Pictures of Miscellaneous Stuff & Things

[treefarmer]

Miss Joy found this greenbrier leaf on her walk yesterday afternoon. It shows us that fall is on the way even here in the South. She displayed it by an antique bottle, so I put my Case TB62028 with it for our 1st fall decoration.
Treefarmer

[Just Plain Dave]

I've had these for over 30 years. Paint on the Tootsietoy stuff didn't stay pretty.

[glennbad]

I've been working on this project for about 3-4 weekends so far. I've been bugging my wife to do a retaining wall where our porch meets up with the garage/driveway. There was always a reason not to...too busy, money, etc. Well, this year, she started bugging me about it. Seeing that I was finally feeling better, we jumped in feet first.

Here's a before pic...

After a lot of digging, here's an "in-progress" pic...

And what we finished over the weekend...

I was fortunate that my brother-in-law has a little Kabota tractor. That made the digging easier. We pulled out tons of ledge, which surprisingly, my brother-in-law has taken most of for a natural wall he is making. I also have to give my wife a lot of credit. Most of her projects involve me doing all the work, but she has been right there beside me the whole time busting her butt with the digging and hauling. We still have a ton of work to do, but we're getting there.

[bestgear]

Looks really nice Glenn. I remember my days of working on our dairy farm in New England, every time the shovel went in the ground it hit a rock. Good to have a good woman to work side-by-side with, that's a keeper in my opinion

[Quick Steel]

That is a fine looking wall. A really nice job. Congrats to both of you. [Reminds me of a wall I saw in China once.]

[jmh58]

Looks GOOD Glenn.. Nice job!! I like the stone color!! John

[philco]

Looks great Glenn.

[gsmith7158]

Excellent job Glenn. That's going to look great!

[FRJ]

That is pretty neat, Glenn and a lot of work. You and your wife will never regret doing that.
Congratulations to both of you.

Look what fell my way today at a second hand store.
Just had to see if it would work.

[glennbad]

That pancake looks tasty!

[treefarmer]

Joe,
We have one of those flat cast iron pans and when my dear old mother came to live with us, she called it a "spider". She was born in western W.Va. in 1907, don't know if that was a regional name she remembered from her girlhood or what? Our flat skillet was made by Lodge.
Yours appears not to have been used much or had a big time cleanin', it'll be with you a long time.
Treefarmer

[FRJ]

Treefarmer, bless your mother, I believe I have heard that term before.
I know it as a griddle. I was tickled to find it today. It's a classic.

It was used quite a bit and needed a big time cleaning. Had a lot more scud on it than I needed. I can make it mine now.
Thank you.

[treefarmer]

There you go Joe, put your own "scud" on it! I understand, you just don't know what that "original non-stick" surface is comprised of. I've seen folks put them in a open wood fire and burn them out and start all over with the seasoning process.
Treefarmer

[jerryd6818]

It's a Griswold too. The way I hear it, that brand is the most desirable among collectors of cast iron ware.

[FRJ]

I have heard of people putting them in fires too and I think that would be a good way to get the results you want.
The seasoning process isn't all that hard to attain. I scrubbed this one with soap and Bon Ami and a steel scouring pad and then with a sponge and soap. The sweet thing about the old ones is the surface is very smooth. With use it comes around pretty quickly.

As Jerry says, the Griswold are very collectable but truth be told almost all of the old cast iron is great to cook with if the surface is smooth. Some early cast iron was quite thin and well cast but I have a large cast iron skillet that was made in Japan long ago and is very heavy and a good user. It is great cook ware but I can't imagine any one determining weather a meal came from cast iron or stainless steel. The beauty of cast iron or any other heavy cook ware is in the consistent retention of heat. A strong cooking technique is "always control your heat" and the heavier cookware will help with that.

[fergusontd]

zThose old iron skillets and pans are still superior to any cookware today.
We've got an old skillet my mom gave us. ftd

[carrmillus]

........I've got 28 pieces hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen, we have always used them here, several of the dutch ovens and skillets came from my grandmothers kitchen!!!

[treefarmer]

I just took the time to look at the histories of both Griswold and Lodge companies. Griswold from Pennslyania, ran from 1865-1957 before being bought out and combined with Wagner, etc.. Lodge began in Tennessee in 1896 and is still controlled by the Lodge family according to online info.
We have a bunch of cast iron but only regularly use 2 pieces, a no name square skillet, 10" X 10" and a bigger, 12" Lodge round skillet. Couldn't cook without them according to Miss Joy!
Treefarmer

[Just Plain Dave]

Some dead Presidents.

[zzyzzogeton]

I love cast iron cookware. I have my grandmother's, my mother's and what I have accumulated.

This is what "usually" is thought of as a "spider", also called a "camp skillet" as the tripod legs allow easier use in a coal bed. but I have seen the term "spider" applied to similar "non-legged" skillets.

[FRJ]

Now that's pretty neat, zz. How big is that nice deep skillet?

[Just Plain Dave]

Just a toned 68D Kennedy

[mrwatch]

I googled GRISWOLD SPIDER and it showed pictures of the GRISWOLD name in a circle of what looks spider web. Perhaps that is where the term came from?

[zzyzzogeton]

That spider is 12 x 4-1/4. The handle is about 10 inches long.

Most of the camp skillets are either 11 or 12 inches across. I've seen some as small as 3 inches. The only practical use for one that small that I can come up with is melting lead for pouring into musket ball molds in camp.

[FRJ]

Thanks Z, of course it's a good practical size. A great design all the way around.