Cast-Iron Cooking- book review with a bonus coloring page

I've been planning for a while to re-do and post the cast iron design I made for my daughter last year as a coloring page, then got this book to review and decided to combine the two. The coloring pages are at the bottom of the review!

Rachel Narins' Cast-Iron Cooking is a gorgeous book from Storey Publishing.

Open it up, and it starts with an overview of what cast iron is, the benefits of cooking with it, and how to care for it. For people who haven't started using it yet, it's the original non-stick, and properly cared for, it will last for generations. It retains heat well and can be used at high temperatures. Seasoning it and cleaning it are very easy and it's worth the effort.

Then it gets into the recipes- Oh my.. it gets into the recipes. So what I look for in a cookbook can be complicated. I want a good variety and good, clear instructions and ingredients that can be found easily. This one falls into that sweet spot quite handily. It's multi-culturally inspired recipes are a delight and as a bonus- it has a few recipes that are vegan or vegetarian. There are also some incredibly simple recipes like grilled cheese sandwiches- which I'll admit to be very partial to and picky about it. Making a grilled cheese sandwich in a cast iron skillet is simply the best way to get it perfect.

My favorite recipe in the book is the Salmon Cakes- they are a delicious use for leftover salmon and even my salmon-hating husband likes them. This recipe is savory, full of flavor, and includes a really good simple tartar sauce recipe.

Other highlight recipes for my family are the
Mango Curry with Cashews (vegetarian with a vegan option)- spicy and delicious and adaptable.
Cheesy Fondue- Everyone needs a good fondue recipe, this one is classic and simple.
Fajitas with Steak- this is one of those things that cast iron just shines for because of the heat you can use with it.

There is also a recipe for a spicy gingerbread that I'm looking forward to making when the weather gets cooler. I love a good gingerbread and this one looks fantastic for cold evenings.

You can get it from your favorite bookstore.

Check out Storey Publishing on Facebook!

Now for the coloring page, click the images below for larger versions.

You can get this design on a shirt on Redbubble HERE

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Facets Mandala to color

I got a really bad cold this month. So the first part of the month was gardening and having fun with my family, then the second part was curling up with books and a box of tissue. Sorry! There wasn't much drawing this month.

I hope you enjoy this facets mandala. Click the images below for larger versions to print and color.

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Potting new strawberries from runners

The photo above is some Tristans that I potted off runners from my original pot of Tristan strawberries. I actually had 2 runners, but gave my brother one when I realized the pot of French strawberries I was going to give him had several runners coming off of it. Since he's planning to plant a lot more strawberries for his granddaughter, I told him I'd write up a tutorial on how to handle the runners.


So first things first- a plant that is sending out a lot of runners is putting energy into that, and won't set as many flowers or berries. So if you want a plant bearing a lot of fruit, you want to cut off the runners as soon as you see them. But strawberries need to be replaced every few years, so the best method to keep them going is to have mother plants to make babies, and have some of those babies be next year's mother plants. Nature does this all on it's own with wild strawberries, but since it's your garden, container or otherwise, you probably want a little more control over the process. Also in cases like my precious Tristans- they do better in pots, and with pots I can overwinter them under my porch so they don't get as cold.

So, this is the plant that had a bunch of runners-

The runners are the long bare stem like things coming out of the pot. A couple inches from the end of each of these is a node, like a little elbow in the stem, that will have a couple leaves on it.

That's what you want to plant. Sometimes they will have roots starting when you catch them, sometimes they won't. This pot is full of organic soil, compost, and a bit of perlite to keep the soil mix light and easier to lift and to help drainage. I use perlite or vermiculite in all my pots to make them lighter, and as I switch out pots, dump that soil mix into my raised beds to make up for erosion and also to help keep the soil in my beds from getting too compacted.

This is a node with some roots starting.

Now what you want to do is anchor that node in the pot. In my beds, I've used small pebbles to do in the past, but for pots, I usually go with a hair pin. Easy, cheap and I always have a lot of them on hand. So if the node has roots, I'll dig a small hole and put it in then sweep some of the soil over them. Otherwise, I just pin the node in place.

This is what it looks like when it's done-

In a week, I'll check to see how they are doing. The one that had roots already should be ready to cut the runner at that point. The rest may or may not be. If it looks like there is a fair amount of growth- and they do grow fairly fast once they are rooted, I'll cut all the runners. 

In the spring, feed the pots, or pot up to a bigger pot if you think the soil is exhausted and watch your strawberries grow! 

Infinity mandala to color

One of the canonical tenets of Vulcan philosophy in the original Star Trek series is IDIC- Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations. In the series, this represented by a medallion designed by Gene Roddenberry that his company offered for sale. Read more here- Memory Alpha- IDIC

I used that basic concept as the inspiration for this mandala of two interlinked infinity symbols framed by twists which reinforce that, a star, and the rays design. I like the idea that no two colorists are going to use the exact same colors, that there are so many ways to color this in and so many different visions and ideas for the best colors to use on any coloring page. That there is no one right way, but rather, as many right ways as there are colorists. It appeals to the hippie in me, that there are so many things that are right for individuals and that it doesn't have to be done the same way for everyone.

So click the images below to for large versions of this infinity mandala to color! I hope you enjoy it.

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