Thursday, January 29, 2009

I Have No Excuse for This


I mean, really. My new hobby? The thing that I spend far too much time thinking about and researching online? Is this.



Yeah*


How do I defend myself from accusations of complete and utter geekiness (not that YOU would accuse me of this, right? RIGHT?) when my new hobby is cooking on my woodstove? Seriously. Last night, it was beef, barley, and mushroom soup (YUM). I've warmed up leftovers for my lunch, cooked eggs, made rice, prepared frozen vegetables, and simmered various things. It's just so . . . satisfying. It's like free cooking! I don't have to pay for the electricity! Found money! And it looks so gosh-dang homey to have a big pot of soup simmering away on top of the woodstove!

I think winter is starting to get to me. Send help.

* Some of you may have been thinking, "What a great Le Creuset pot!" I should tell you it is NOT Le Creuset. It's a Lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven. Just like Le Creuset, but about $100 cheaper. The MiL gave it to me for Christmas, and I love it with a deep and burning passion.
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16 comments:

  1. SusanJanuary 29, 2009 at 6:39 AM

    I bet you could make this on there:
    http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/vanilla-almond-rice-pudding/
    Smitten Kitchen is the new crack.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Drew @ Cook Like Your GrandmotherJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:29 AM

    Lodge makes enamled? Oh man, I need to go shopping.

    No, wait ... What I meant to say was yeah, you're a total geek.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Drew @ Cook Like Your GrandmotherJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:30 AM

    Ack. Next time I spel chek.

    enameled
    enameled
    enameled
    enameled
    enameled

    ReplyDelete
  4. The ManagementJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:36 AM

    They do - and they're only about $50 more than the basic cast iron - and yes, that's the best thing ever :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. bigskygirlsJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:41 AM

    You're not a geek. That is awesome! And thanks for the dutch oven info! I always wanted one of those expensive ones, but didn't want to sell my first born to get it. I'll look that up...Lodge. Good job, MiL.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Phoo-DJanuary 29, 2009 at 9:02 AM

    Lol. Don't you feel like you should have a bonnet on while cooking? Stove top cooking is a terrific way to go. You can even make bread in a dutch oven with a lid.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 9:19 AM

    I want to come live at Blackrock.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's meJanuary 29, 2009 at 9:22 AM

    You know what? You are probably the coolest person I've seen all day. It is early, but still... you are a total frontrunner with this. Now we'll expect many more "what's cookin' on the woodstove" posts.

    And I have the "frugal" version as well.

    ReplyDelete
  9. inadvertent farmerJanuary 29, 2009 at 10:18 AM

    Oh that red looks great againsb the black of you woodstove. I would love to cook on mine but the kids would be eternally putting there grubby little fingers into it. Then I would have contaminatied soup and burned finger!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. jeanJanuary 29, 2009 at 11:14 AM

    Ohh, beef barley soup! Did you serve it with bread? Keep these ideas coming. I just convert them into my slow cooker. And that pot is very nice, love it in red.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Chiot's RunJanuary 29, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    Oh how I would love to have an enameled cast iron pot. I bought a cheapie many years ago at Target but it only lasted 2 years (started rusting underneath the enamel).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sweet BirdJanuary 29, 2009 at 12:27 PM

    I'm not gonna lie, that's hawt.

    ReplyDelete
  13. grannyJanuary 29, 2009 at 1:53 PM

    It all looks so cosy!Cant wait till I can get my stove fired up this winter,only another 4 months to go!Some parts of Australia are having a heat wave,114F for the last 4 days.We have been lucky this summer,with only afew days of 100F-104F.This week has been a comfortable 85F.Hope you have a lovely snowy day! :0)

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  14. JulieJanuary 29, 2009 at 4:55 PM

    I don't think it's geeky. I think it looks cozy and warm and wish I could do it too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Country ExperienceJanuary 29, 2009 at 6:02 PM

    If it warms up the room, how geeky can it be? Sounds practical to me.

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:09 PM

    I, too, love it with a deep and burning passion. Will you give it to me? Pretty please?

    You are so not a geek! I got on a similar kick about a year ago on the topic of cooking on a campfire. (In a cast iron dutch oven.) I can't imagine it's that much different from cooking on a woodstove -- maybe slower, I'm not sure. I was so obsessed, my MiL gave me a book called "Camp Cooking." Check it out:

    http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-National-Museum-Service-History/dp/1586857614/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233281269&sr=8-1

    It's chock full of dutch oven meals, including cobbler (which I cooked over a camp fire in Colorado and it was delish!).

    ReplyDelete