Think about it, great heat distribution and retention, long lasting, no bits of non-stick seasonings in your food, and no warning about noxious fumes if used dry or empty.  I swear, the food just tastes better too!

(BTW…Just WHAT is all that empty pan danger stuff about?!?!  Somehow the safety fairy shows up with the food you put into a nonstick pan and runs for cover once it’s empty?  That sure gives me the warm and fuzzies about non-stick pans)

So, why don’t we use them anymore?  Well, sadly, like most things anymore, we don’t remember how.  Someone made something easier and we willingly gave up quality and sustainability.  The problem is we traded it for a disposable convenience that could potentially be a health risk.  Ugh!

Did I mention they’re non-stick?  I know I know you’re sitting there with that special “huh?” look while memories of the concrete like substance which refused to be chiseled from the bottom of your cast iron skillet run through your head. You’re thinking “HA!” (or something like “Ha” but more accurately represented by @#$$@!!!)  Well, it’s true.  With a little care and know how, the cast iron skillet can regain its rightful place on the stovetop and is sure to oust its pricey and trendy cookware come lately counterpart.

Here are some great tips from richsoil.com. For more incredibly detailed information complete with pictures videos and even tips on the proper utensils to use (it makes a difference).  Check out using a cast iron skillet ain’t so hard! Click Here

cast iron cookware in a nutshell:

1) use a good cast iron skillet with a glassy-smooth cooking surface (Griswold or Wagner). The new cast iron with the rough cooking surface is gonna be frustrating (Lodge Logic).

2) keep it dry!

Using water short term (minutes, not hours) has its uses. When the time comes to put the cast iron cookware away, give it a few seconds on a hot stove, just to make sure all the water is out.

3) use a little oil or grease

4) a little smoke is a good thing

5) too much heat on an empty cast iron skillet can ruin the surface or even crack the skillet

6) clean cast iron immediately after each use leaving a very thin layer of oil/grease

7) avoid soap!

There is a myth about how you should never use soap on cast iron. Details on that below. The reality is that you can use soap on cast iron, but it is better if you didn’t.

use a stainless steel spatula with a perfectly flat edge and rounded corners.

9) seasoning cast iron is nice, but you probably don’t need to worry about it.

Bill Mollison – Permaculture’s Founder – Australia

Lazy Hollow welcomes Miss Nola Blues to the Family…

Nola is a Florida Cracker Cur. She was born on 3/10/2011.  We’ve already had tons of questions/comments about her unique looks.  The most common question being “What kind of dog is that?!?!”

WHAT IS A CUR?

Folks familiar with the term “Cur” usually understand it to mean “Mutt,” but it’s not quite that simple.  Technically, all dogs are “mutts” until someone decides to set a standard and name the “breed.”  Genetically speaking, a dog is a dog is a dog.  Without human intervention, there would be no “breeds” as we know them.  Instead, it is likely there would be regional similarities in the general shape and size of dogs depending on their environment and food options.  For example, if the only available food option was a rabbit, big, slow dogs probably wouldn’t survive…conversely I don’t see a Jack Russell taking down a deer (but I bet it would try!!!)

A Cur is a “breed” which has been developed regionally based on function.  I believe the term (cur) is more typically used in the south.  Old Yeller for example is based on a “black mouth yellow cur.” This “breed” now has a standard and a registry to keep them true to form.  Black mouth yellow curs bred to other “pure” black mouth yellow curs can be registered as a “pure breed,” and responsible breeders will only breed dogs exhibiting the traits consistent with the breed standard. Several other curs which have become “breeds” include the “Mountain Cur,” the “Catahoula Leopard Cur,” and of course, the “Florida Cracker Cur.”

To my knowledge, the Cracker Cur is the only recognized “breed” which has not established a standard look.  They are bred for function and the responsible breeders only breed dogs with a strong work ethic.

Partin Bloodlines

Nola comes to us from Jim Fraser at Deep Marsh Ranch.  Her markings are characteristic of the Catahoula Leopard dogs which are part of the Florida Cracker Cur’s history.  Jim maintains the Partin Family bloodlines through selective breeding.  Nola’s father “Buddy” is a bobtail yellow and an amazing example of what a Cracker Cur should be.  Her mother “Lady” is a black and white and is relentless in her hog hunting pursuits.

Cool Name

Why the name Miss Nola Blues?  The Catahoula Leopard Cur was developed in Louisiana…She looks like a Catahoula, We Love the Big Easy, and there’s no place better to find great Blues, so Miss Nola Blues made sense to us. (Her color pattern is also referred to as a Blue Merle)

So now you know they’re bred for function, but what function?  As the story goes, Hernando Desoto came to FL in 1539, and with him came the first Florida Dogs.  Florida is no easy place to survive and the dogs which could tolerate heat, pests, predator pressure, and still perform their duty were the ones that lived on.  Over the past 450+ years, the breed has evolved into a hunter (Hogs today), a family protector, and of course a herding dog.  The term cracker comes from the sound of the whip used by cattle ranchers.  The old cracker cows grazed over large expanses of scrub meadows, and the cracker cur had to cover those distances and bring back the cows.  Know for their stamina and tenacity, God help the man or beast which threatens a Cracker Cur’s family.

I want one!

If you’re looking for a great dog for your farmstead, your hunting pack, or just a great companion like Nola, look Jim up at:

Jim Fraser – Deep Marsh Ranch – Okeechobee, FL – 954-658-0108

His dogs work hogs, they work cattle, and the bloodlines run deep!

4/24/2011

I was sitting for a spell with my Nana-in-law and began to think back about my own Abuela.

I listened to Nana talking about her garden…

“Uncle made a garden every year in my yard and it got bigger every year.”  

…and about food.

“You used to get the chickens fresh.  Sure they would kill them but you had to pluck them yourself.”  

It’s Easter Sunday 2011 and as my wife works on the blueberry glaze for her blueberry cobbler, I think about all the people who no longer have the ability to make their own meals.  Sure, most can cook, but what I f Publix were closed for a while?  What would we do?  An incredible bank of wisdom is still just a Grandparent away and yet as each grandma passes on, the new grandma’s know less and less about life, and more about TV Shows and Facebook. 

Abuela was no stranger to life.  She taught me many things, but she also took many lessons to the grave.  Born and raised on a tobacco plantation in Cuba, she and her 13 siblings had skills.  Gardening, Sewing, Cooking, Building, Livestock, and anything else it took to survive and thrive as a family.  The term Guajira is somewhat analogous to redneck.  I remember her being so self conscious about being thought a Guajira from Pinar Del Rio (the region in Cuba where the plantation was and the house still stands).  She made every effort to hide the old ways and I made every effort to learn.  In the Garden she shared (since a man should know these things) but it the kitchen and at the sewing machine her secrets were kept behind the veil of “one day I’ll teach your wife.”  Unfortunately, her secrets were kept since by the time I married, she was either unwilling or unable to share. 

My wife and I are working hard to make sure we learn and teach as many of these skills as we can to our children (and anyone else willing to read or listen).  Erika has an amazing skill set herself and I can’t help but think Abuela looks down from time to time and smiles at the latest cake, dress, or project (or wrinkles her nose like your project is not only done wrong, but somehow, you also gave it a foul smell …she wasn’t shy, and she was brutally honest J!) 

It only took two generations to forget some of these life skills.  With the assistance of technology, I believe it will take less time to not only learn the skills, but learn them using more efficient and sustainable methods.  Using the principles of yesterday and the tools of today, we CAN make a better tomorrow for our children and our grandchildren.

Interesting; when people come to out to the farm, some of them of act like they’ve reached the end of the world and others enjoy “getting away from it all.”  I often get “you really ARE in the boonies,” and yet I’m 10 minutes from the mall.  This doesn’t feel like “boonies” to me.  I think boonies really means “farther from civilization than I’m comfortable with.” How do YOU define civilization? 

For me; I want to live as remotely as possible but close enough to civilization so people are still willing to visit.  I like people, I just like nature more.  There is too much pavement in the world and not enough plant matter.  I sometimes have to shake my head at the environmental battle.  Both sides really seem to miss the point.  When you cover the earth in a blanket of concrete and asphalt, plants can’t grow, insects can’t work, water must run off, and the sun’s heat must be stored and reflected.  God can fix this mess if we just get out of His way!  I want to live where the concrete ends, but close enough to it so the people will come and see how the grass feels between their toes or at a minimum, under their loafers.        

Red Shoulder Hawk

The guy in this picture came with an interesting story.  At first I though him to be a goshawk but now I believe it was a juvenile red shoulder hawk.  The pic appears to be of him in a chain link cage and yes, he was.  At the time we had only a few chickens and half a dozen or so guinea hens.  (for birds at least) Well, I got home from work and I heard a bunch of noise coming from the makeshift chicken pen.  (an old dog kennel)  At the time it was normal for us to let the chickens out all day and put them up at night…the door to their cage was about a 3×3 wood framed chicken wire door .  Well, as I approached the cage I could tell something was strange the guinea hens were pitching a fit and had the coop surrounded on one end and my one Cuban Rooster (AKA studrock) was on the other end…inside the coop was one very tired red shoulder hawk (alone ).  Every time he would fly to on end the guineas would attack from the outside and when he flew to the other side, studrock would fly up and spur the cage…the one question I had was…Who closed the door to the coop?!?!?!?!  That’s right, my yard birds captured a hawk! LOL  So, after snapping a picture with my then poor quality camera phone, I opened the cage door and he flew out (chased by studrock of course)  luckily for this young’un, he had enough energy remaining to fly to a higher branch than studrock could reach.  and there he sat for what seemed like hours catching his breath.  We can usually point out at least one red shoulder hawk on our property at all times…one (same one????) has taken residence in the area