pickles

joined 1 year ago
[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago

My vote is for a 10-12" traditional cast iron pan. I've used every type of pan out there, and the one I leave sitting out on my stove is my trusty cast iron skillet that was my great great grandparents'. It will oulive me too!

Buying:

I would recommend to not buy new. Buy an old used one that ideally has a smooth surface, not a rough one. (The newer ones have a dimpled surface due to how they're molded and they take longer to season up in my opinion.) Check the old pan for bulges, cracks, and extreme rust (like the whole thing is orange). If there's a few rust spots, that can be fixed with a good scrub, a thin coating of oil, and an hour in a 400 degree oven. That's it! If you are cooking with the same pan a lot, you don't need to worry about it rusting ever again. Just always coat it in a thin layer of high heat oil. (I prefer avocado or safflower.)

Cooking:

Never put food in a cold pan! Let it warm up first. Put a bead of water in to check if it's ready, it will sizzle when the pan is hot. If food sticks, add liquid or oil and scrape the bottom good with a metal spatula. You don't have to be gentle with cast iron!

Cleaning:

After cooking, turn off your burner and immediately remove all the food (do not leave it in the pan to cool! Harder to clean) and run it under blazing HOT tap water (I wear kitchen gloves for this step!) The temp change won't be high enough to damage your pan. Scrub it out with a copper chore boy or very stiff brush all over, then put back on the still warm burner (if you use electric) or turn the burner on low and wait for the water to evaporate off, it'll only take a minute or two. Then rub the pan lightly ALL OVER, every bit, with a high heat cooking oil. I keep a small rag in some oil for this purpose. Done! It takes me like 3 min to clean the pan, tops.

This cleaning method is sooo much easier than having to deal with any of my other pans. If you wash it hot and keep it seasoned, nothing will stick and it'll last forever!

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tonka beans are illegal to sell in food, but you can get them shipped online and use them in your home kitchen. I'm in the US and I have some in my pantry right now. I've tried them in cookies but I'll try them in ice cream too, thanks for the tip!

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago

A few extra tips: don't put any cruciferous veg into your stock bag, like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, etc. They will make your stock smell sulfurous. Bread pudding is another great use for stale bread and dairy.

My newest scrap discovery is using the liquid from canned fruit and leftover yogurt to make homemade popsicles.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago

No washing, the boiling water sterilized anything nefarious on the eggs. I don't wash my cast iron either, just rinse and kill it with fire on the stove.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 1 year ago

For me, romantic attraction means I have all of the warm swoony fuzzy feelings for another person, where I want to spend time with them, do things for them, have a deep, emotionally close relationship with them...the only things I don't want to do with them are sexual things like get naked and touch each other's genitalia and stuff.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah most of what he says is based on nothing but his own flawed logic. Cass Eris has some scathing videos debunking a lot of his 'research' from a cognitive psychologist perspective and they are both densely informative and hilarious.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Congrats, what a relief! I've found a lot of people take their cues from me as far as how I act when telling them. If I drop it in casually they take it casually. If they make it a big deal when I'm trying to be casual about it, then it's a yellow flag.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago

I concur!! I used to burn so much popcorn lol. The company is also amazing, the first one I got looked slightly wonky, but after a phone call and a few photos they were able to figure out it was damaged in transit and sent me a new lid within a week!

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago

Oh yes! I love my giant bowls for washing voluminous leafy greens and fermenting fruit vinegars.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I'm embarrassed, but...my microwave gets a lot of use. I meal prep and reheat a lot, though sometimes I get fancy and finish in the toaster oven. I also bake all my bread, and the kitchenaid is invaluable for kneading all that dough.

The most esoteric tool I use on the reg is probably the whirley pop, it makes the best stovetop popcorn, which I snack on at least a couple times a week.

[–] pickles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Welcome friend! Thank you for sharing. There's no wrong way to be yourself. I don't identify as trans, so I can't speak to that question, but what I can do is encourage you to think about what gender expression speaks to you. You get to decide if you're a man who likes to wear skirts, a woman who likes to dress femme on bottom and masc on top, if your body feels right with a vulva or a penis, or any other combination imaginable! Listen to that small voice, follow your joy to yourself.

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