I love "my" thrift store up in Kennewick, Washington. I scored this weekend.



Three cast iron skillets, in pretty good condition, for only $2 each!  Wahoo!

They weren't too gunked up or rusted, as you can see above, but still needed to be stripped and re-seasoned.  These first pictures are of the as-bought condition, before re-seasoning.

The smallest one is a random Korean-made #3 skillet, 8" diameter.  It's nothing special in and of itself and probably not very old (maybe 1980s?), but it's very smooth inside.



The middle size one is a Wagner Ware #6 skillet, 9" in diameter.  This skillet was made some time between 1924 and 1935. (Wow!) It's in good condition, with some minor old rust pitting marks inside, but it's sound and sits perfectly level.



This pan is interesting because it's so much lighter than modern cast iron pans, and much thinner-walled.  It's the lightest of the three I got this weekend.  I hadn't realized before doing my internet research that this is the norm for older pans, since they weren't machine-made.  Makes sense, I guess, since they didn't have to be able to handle the rougher automated manufacture, including machine tumbling.

The largest pan is a Griswold #8, 10.5" in diameter.  This pan was made between 1939 and 1944 (Wow!), and is also lighter and thinner-walled than modern pans, though not as thin as the Wagner Ware.  This is also in good condition, with few blemishes, and sits flat.



Now even though these pans are moderately old, they're not really that rare.  Griswold and Wagner Ware are the "collectible" brands, but these are pretty common models and would usually sell for $20 or less.  However, I'm happy with them (especially for $2!), they will be great for cooking, and look how pretty they cleaned up!



Left to right again, that's the Korean #3, the Wagner Ware #6, an unmarked pan given to me by a friend a few months ago (the interwebs tell me it may have been made by American Brass & Iron out of Oakland, CA, in the 70s/80s), and the Griswold #8. You can see how much smoother the old Wagner Ware and Griswold are, especially compared to the newest one (third from left).

It's pretty humbling to cook with a pan that is 80-90 years old. Imagine how many family meals it has prepared...

And still going strong!

I gave my new-ish tent a test pitch in the pouring rain last night, because it's been far too long since I've been camping and I couldn't stand it any more.



This is only the second time I've used this tent, a sad situation that obviously must be remedied by many camping trips with Emma this summer.  I've never had it out in the rain, so this was a good chance to see if it leaks.  I also used my new down sleeping bag for the first time, so I was a little nervous about the rain. Wet down is fairly useless.

When I got up at 7am the temp was about 36 according to my little thermometer and there was some ice on the grass, but I woke up cozy, toasty, and dry!

So yes, it was just a tent in the yard and wasn't really camping.  But... I was outside and got to fall asleep listening to the rain on the tent roof, and the wind, and the creek.

It was the best night's sleep I've had in a while- I slept 10 hours!

Just in case you were wondering, five pounds of carrots can be washed, trimmed, and sliced/shredded in approximately 5 minutes, using the spiffy attachment for a KitchenAid mixer.



And five pounds of sliced/shredded carrots exactly fills a nine-tray Excalibur dehydrator. Four trays of sliced, five of shredded.



Just in case you were wondering.   :-)

Oh, and Chris asked in the comments for my last post if potatoes are cooked before dehydrating.  Yes, you have to cook potatoes first otherwise they turn purply-black, which is not at all appetizing.  I just blanch the pieces for 3-5 minutes in boiling water, depending on how big the pieces are- you don't want them so done that they're mushy and falling apart, just cooked through.  Lots of things don't have to be blanched before dehydrating (these carrots are raw), but potatoes definitely do.

Well it has been a while, hasn't it?  I seem to have lost my blogging mojo.  It's been about all I can do recently to keep up with Emma, work, and everything else.  I have been spinning some, but not much else fibery.  If I can get my act together, I'll take some pictures of my finished yarns, because they're very pretty.

Tonight, though, all I had the energy to do was take a picture of my dinner.  I was getting hungry this afternoon along about 5:00, so I wandered into the kitchen to see what I could find.  Sadly, the grocery elves have been slacking recently, and stocks were low.  Funny how that happens.

However, I do have a good store of dehydrated foods.  I also found a can of salmon, and that got me thinking.  From my seemingly bare fridge and pantry I was able to make a FANTASTIC dinner of salmon and corn chowder.



Everything in this recipe except the milk was a stored food, even the cream (frozen when it was on sale around Thanksgiving).  It was wonderful to browse my dehydrated food shelves and have lots of options.  Corn, potatoes, hmmm, how about some carrots?  Ok, peas? Not this time.  Onions, parsley, garlic, yep.

It was relatively quick, too.  From idea to bowl was just under an hour, and that included the soaking time!  Actual time in the kitchen was much less than an hour, since everything was pre-chopped before dehydrating.  Except for sauteing the onions, it was literally just throwing things into a pot and waiting for the magic to happen.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Salmon Corn Chowder
4-6 servings

1.5 cups dehydrated corn
3 cups water
---
3 T dehydrated onion
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp bacon fat
---
1 cup dehydrated diced potato
1/3 cup dehydrated sliced carrot
1 T dehydrated chopped celery
1 T dehydrated parsley
1 tsp dehydrated chopped garlic
4 cups chicken stock (home made, frozen)
---
14 oz (1 can) salmon, drained and crumbled
1 cup milk
1/3 cup heavy cream

Add the corn and water to a large stock pot and soak for about 20 minutes.  At the same time, add the hot water to the onion in a bowl and rehydrate for 15 minutes.  Drain any excess liquid from the onions into the stock pot, and saute the onions in bacon fat until tender.  Add onions, remaining dehydrated ingredients, and chicken stock to the pot.  Bring to a rolling boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, or until all vegetables are cooked and tender.  Add salmon, milk, and cream.  Heat through, stirring well.

My contribution to the Ninth Annual Blogger's (Silent) Poetry Reading for St. Bridget's Day.



Wonder
by Sue Brady

Wonder is…
A thought, a flash, a flood,
An instantaneous kaleidoscope of images,
Too complicated to define.

A rocky coast…
Balsam firs draped in fog…
A river of stars across the sky…
Haunting loon voice under the northern lights…
A wren pouring out song…
Pebbles singing as the waves wash the shore…
Sun-warmed blueberries…

Ponderosa and sagebrush perfume in July…
Ridge after ridge of folded hills…
A crescent moon sliver in the dusky coral and teal sunset…
Hoarfrost on tall grass…
Cascading rivers…
The granite bones of the earth…
So much sky…

That feeling,
That tremble in the pit of my stomach,
That catch in my breath,
It’s gestalt.
The magnificent resonance of the universe,
Every part of everything
In one word…
…the truest truth.

This. So, so this.  Watch this now.

 Emma and I got a bag of Doritos this week to go with our New Year's Eve snack-fest.

Today, I remembered that there is a vital difference between having Doritos with lunch, and having Doritos for lunch.

And that's why I only buy them a couple times a year.  Ahem.