SEASONED SOUTHERN STYLE: Remedy For Sticky Cast Iron

 

I have overheard so many complaints while shopping antique malls about cast iron skillets that have become sticky to the touch. . .and sometimes causing a sharp taste to foods cooked in them. . .So I decided to give you a simple remedy that will take less than 15 minutes. . .I can't take full credit for it. . .The Open Hearth Cook. . .Mercy Ingraham. . .who lives in Pennsylvania. . .taught me a thing or two about cast iron on one of her visits to the farm. . .

The secret to a well-seasoned non-sticky pan is low heat before wiping with bacon grease. Here's how:

First wash the skillet in hot soapy water, rinse, and dry to remove the rancid oil.

Place skillet on the stove burner closest to the size of the pan.

Turn the burner on a low setting and allow the skillet to heat up. You should be able to lightly touch it without burning a finger. 

Take a soft rag or paper towel and wipe the inside with a light coating of bacon grease.

Turn off the burner.

Leave the pan on the burner until it is cool. 

Once cool, take another soft rag or paper towel and wipe excess grease.

If you need to season the entire pan, these steps can be followed using the oven. (Be sure to place it on a cookie sheet so the grease doesn't drip on the stove.)

That's it! That's all you need to do. . .The heat opens up the pores of the cast iron and allows the seasoning to go deep into it. . .It will continue soaking up the good stuff as it cools and the grease will not just sit on top, making the pan sticky. . .

Once I have a skillet or pan well-seasoned, I only rinse with hot tap water after every use, then follow the same steps on top of the stove. 

The 4th of July Corn Shucking Tradition

It's July 2. . .and we have a long holiday weekend for the 4th of July this year. . .People everywhere will be celebrating the day of this country declaring freedom from the tyranny of British King George. . .the beginning of the Revolutionary War. . .the war that brought independence for our country. . .

While I don't claim to have been under the king's tyranny during my childhood. . .I sometimes thought I could empathize greatly with those revolutionaries. . .because my "tyranntical" parents engaged every helping hand--child or adult--they could conscript for the task of picking, shucking, and "putting up" corn. . .Every 4th of July celebration had to take a backseat until the task was done and declared finished. . .When corn was ready, there was no putting it off. . .It might not fall exactly on the 4th every year, but always managed to be within a day or two of it. . . 

We all rose early. Daddy went even earlier to the garden to pull the ripened corn, putting them in big, galvanized tubs in the shade of a close-by apple tree. He then circled chairs around the huge pile for everyone. Shucking and cutting corn off the cob is a very messy thing, so it was always done outside. . .in the heat. . .while batting flies. . .When I was too young to cut corn and too afraid of finding worms while shucking the corn, my job was to keep a constant motion around the diligent workers to keep the flies away. I also helped pick up the mound of shucks and delivered them back to the garden to decay, adding nutrients to the soil. 

It sounds like an ominous task, but actually even I have to admit it had its fun times. Grandmother, Aunt Mamie, Daddy, Mom, and whoever else was helping, sat shucking and cutting that sweet goodness off the cob, talking downright gossip at times but a lot of the day the gossip turned to stories of family members past and present. It was times like this that I learned about the people of the Delta that was my world. 

By noon, the corn was ready to process for the freezer. Huge pans sat on the kitchen counter, filled with the golden creamy veggie. It was truly a sight. I loved it raw. Every time I found myself alone, my fingers somehow were uncontrollable, dipping in and proceeding to my mouth.

Before the women started preparing it for the endless stacks of freezer containers, we all sat down to eat and restore some of our energy for the long afternoon ahead. No hot meal on that day. Only sandwiches, salads, fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, a cake for dessert, and a lot of iced tea. We ate on paper plates for easy clean-up. 

The ladies tackled that corn afterwards, heating it in huge skillets in small batches. When it was "hot through" it was spread out in large, long pans under several fans to cool as quickly as possible. Then it was time to pack it in containers and put immediately into the freezer. In this manner, the freezer corn tasted as if freshly picked all through winter. Once all was finished and frozen, a bunch of tired souls took a rest before washing the skillets, pans, and utensils. A sense of accomplishment and pride with the count of filled containers prevailed. They knew it would help sustain us through the winter. I was happy because I knew that the 4th celebration could go on as planned, when the entire Magers clan would be gathering at Grandmother's house. Just the thought of barbeque chicken, baked beans, onion dip and chips, sliced tomatoes, fresh pickled cucumbers, corn on the cob, and homemade ice cream and cake made my mouth water.

So, actually the corn shucking tradition was worth it. There is never a 4th of July that I don't remember with a smile. And, I often feel the urge to visit a local farmer's market for a tub full of that fresh golden goodness to shuck, cut, process and freeze, thinking all the time what a gift my parents gave me all those years of watching and helping with a family tradition. 

I guess they weren't tyrants after all. . .but I still hold that opinion of King George. . .(grin).

Ice Farm

As destructive as it can often be, there is nothing more beautiful for a winter scene than a good old fashioned ice storm. . .as long as the heat and water are still on (grin). . .

There are so many opportunities for good photography shots. . .if only I could have stepped off the porch to take them. . .It was way too slick to set even one foot off the security of a dry floor. . .

I couldn't walk on the north side at all. . .but managed to get the store and the old Magers barn you will see as you scroll down. . .

All winter long I watch the twin outbuildings from the kitchen window. . .They always bring a smile. . .If they look a little blurred to you, it's because they are covered in ice that dulls the details. . .

I never tire of photographing the Magers barn. . .and Daddy's old 'bob' truck from the 1950s. . .

The Short log cabin seems right at home in this winter scene. . .I had to photograph it from the back of our garage. . .

This is our second ice storm for the winter. . .fairly unusual for us. . .I do hope the cold is about over. . .but I'm in no hurry. . .as long as I can gaze out the window at the beauty it brought. . .

Lone Oak Tenant House Revisited

"On the southwest side of the small community of Lone Oak sits a house in great disrepair, a prime example of so many tenements common to the early farming era of the county. This house may soon meet a similar fate. Many times, as we drove past it over the years, I've commented that I "need to get some photos and measurements before it disappears!" In the winter, it's too muddy and cold. In the summer, it's too hot--and "snakey"--and "grown up." This spring of 2011 seemed to be the right time, as I noticed that more of the house had fallen and that the windows and doors had disappeared. With permission, a camera, a tape measure, a sketch pad, and a pencil in hand, we braved the already growing "jungle," as well as the active wasp and bee population, and headed for the old tenant house." (DUNCAN FARMSTEAD WEBSITE)

It is hard to believe all these years have passed, and yet, the old house was still standing the last time I drove through Lone Oak. . .although in worse shape than ten years ago. . .

I ran across some photos I don't believe I shared before and decided to start a series of posts on a few of the tenant, bungalow, cottage, and farmhouses that were once great in number throughout the area. I have touched upon them at the Duncan Farmstead website and a few at the Dell, Ar blog (which no longer is available for view to the public). These old relics have all but disappeared now, many since we moved back to the farm in 2005. Farm fields dominate today. The population of Mississippi County has greatly diminished as more and more people move away. But as along as the stories are still being told, the past will live on.

This little Craftsman bungalow sits at Lone Oak on the south side of East State Highway 239, next to the two story farmhouse of B. B. Hodge. It remains in the Hodge family, I believe. 

"Lone Oak got it’s name from a single, very tall oak tree that was a landmark for local hunters. It was so tall that during the 1882 flood, the only thing that could be seen above the water was that one lone oak. It was also the only oak tree around during dry periods. Other trees included sycamore, gum, cypress, and other general woods. The story goes that Sam Hector actually gave the community its name in honor of the oak landmark.

One of the stories that’s been handed down concerns that oak tree and Sam Hector. He was traveling down the Pemiscot Bayou in a boat one day and looked up at the big oak tree. There was a bear hugging the tree. Sam took out his rifle and shot the bear and killed him.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the Lone Oak was found south of the Lone Oak school at the home of B. B. Hodge." (Dell, AR blog post 2012)

My favorite room is the kitchen with its metal cabinets and old porcelain sink, which I doubt were original to the house but added perhaps during the 1950s or so. This was much better than most tenant houses and cost more than the simple wood shelves and few cabinets that were more common in the tenements of this farm. I can imagine the daily activity in this room--the bean pot on the stove, the vegetables and canning going on daily in the summertime, the constant slamming of the backdoor as the family comes and goes, living as much outside with the land as inside. It was long days of work for all, but it was also a time of family and friends bonding in the tasks at hand. . .

Kitchen; Bedroom through door

Layout--BB Hodge Craftsman Bungalow
Top Lft-Living Room; Top Rt-Bedroom; Bathroom Behind Bedroom
Back Lft-Kitchen; Back Rt-Bedroom 

My very rough layout is a little confusing. The front of the house that faces the road are the top rooms.  

Kitchen

This was a very bright kitchen in its day. . . 

Kitchen

Kitchen

I can imagine a big family table sitting in this corner with its many windows looking out over the fields. 

The walls are of sheetrock. . .Please note that even though the walls in every room are deteriorating, often the holes have been made by treasure hunters looking for money or valuables that were sometimes hidden in the walls or ceiling. In many abandoned houses I have visited, any  fabric covered couches or chairs still present were also cut into shreds. 

Living Room

Over the years in the living room, it is obvious that keeping the cold winter winds at bay was attempted by many generations of families. Those clapboards were not sealed in any way. Newspaper and cardboard were pasted and tacked in layers on the inside of the clapboard originally and walls of sheetrock added. Then sometime, maybe in the 1960s, insulation and paneling were applied. 

Living Room

Bedroom; Bathroom through door

In this back bedroom, more paneling once covered the sheetrock walls. . .

Bathroom

There was no bathroom in the original house. Space taken from one of the bedrooms added an inside bath in later years. Plumbing was run from the kitchen. 

This house was once a cozy little bungalow. The numerous windows would have made it quite bright inside. There were two porches, one front and one back, that helped to extend the living space and offered cooler breezes in the hot summers. Cottages such as these have always been dear to my heart, probably because I have known so many wonderful people who lived in them. 

COMING SOON: PRESENT DAY PHOTOS