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I love cooking with cast iron. I grew up watching both of my Grandmothers and my own Momma cook with it. As a matter of fact I’ve already told my Momma that I would like to have her cast iron and my grandmother’s cast iron willed to me! Because is there anything better than 75 year old perfectly seasoned cast iron cookware?! Smile! My daughter has watched me cook with it all her life and now I love seeing her love and care for her cast iron just as much as I do mine.
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So when MaryJane sent me a copy of her book Cast Iron Kitchen, I was so excited I immediately sat down and skimmed every page. That night I took it to bed with me and read every single detail! (Do you ever read cookbooks in bed?! I oftentimes have a stack of them on my nightstand!)
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I’m not going to ruin the suspense for you by sharing pictures of everything I’ve made out of this cookbook the last few weeks. But there is one recipe that is a total game changer for my family. (Don’t judge me on this okay?!) New Years Eve we had a big bon fire with all the yummy S’mores fixings. But I usually pass on the S’mores because they disappoint me in the fact that the chocolate doesn’t melt just right or the marshmallow isn’t that perfect golden color of sticky yumminess. And sitting there at the camp fire I suddenly remembered that MaryJane had a recipe for Skillet S’mores in her book.
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So later when we were back in my daughter’s house, I ran home and got the recipe and my daughter made us the perfectly amazing Skillet S’mores. Oh my word. I just have to say that we will NEVER make S’mores over a campfire again! These were the most amazing things with perfectly melted chocolate and sticky golden marshmallows! I mean seriously you guys… don’t you want to eat some of those?
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The other thing I made this week that I loved were the flour tortillas. I grew up on home-made flour tortillas and my Momma has the tortilla press and everything. I do not have it (yet!) so I just rolled mine out on the counter top. But these were so yummy. The recipe calls for Coconut Oil instead of shortening, which is in my Momma’s recipe. I was reluctant about using the Coconut Oil but was so glad I made them according to MaryJane’s recipe because they were perfect. And of course you couldn’t even taste the coconut oil in them.
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And then the Chicken Fajitas. Oh so yummy and honestly so easy. There is a butter/cilantro/lime mixture that you add at the end and make sure you don’t leave this out!
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Those are just a few of my favorites. But I’ve loved the Dutch Babies, the Hash-Brown Patties, the Giant Cinnamon Roll, the Chicken and Dumplings.
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And of course the Biscuits. Anyone that follows me here knows how I love Biscuits! In MaryJane’s cookbook she has six pages of all these fun varieties of Biscuit Bun sliders. So much fun to make!
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But I’m going to warn you. There is one big problem with this cookbook. MaryJane features every kind of cast iron cookware there is to be found… and you will WANT IT ALL!! I have a list now of what I’ll be purchasing as I can afford it and find it! (And going through my Momma’s cupboards again to see what she has!!) What I really love in the book is that every recipe shows, in one quick glance, what cookware you need for that recipe. I think that is one of the nicest features in the book. Oh, and the photography is swoon worthy.
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{Giveaway Details!!!}
MaryJane has graciously offered a give-away of her cookbook to one of you awesome readers! All you have to do is comment below about absolutely anything to do with cast iron cookware! One lucky winner will be chosen and I’ll let you know next month if it is you! (In the mean time, you can purchase an autographed copy of the cookbook here.)
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I’d like to end this blog post with a sentimental thank you. Back in November I wrote a post (here) about how winters are hard for me. And I want to thank all of you who so sweetly and kindly wrote to me and reminded me of all the positive things about wintertime. I took some of the advice given to me as well as making some of my own personal changes and I feel like this has been a winter of grace for me. There is so much to be thankful for in every season of life and YOU, my Farmgirl friends are one of those things. Thank you!
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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.
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Dori
I received two new Lodge cast iron pieces for Christmas. American made in South Pittsburg, TN. Dori, I am not sure how far you are from there but it might be a fun day trip for you. They have a factory store with a seconds room that has good pricing on pieces that you cannot find a flaw in.
Thanks for the opportunity to win this beautiful new cookbook.
May your winter be filled with His amazing Grace.
Susan
My mother loved her cast iron cookware. My brother has her skillets now, and I wish I had at least one of them. I love cooking in them in the oven. I have a glass top stove and cannot safely use them on top of it. I’d love to have a copy of her cookbook. If I don’t win I will order one for me.
I love cornbread from a cast iron skillet. Takes me right back to the kitchen of my childhood…
I cook with my mother’s cast iron skillets that are older than me and I love that nostalgic feeling every time I use them as my mother passed away many years ago.
I would llike to know how to season cast iron items purchased within the past five years . They are Lodge brand.
I have 2 skillets, 4 bread pans, one griddle, and am waiting to get a waffle iron someday, and that’s just for now…my wish list is quite extensive. I use my skillet just about everyday for everything from bacon and eggs, to homemade tortillas to oven baked peach cobbler. Regrettably I did not grow up with cast iron cookware, but I have some now….and hope to pass them on to my family….
I consider myself more a gatherer of cast iron than a cook. I don’t know how many generations used the iron skillet that hangs in Daddy’s kitchen, but Grandma Grace was known to brown meat in it while saying, “I am a rotisserie”; Momma later made her famous liver and onions with brown gravy in it. I have a tiny square skillet from Pat, our friend who was in Pearl Harbor on that fateful day, and several unusual pieces from our late, beloved neighbor, Anna Myra Kent. I bought a rusty, rough skillet and a bicycle for $25 at a roadside flea market while on my way to buy parts for a broken-down combine. Boyce sandblasted the skillet for me. I still cook in the skillet and ride the bike, not at the same time. Julie, who loves to cook on a wood stove, taught me to make spoon bread, but although I use her recipe and an iron skillet, I can’t match the flavor of her bread. Then there is my Christmas tree, which is a year-round hoot, with colored lights and a gourd chicken sitting at the top of the stack of iron pots and pans. Iron- it encourages foolishness, memories, and, oh yeah, great food! Thanks, Dori, for another wonderful post.
I have my mother’s cast iron and love cooking in them. The recipe book looks wonderful!
I have just begun to start cooking with Cast iron. Although my family cooked with a cast iron skillet when I was growing up, I had yet to use cast iron until last summer. I used cast iron for the first time last summer when we were camping. We were dry camping for a week with A decent sized group of family. I was so amazed by the foods what could be made over hot coals, especially by cinnamon rolls. I am looking forward to making more recipes that can be shared with family and friends. I absolutely love Mary Jane’s Farm Magazine. What a natural talent you have.
Oh my gosh I LOVE my cast iron. I’ve had a couple of pieces for so long that I don’t even remember where I got them ~ maybe from my grandmother. I’ve made flour tortillas for years using them and toast corn tortillas nearly every day in my small pan, but I think the very best that has come out of my cast iron skillet is fried chicken. No other pan can compare! The dutch oven is pretty awesome for cooking down butternut squash for ‘pumpkin’ pie, too!
I LOVE cooking in cast iron cookware too! Once my hubby found a square skillet in a trash pile while hauling off metal. We have used that skillet for cornbread and fried potatoes mostly, 40 years worth. I LOVE that skillet!
Cast Iron cookware holds a very special place in my heart and kitchen! As a child I lived with my mom who is the most loving mother anyone can wish for. My one brother and four sisters and me shared our home with our paternal grandparents. Mom and grandma made a cast iron skillet of biscuits for breakfast and dinner almost everyday. Biscuits were are bread of choice. Now that I am a mother and grandmother I share my love of cast iron cookware with my daughter who uses her’s way more than me with her two young sons who love to eat biscuits!
Anything to do with cast iron is a win-win for me but when Maryjane is involved that is a double win- win situation. Such a positive inspiration. Thank you for offering the giveaway
I just received a cast iron skillet, and am anxious to use it. I would love to win your cookbook so I can try your neat sounding recipes. I love your site, by the way. Keep up the great work that you do!!
My husband bought a new set of “nonstick” pots and insisted on using the skillet. Guess what—it stuck much more than any of my cast iron skillets. That pan is now at the bottom of the cabinet and hasn’t seen light since.
I have several pieces of cast iron that I use constantly. My favorite is a skillet my first husband (whom I lost to cancer) gave me fifty years ago. It still cooks great cornbread.
I love my cast iron! Can’t wait to get this book!
How fun, I love my cast iron skillets and my comol that I make my homemade tortillas in. So good to know about using coconut oil, I will have to try this. I love the pic of the tortilla press, I may have to be on the lookout for one of those, like you I roll mine out on the table. Sounds like a great cookbook. thanks for sharing. Neta.
LOVE my cast iron!!! I have been collecting different pans for years. I especially like my cast iron Dutch ovens. I take them with me camping every year. Nothing says home cooking to me like cast iron; the perfect sear on meat, fish or poultry, crusty artisan breads, a thick elk or venison stew! Oh yum! I am making myself hungry!!!
I remember my grandmother taking care of her cast iron skillets for years.
I never saw my mom use cast iron. After I was married I read about how it was better to use cast iron than non stick cookware. I don’t use it all the time but I now have several pieces that I love. My favorite is the divided round pan that I make cornbread in. My husband grew up with cornbread made in those divided pans . Her wedding gift to me was one of those pans . As our family grew, I needed another one, so now I have 2 . That’s my kids favorite way to eat cornbread. I’m exciting about getting Mary Jane’s new book.
I love cooking in cast iron and pieces old and new. I don’t think cornbread comes out right unless it’s cooked in cast iron.
I make potato pancakes in my iron skillet
I have recently “acquired” my mother’s perfectly seasoned cast iron skillet since she can no longer use it, as she is now in assisted living. I think one of the first things I will make in it is a pineapple upside down cake!! Yummy!
The only way I ever make Mexican cornbread is in my deep cast iron skillet. My boys grew up on it. My mom gifted me her large cast iron skillets when my boys were teenagers. I could see the pleasure in her eyes every time I mention them and what I had cooked in them. I still use them most every day!!
I am just beginning to cook with cast iron, and am hooked. It seems so natural and we are enjoying all the fun things you can do with it. I am looking forward to reading Mary Jane’s book and learning about all the new utensils and recipes. Can’t Wait!!
I cook with cast iron all the time and have cleaned up old skuzzy ones and reseasoned them with great success!!
We are so in love with cast iron at our house; both the cookware and other items. Even as a child, I loved the cast iron skillets that my mom and Grandma used (one each). I am now so happy to have them in my kitchen; they remind me of my loved ones. Cooking with cast iron is a wonderful experience. We have even set up an iron support to allow us to cook some cowboy beans and such in our fireplace…looking forward to seeing how that works out! This cookbook would be so fun to have. 🙂
Same here! From granny to mom to me; a lifelong use of cast iron. Better food, better for you. And who doesn’t love holding the very same pans in your hands that your grandmother did.? 🙂
Great post, Dori, and thanks for the fun chance to win a prize! I’ve had my eye on MJ Cast Iron Cookbook for awhile now. I love my big fry pan, and use it all the time – well except right now… seems I slipped it into the oven to make quick space (bad habit!) and in it was a little metal spatula with a plastic handle… you all know what I did right? So my pan & favorite little spatula need to be un-fused — sigh, and I’m not real certain how best to accomplish fixing this mess!! My Gram lost her good cast iron in a big flood, washed a lot of things away –
I’m glad this winter has been better for you, we are around the corner, days are already a bit longer. Have a great day!
Diana
I have a cast iron skillet I got not long ago, but have not used it much because I’m unsure of what I can make in it. This cookbook would be great!
My large cast iron skillet and Dutch oven both came with the cabin we now call home, the small skillet came from my husband’s Granny’s outbuilding on her Iowa farm, the sauté pan is new, a memory of my father-in law’s Swedish pancakes. All are loved!
My favorite pan is a 6″ griswold cast iron i fry bacon & my farm fresh eggs in.
I think the number one thing I love coming from a cast iron skillet is cornbread. good ole crusty cornbread! I could make my whole dinner off of it. but now that you are talking about all the recipes you have made using your cast iron and Mary Jane’s cookbook it makes me want to try something different now.
I love cast iron cooking! It’s like living history! Thank You for the great new ideas for cooking! Definitely putting Skillet S’mores on my to do list!
One of my fondest memories of a cast iron skillet is my dad cooking cornbread on the top burners of the stove rather than in the oven. He had a knack for knowing when it needed flipped, and he flipped it perfectly every time! It wasn’t a pizza dough flip in the air thing but an all in one smooth motion wrist action kind of flip! Easy peasy! He liked the hard crusty crust the cast iron put on the corn bread, because he had a secret passion for eating corn bread and buttermilk out of a glass before bedtime.He loved his cast iron skillet
Love cooking with cast iron. Your pictures are mouthwatering! I too turn down S’mores at the camp fire, can’t wait to make them in my house but will wait until I have a crowd so I don’t eat the whole skillet by myself! Thanks for the giveaway and for sharing your creative life with us!
You have inspired me!
I recently replaced my electric flat top “white” stove with a gas range. I can now use my cast iron pan on the top burners again! Can’t wait to try some of these recipes!
I finally installed a gas stove in my kitchen. The cookbook looks wonderful! I love cooking with my cast ironware.
The best thing ever to cook the best cornbread ever!!
Love my inherited cast iron. Use it everyday! Helps keep us healthy.
I love the few cast iron pieces I am collecting and starting to enjoy using! What took me so long?!?!
I love cooking with my cast iron skillet and know there’s so much more I could do with it. This cookbook would be awesome!
Hi,
I am a “wannabe” Farmgirl! I live in New Jersey on 48 Acres for the past 6 years ! Born and raised in Brooklyn Ny but i am getting there. Lol. I get so many great ideas and learn so much from Maryjanes magazines and emails!
So here it goes. My cast iron story is a quick recipe for Salmon !
I drizzle a little olive oil in the pan! I Wash and take Wild Caught Salmon , rub with black pepper , a little sea salt and olive oil , sear it on both sides on the stove in the cast iron pan and remove !! I then add one tablespoon of Tamari Soy Sauce and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon all over. I slice 20 cherry tomatoes in half , 2 scallions chopped up and throw it all in the skillet I then put it in the oven and quickly broil both sides making sure to keep an eye on it. (Serve with wild rice on the side.)
Thank you for sharing your wonderful article!
Hi,
I am a “wannabe” Farmgirl! I live in New Jersey on 48 Acres for the past 6 years ! Born and raised in Brooklyn Ny but i am getting there. Lol. I get so many great ideas and learn so much from Maryjanes emails!
So here it goes. My cast iron story is a quick recipe for Salmon !
I Wash and take Wild Caught Salmon , rub with olive oil on both sides ,sprinkle black pepper , a little sea salt on and then sear it in the cast iron pan on the stove top.
I then add one tablespoon of Tamari Soy Sauce and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon all over. I slice 20 cherry tomatoes in half , chop up 2 scallions and throw it all in the skillet. I then add 1/4 cup of organic Vegetable stock , put it in oven and quickly broil it on both sides making sure to keep an eye on it. (Serve with wild rice and broiled crispy kale on the side)
Thank you for sharing your wonderful article!
I have used my couple of cast iron skillets for years. Cooking for my children and husband making Swedish pancakes, breakfasts, etc. Always makes me feel closer to the old days of homemaking with the simple things. Cozy times, really. Thanks for your blog.
So many great recipes today are made with a cast iron pan. I don’t own one and would
love to win this pan to make some of your wonderful recipes from the magazine.
I being a caregiver for my husband I am home all the time. I love being in the kitchen or crafting, sewing, etc. That is my destresser in life now. Many of my baking I give away and surprise people with my homemade treats to enjoy. This is my way of letting others they are loved and thought of. I love all the contests. Perhaps this will be my time to enjoy one of your wonderful prizes. If not I hope the person who wins this pan doesn’t have one and will enjoy it for many dishes to come! Winnie Jackson
Just a reminder of simplicity and goodness. Cast iron cookware remind me of peaceful days filled with delicious kitchen aromas!
I love cooking with cast iron. It not only tastes better it he!p with your needed iron. I am low on iron and my doctor suggested cooking in cast iron. I have been doing it ever since. I would love your cookbook.