Cast Iron Skillet Woes

I've posted in the past about cast iron skillets as "nature's teflon" (am I the only one who thinks that's clever?  I think that's pretty darn clever) and others have commented on how much they prefer cast iron skillets over non-stick pans.  The main criticism about cast iron skillets is that you have to use grease but my belief is that, if you've seasoned your pans well, you don't even need to use any oil or  butter in your cooking.  Here is a great primer on seasoning your pans from Chowhound (there must be a lot of folks with this problem because Chowhound's post has been googlebomed to #1 in the "reseasoning cast iron skillet" search).  The 1870's farm, incidentally, has probably THE BEST seasoned cast iron skillets on the eastern seaboard - nothing, absolutely nothing, sticks to those pans.

My problem, of course, if I've never seasoned my pans well enough.  My babybear skillet is the one that I have the most problems with; it's also the one I've had the longest.  I'm taking off the patina each time I have to scrub it - part of the problem is that I'm using steel wool to scrub it, which Chowhound says you should do to get rust spots off, but a soapless scrubby to keep it clean.  The thing I'm worried about, probably needlessly, is that once I've scratched off some of the seasoning that it creates a sort of cascade of misery where even reseasoning it won't give you a smooth, non-stick surface, because you're reseasoning the old coating along with the new seasoning, creating an uneven cooking surface.

Like I said, I'm probably worrying about nothing, but thought I'd update on my cast iron cookware and see if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Loofah is growing like crazy!

 The photo of the little loofah that I posted a mere four days ago has grown sooo much!  Look at this monster!  And here is a photo of the kind of beautiful flowers that have been blossoming all over the vines.  Will I get another loofah squash?  Who knows?  Color this late in the summer really makes me happy, though.

Reel Mower (squeaky video)

Went out to mow the lawn today and wanted to demonstrate in some way the satisfaction of using a reel mower.  My mower is squeaky and loud, but I can still listen to my iPod while mowing and look!  There is nothing more satisfying than watching blades of grass flip out of the reel as it gets cut.  My lawn (what there is of one) is not showplace-grade, but it's short enough so the neighbors don't stare balefully at me as I wave past them.  I can also mow the yard wearing my hippie Birkies and don't have to worry about getting a toe taken off.

Wainwright Dairy

Excuse any dirty kitchen displayed in the photo

My friend Bren just stopped by to deliver two half-gallons of non-homogenized, pasteurized milk from Wainwright Dairy, located in Live Oak.  This is part of her buying club and the thing that sold me on this milk was not only the taste, which is delicious, but it's local (65 miles) AND the half-gallons come in glass containers!  Glass!  When was the last time you saw any milk in a glass bottle?  Me?  Never. 

Sierra Club's Cool Schools 2011: How'd University of Florida do???

Hey, Sierra Club Magazine's doing their annual Cool Schools, a list of the top ten and "best of the rest" who are on the cutting edge of energy conservation and environmental protection.  I reported on this in 2008, because Gainesville's own University of Florida made #7 which is pretty impressive!  Reported on it again in 2009 where UF had dropped to #15 - not great, but not bad still being in the top 20 Cool Schools, right?

Well, Sierra Club's Cool Schools kind of dropped off my radar last year, as most things often do when I get bored with them, but how did UF stack up in 2010?  Number 84! WOOT!  How did they stack up this year?!  Don't know!  They apparently didn't even return the questionnaire, so the 118 schools who did were ranked accordingly (162 schools apparently replied to the 2010 questionnaire). 

Now, as close compadres know, I am a true orange-and-blue patriot of the Gator Nation, but not even making an attempt at a showing for the Sierra Club's annual Cool Schools Survey when UF has a very active Office of Sustainability is kind of ridiculous, even if the numbers are skewed because of number of schools who submit their surveys each year.  I fully intend on writing a stern note to director Anna Prizzia of said office and see what she says.

Energy Widget - Holy Cr*p

Ouch - I feel so second world

Have you checked the energy widget at the bottom of the AE front page?  I posted a couple of months ago about how for the first time China has surpassed the US in oil consumption.  But China is going nuts!  They've totally left the USA in the dust.  C'mon, citizen consumers of the US!  Start using more oil!!!  We must beat China in this foolish race to the bottom!