Cheese-Making Class Today!

I just wanted to give a brief update that I'm heading to a Cheese-Making class this afternoon, offered by the Master Food Preserver program of the Oregon State University Lane County Extension Service.

I am so excited! I've always wanted to learn how to make cheese. I was originally inspired by the one and only Barbara Kingsolver's forays into cheesemaking in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but never got a chance to actually take a class and try it out for myself.

And now, for $15 and 3 hours of my time, I get to get my hands in the cheese. Gotta love the Master Food Preserver program!

I will of course take photos and gather recipes and report on it all here. Stay tuned and say cheese!

Secret Grocery Codes

I just found out about this great little trick to use when grocery shopping to discern whether the produce you're buying is organic or genetically modified!

All you need to do is check out the little stickers on your fruit and vegetables. The number code will tell you what it is you're about to buy:

• A four-digit number means it's conventionally grown.
• A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it's organic.
• A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it's genetically modified.

And that's it! How easy is that?

I will definitely remember to stay faaaar away from anything with five digits beginning with an 8, for this reason and many, many others. Yeesh!

Ode to the Cast Iron Skillet

There was a fantastic little article in the New York Times last week by the writer of gorgeous works, Jhumpa Lahiri, whose books I love.

She wrote about realizing the simple beauty and perfection of the cast iron skillet while summering on Cape Cod -- and I wholeheartedly agree with her.

A while ago, I was searching for alternatives to non-stick skillets, due to their total health hazardness and total non-eco-friendliness, and was finally swayed by my dear friend Winston into abandoning the non-stick toxicity and going for the classic, true non-stick skillet: cast-iron.

Part of a cast-iron's skillet's beauty is that it is so inexpensive and so easy to take care of: I got a Lodge 12-inch pre-seasoned (this makes all the difference!) cast-iron skillet for $24.95! You can't beat that price. (A hint: if you live near an REI, order it to be shipped to the store for you to pick up, to avoid paying for the -- literally -- heavy shipping costs.)

And a cast-iron skillet's care and handling is even simpler than any other pan: just never, ever use soap on it or set it to soak, and it will literally serve you loyally for decades. (Think I'm just talking out of my arse? Some of the first cast-iron skillets made more than 100 years ago are still in use! When Lodge says your children's children will be making cornbread in your cast-iron skillet, they aren't kidding.)

To wash, simply clean under slowly-running hot water as soon as possible after cooking, scrubbing with a soapless sponge (we use one that I've dedicated to my loyal cast-iron workhorse that has never had soap on it). Then make sure it's fully dry after washing (to prevent rust) by heating on your stove. Once it's totally dry, turn the burner off and your cast-iron skillet is good to go. Genius.

They're also very environmentally friendly: they are made of only one (duh) material, and that's it: no toxic chemicals or toxic production process.

And one thing Winston alerted me to, that even the brilliant Ms. Lahiri failed to mention, is that cooking in cast-iron actually boosts your iron intake! Especially if you cook with tomatoes (and then you're getting lycopene, which is even better!) or other acidic foods. (A side note: I don't notice a metallic taste when cooking with my skillet, ever.)

So there you have it: too many reasons to count why cast-iron cookware belongs in everyone's kitchen.

Do you have cast-iron? If not, why not? I used to be afraid of it and feared that it really wasn't 100% non-stick. Since taking the plunge, I can tell you that my fear was totally unfounded.


P.S. Ohmigod after spending way too much time perusing Lodge's site, I so want a Camp Dutch Oven someday, for camp cooking. How awesome. Okay and I also definitely want one of these someday. (Uh...yeah. Hubby is reading this going, "Oh GREAT. More kitchen stuff; just what we need." Hi honey!)

P.P.S. Why are this and this so cute? I want one. For what, I don't know. And then there's this, which is just too cute for words. Mini ears of cornbread! (Hi again, honey!)

The United Plates

I discovered these delightful and pretty darling prints on Serious Eats and became entranced. I find them reminiscent of really wonderful children's books illustrations.

What, exactly, are they? Their website says, "This is a fun series of prints where each state's outline was drawn as the food it resembles (not necessarily the food the state produces)."

While I do wish that they were drawn as the food the state is best known for/produces -- I'm envisioning an Oregon made of a pile of hazelnuts -- I still think they're whimsical and sweet. And at only $15 a pop, you can't go wrong!

In honor of the fun foodiness of them, I share with you the states in which I have lived, in the order in which I lived in them:

Oregon's my fave of these. Love that spaghetti & meatballs!

And just for kicks, here's one for hubby (this one's my favorite of them all, actually):