Staying Busy

All righty, again, it has been awhile since posting.  My excuse is the same as always - busy, busy, busy.  These last few months I have been swamped with work, traveling, working out, crafting and theatering (I know it not a REAL word, but maybe it should be!).  We recently returned from a fantastic trip to Ireland (swoon - did I have to come home?) and a few months ago the husband and I traveled to the east coast for my sister's graduation.  My BFF came to visit last month for my thirty, flirty & thriving birthday (who can tell me what movie that is from?! :)) and we had a blast together.

I have a new obsession with working out - mostly doing a PIYO routine, which is a mix between PIlaties and YOgo; get it: PI-YO.  I think my favorite part of PIYO is the fantastic stretch and limberness I feel afterwards.  As a bonus, my muscles are totally getting stronger from doing it daily!

I couldn't help but to wear my own ruby red shoes to see WICKED!

I have also joined a quilting block of the month club at a local fabric store.  It has kept me busy at my sewing machine and I am learning a ton of new techniques.  Next May, I will have a completed Washington State themed quilt to show off and hopefully a bunch of new skills sets in my sewing repertoire!  :)

Most recently, I have been able to score tickets to two shows in Seattle's playhouses.  The Mister ordered WICKED tickets for my birthday last month and this past week, we saw it.  I have loved the music for ages, but didn't know the complete storyline.  I've wanted to see it for years.  It lived up to it's great reputation!  Just a few days ago, someone gave me a ticket to the show GREASE which is playing downtown because she was unable to use it.  I will be soon heading there to see some Grease Lightning!  I will try not to sing a long too loudly, but with the catchy music, I am sure many folks will be singing along. :)  

  

Cast Iron Obsession

Yikes!  It has been awhile  - as always, life keeps us busy! :)  So I find myself watching Sherlock on Netflix tonight and typing away.  Since I last updated, the Hubby and I have traveled a bit - to North Carolina and Pennsylvania.  We've enjoyed the surprisingly warm weather by spending some time enjoying the outdoors and I have even started my garden (planted brussel sprouts, herbs and kale).  I have recently discovered that I actually like brussel sprouts.  Growing up, I could not stand the vegetable, but now I cannot get enough of them!  I read somewhere that tastebuds expand every seven years, so maybe that explains my new brussel sprout obsession.  

A few weeks ago the Mister and I took a "cast iron cooking" class and Williams Sonoma.  They have weekly tutorials on an array of cooking topics, but I found the cast iron class to be beneficial.  I inherited 2 skillets (a 3 and 8 inch) a few years ago, but have never used them.  I don't know why I haven't use them.  Maybe I thought they were too much work or too tricky to use, I don't know.  But after the class, I had the confidence to give them a try.  Being that my skillets were unloved for so many years, the first thing that we had to do was season the skillets.  

My husband actually was the one who really did the hard work to season the skillets - he started by taking a metal scrubber, soap and water to remove the thick residue left on the skillets.  When he was done, the skillets were worn down to the bare metal.  

We then used a rag to spread a thin coating of oil (we used flaxseed oil because it has a higher smoking point) on the inside and outside of the skillet.  Since we used flaxseed oil, we could season the skillets at a higher temperature - we used 500 degrees for about 1 hour.  Other oils, should probably be seasoned at 350 degrees.  When in the oven, the skillet should be upside down so that the oil doesn't pool at the bottom of the pan.  We put a piece of aluminum foil at the bottom of the oven for the oil to drip, which made for easy clean up!  When the hour is up, we turned off the oven and let the skillets cool down in the oven.  Once cooled, we started the oil/coating/heating/cooling process again, again & again (we did four coats of oil).  When it was all said and done, our very old cast iron skillets look beautiful and new!  In fact, they are now my favorite thing to cook by beloved brussel sprouts in! :) :P

The truth is, since I now have usable cast iron skillets, I haven't touched my once cherished non-stick skillets and have been using the cast iron for everything.  We even splurged and bought a cast iron dutch oven to be able to cook more variety in cast iron.  We have become cast iron people. :)

Until the next time...