End of Summer Treats

Behold a sassy jalapeño margarita, padrone peppers with pancetta, and an heirloom tomato salad with figs, arugula and feta. Thanks, Healdsburg Bar and Grill!

What are your favorite foods to eat during Indian summer?

Curing Cast Iron

If you're like me, you love cast iron so much you want to see it treated the way it deserves- frequently and with respect. Nothing breaks my heart more than cast iron that sits in the back of the cupboard, never used.

I rescued one of these pans, a 4 1/2 quart dutch oven with handle. It wasn't in bad shape, but had never been seasoned properly.

I already have a newer "Lodge" mini cast iron (just right for frying a single egg). They are already seasoned for you, but I figured I'd give it another coat if I'm seasoning the dutch oven anyway.

Isn't it fantastic? It's amazing what some people don't want. I sanded off the rusty spots and scrubbed the pot out with soapy water (this is the only time to use soap- before you season it).

Then I dried it over the stove top and covered the entire surface with bacon grease, both inside and out.

Put into a 350 degree oven for at least an hour. The house will get a slight metallic smell to it specific to curing pans, but once you make that association, it's kind of a comforting smell. Turn off the oven and leave the cast iron in until completely cooled.

Once it is cured, do not use soap when cleaning. This improved a lot, but could probably use another seasoning at some point. Luckily the more you use, the better the seasoning. Maintained cast iron will last your lifetime and well into your grandchildren's.

I never knew what the numbers meant, since it was clearly not an 8 quart pot. I found a chart by PanMan, listing each model number and capacity.

There are zillions of cast iron enthusiasts out there, but a couple other sites I found with helpful info and recipes:

http://ramblingsoncastiron.blogspot.com/

http://blackirondude.blogspot.com/

http://www.chuckwagonsupply.com/

The Ark of Taste

A few months ago, Inside Sonoma published this article on rare local foods. Sonoma County has four of the 200 regional foods recognized on the Slow Food Movement's "Ark of Taste" list of foods under threat.

Photo by Ariane, Inside Sonoma

Our specialties include: dry Monterey jack cheese, gravenstein apples, crane melon and mission olives. Have you had any, or all of them? The good news is the Slow Food Movement has heightened awareness and these items are making a resurgence.

What are the endangered foods where you live? Check out the Ark of Taste site to find out.

Ettorina's China

When you're in college, there is nothing less appealing than relatives trying to pawn off their housewares onto you, especially when they're family heirlooms from aging relatives. It's not that I didn't appreciate my Uncle Clarence thinking of me. It was more of a what does a 19-year-old girl need her great-aunt's wedding china for? A hope chest? A dowry?

Plus, the design was flowery and finished with silver edges. This was at the millenium, you know, when plates needed to white and from Ikea. Or chipped and from Goodwill, like any proper college house.

Needless to say, the china sat in a box in my father's garage for the next decade.

Two weeks ago, I worked at a catered wedding full of Etsy inspired touches. The couple had been collecting old china from thrift stores for years and the mismatched, flowery plates on the tables with vintage books and mason jars was exactly my style.

I am only now, at 31, just discovering my style with a recent move into my own studio. For the first time in my life, I'm putting pictures up on walls, unpacking boxes completely, and buying flowers for the coffee table. I've never been much of a nester, so it's been a fun new exploration into the world of design and creating a comforting space.

And it also means this lonely china finally has a home! Thank you, Ettorina and Clarence. I promise I will put it to use.