Old Timey Cookware
Over the years I have collected some unique antiques. Most of us country folk know and love our cast iron.
Anyone with cast iron experience knows washing with soap and water is a no-no. There are times when a pan is gets so bad, it’s time to start over. The pan it the picture is one such example. When I got this cast frying pan, there was more than a quarter inch of crud on the outside. The only way I could get it clean was scraping, heating and washing. Then I coated the pan with lard and threw it in a 500 degree oven for an hour. After a few rounds of bacon and sausage, it was as good as new. Sometimes on old piece of cookware needs more than a cleaning.
Enter the Presto 606 Meat Master! I got this pressure cooker at an auction for a couple bucks. I brought it home, tried it out, and found all the seals, indicators, and safety devices were shot.
These cookers haven’t been in production for years. Parts are hard to find, but one feature caused me to save this old pot from the scrap bin. The regulator on top isn’t the old jiggler type. It has a rod that rises with the pressure. Marked for 5-10-15 pounds, it’s definitely unique. After a few days searching I found a new seal, pressure relief valve, and yes, a new pressure indicator. I tested it and it is good to go. I will fill you in with my first cooking attempt with it.
Easiest Christmas Cookie Ever!
Honey Bunches makes lots of cookies. She is an expert baker in my opinion. We have sugar cookies, peanut butter balls, raspberry thumbprints… the list goes on! My mom makes a cookie my brother particularly likes with shortbread, caramel, and chocolate with a pecan half on top.
At a bake sale the other day I purchased a plate with about 10 different cookies on it. One in particular looked interesting. It looked like my brother’s favorite cookie but on a mini pretzel. A couple days later I saw these pretzel cookies at a party. They taste almost like my brother’s cookie. To make the shortbread version you first bake the cookie, melt caramel… add to cookie, melt chocolate… add to cookie, put pecan on top. I was surprised to find my aunt had the recipe for the pretzel version. If you need a last minute Christmas cookie, you’re gonna love this!
Pecan Turtle Pretzels
1 bag – mini pretzel twists
1 bag – Rollo candy
1 large bag – pecan halves
Directions: Preheat oven to 250. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Lay out pretzels (don’t let ‘em touch each other). Put 1 Rollo on each pretzel. Bake for 4 or 5 minutes. Top each with a pecan half, Let cool.
That’s it! Quick and easy. Don’t tell my relatives where you got the recipe!
Cold Days, Cozy Foods
With all the rain and cool weather, it was time for some comfort food. Can you guess what we had by the picture?
Ha Ha! Guess that was a little too easy! Honey Bunches and I went looking for a new and simple ham and bean recipe. We found recipes with tomatoes, okra, and about everything else I have never heard of in ham and beans. We finally settled on one with a potato in it and were pleasantly surprised.
2 smoked ham hocks, about 2 lbs. or scraps & pieces from leftover ham
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lg. potato, pared & cubed
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 lg. carrot, shredded
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
Pepper
We put beans and 2 1/2 quarts water in the crock pot to sit over night. Discard any beans that float to the surface. In the morning we added all the other ingredients covered and set to low for 6 – 8 hours.Remove ham hocks, separate meat from fat and bones. Dice meat and return to soup. Discard fat and bones. Season to taste with black pepper. I was extremely pleased. (even with the potato thrown in!)
Aw Shucks!
It wasn’t my fault! I wasn’t planning on making my in-laws work in my sweet corn sweat shop. They just showed up at the wrong time! What was I supposed to do with a truckload of sweet corn and 3 Idahoans with n
ot much to do? They weren’t too surprised. In past visits, they have put up with my cattle round-ups and other such mid-western activities. (although the turning bulls into steers episode didn’t go too smoothly) The only issue we had this time? These are tater people, the whole corn thing seemed a little foreign to them. Being from the Show-Me state I produced props and explained. Tater’s have eyes, corn has ears. They were not impressed. Better just get to the processin’.
I set up my turkey cooker to blanch the corn. 2 old wash tubs with cold water are ready to stop the cooking. Somebody better get to shuckin’! In no time at all those Idaho in-laws had a big stack of shucked and silked corn. We toss it in the boiling water for a few minutes, then into the wash tubs to cool down. “We don’t mash corn”, I jokingly explain. Someone flips a silkworm at me. Guess I better drop the Idaho jokes!
Once the corn cools, its time for the kernel separation procedure. It’s a sticky drawn out process of slicing, turning, slicing, turning.
As the big bowl fills with kernels, my niece and nephew start filling the freezer bags. Before long we have 30 quarts in the freezer. Mom loads part of the corn left-overs in her truck and they haul them to the cows. I load the rest into my truck and head off to feed my cows.
My pasture is getting thin and the cows were greatly excited by the treat. Looking out the window now, I can see my cows looking over the fence at the neighbor’s corn. I have a feeling I know what is in store for the Idahoans tomorrow!
