Linda McCoy

The ones we had must have been the mud daub. 

Well, I, too am allergic to bee stings and wasp stings.  I tend to go in panic mode when they come too near me.  I have a bedroom at my daughter's house nearby (stay to watch the grandaughter sometimes).  Last May, I went in my room and saw 2 big black wasps with the drooping legs hovering in the room.  I had to have my son-in-law kill them for me.  Then went outside and saw that they were making a nest in the shutter by the window.  Tons of them going in and out.  I have to confess that I went to the hardware store and bought a wasp spray and sprayed the #X&! out of them.  They were coming in thru a small hole in the screen.  I didn't open that particular window for quite some time.  Hope I don't have to resort to that tactic this year again - will take early precautions.  Thanks for the advice on wasp traps.

Ahhhh, I love my cast iron skillet.  Tonight we were going to grill some sirloin tip steaks on the gas grill - made the baked potatoes in the oven - cut up the salad and then turned on the grill.  Guess what? - Outta gas - it ran out while still preheating.  So I turned to my trusty cast iron skillet and the steak was better  than it would have tasted on the grill.  Whatta treat.  Perfectly cooked, perfect color on the outside, tender on the inside.  Heaven.

Recipe looked so good I am trying it now with jarred kraut and bone-in chops.  Just put it in the crockpot - thanks Gwen for sharing the recipe.  I had 2 apples >)

oh - and 350 is good - I let it season  while the oven is heating and after it gets to 350 let it stay for 2 or 3 minutes

Your pot is new and it is a Lodge - they do things differently.  I would say that you don't have to strip the origonal seasoning, but should build on that.  Try cooking in it first with a good coating of olive oil and then wiping down with paper towel so coating is all over and then cook your food - after wipe out well getting all particles off - no washing if you don't need to - use the "salt" method to get off anything that stuck to the pot.  Building on the seasoning is important and make sure you get the pot dry but with a thin coating of oil after using.

I have been using olive oil and occasionally mixing it up with bacon drippings.  It's been working fine for me - my eggs just slide out of the skillet.  I've recently cooked chicken with root vegetables in my larger skillet, chicken cordon bleu (a little messier cleanup since some of the cheese ran out on the skillet bottom) potato cubes and all kinds of eggs.  The olive oil worked fine for seasoning.

While it has been months since you posted this, I have to add my 2 cents...when I was a kid my Father used to make popcorn every night for me and my brother - if I was in trouble it was "2 weeks, no popcorn".  The popcorn was always cooked in  heavy bottomed pot in olive oil.  You would coat the bottom with olive oil, add kernals to cover bottom, turn on heat and put on the lid.  When the popping started to slow down a lot you would turn off heat and take off stove .  Salt it.  I still make it this way - will try it in a CI skillet and bet it will be great!

Was at my daughter's til Wednesday, but am now back home - plan on cooking with my cast iron this weekend!!  I used to have a Lodge griddle and didn't really like it - believe I left it behind when I moved.  Will be using the Griswold's this weekend - thanks again!

I am a newby that just stumbled on the article on cooking with cast iron.  Last year I got some free cast iron fry pans from a woman whose mother had passed away and she was giving away the stuff whe didn't want.  Well after reading your article and digging my pans out of the cupboard, I found that I have a 10 inch Griswold 8, an 8 inch Griswold 6 and a small Wagner!  All 3 are well seasoned and smoothe and now I am anxious to use them more often - not just for the occasional egg or bacon.  Thankx for the terrific information!