast iron cookware by washing the cast iron in warm sudsy water, rinse and dry thoroughly.  Then using a paper towel, coat the entire pan--inside, outside, and handle-- with peanut oil.  Place in a 300 degree oven for two to three hours, then remove from the oven and wipe off the excess oil with a paper towel.  Do this several times before cooking with the pan. When you're ready to cook, preheat your pan for a few minutes over medium heat.  Don't cook acidic foods like tomatoes in a fairly new pan since the acid will attack the seasoning. The author goes more in depth in the book giving advice on reclaiming rusty cast iron, and how to further care for your cast iron.

Kitchen Energy Savers  Freezers run most efficiently when they're about 75 percent full. If you need filler, milk jugs filled with water are good stand-ins. Set your refrigerators to 38-40 degrees and make sure they are not so crowded that air can't circulate.  Let hot foods cool naturally on the counter before putting them away. When bringing large amounts of water to a boil, such as for pasta, keep the lid on -- the water will come to a boil faster.

For more advice on cast iron skillets, taking care of table ware, and more energy saving tips in the kitchen read on in Susan Waggoner's book Simple Country Wisdom.


Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is The A-Z of Food (wonderful tips to simplify your kitchen creations!).  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival