A Day Of Rest?

Well I shipped out the latest knife to my customer by Priority Mail on Friday Feb. 22nd.  It was packed securely with lots of bubble wrap and handed over to the USPS.  The package was insured and had delivery confirmation so that I would know when it was delivered.  Holy Mail Carrier Patman!  It was delivered to my customer the very next day.  What a relief for me.  Now was the custom knife what the customer pictured?

This is a picture I took before shipping it out.  Not a bad looking knife eh? 

Here's another picture of the knife just  hanging around in the woods.

This knife is a present for the customers husband and a lot of thought and care went into it by Jasmine.  So after all was said and done I decided to make a small gift for her.  Actually I decided that a few weeks ago.  In the process of making the handle, I didn't like the first one that I cut out.  It didn't fit my hand properly and if I don't like it no customer is going to get it.  Back to cutting out a new set of handles from the elk antlers I have.  Yada, Yada, Yada, Bada Bing, Bada Boom I used part of those first handles to create a pair of earrings for Jasmine to match her husbands knife.  Hoping she likes them, they are certainly one-of-a-kind.

So after the anticipation of waiting for the package to be delivered and opened, I finally found out that Jasmine did indeed love the knife and sheath I had made, along with the earrings.  What will her husband think of it? 

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 Cast Iron Follies

 This is how it started.  In November 2012, I won a 4 quart Griswold legless dutch over on thee bay.  Well I still have not seen it.  OMG it was a thing of beauty and was waiting to dive into my oven.  Tracking says it ended up in a mail sorting hub somewhere in Pennsylvania?  Here I am waiting and waiting and waiting.  Nothing.

I have two cast iron dutch ovens but they are too big for the two of us. Leslie sells them both for me. After selling them I find smaller cast iron dutch ovens to take their place.  The indoor or legless dutch oven is a Lodge brand and came out of the box seasoned and ready to go.  The outdoor dutch oven is a Stansport and does not come seasoned.  This has to be done before cooking in it.

We had a nice pork shoulder roast from our friends at Tomina Farms.  This was going to be the first thing cooked in my Lodge cast iron.  I got to open it up with a JK Knife that I am testing in a Pass Around. 

I decided that it had to be put in the smoker for a few hours before it went into the dutch oven.  Here it is with a nice cajun rub on it. 

It seems like I'm missing some pictures but oh well.  While the roast was smoking I got a good fire going.  This burned for a while, down to coals before I put the rack over the pit.

The whole thing was coated in vegetable oil and put over the hot coals.  I moved the pieces around occasionally and turned them over and back a few times too.  All this was done to season the cast iron evenly and thoroughly.  After a good hour and a half I took them off the fire and let them cool down.


Wow! I see the pictures turned on their side.  I think you can see it all and get it.  The roast was delicious as were the potatoes, onions and carrots.  While the roast was in the oven I made up a batch of cornbread and baked beans to go along with it.  The cornbread was made in my 8"cast iron skillet.  Ate it all before taking pictures...sorry.

Now I am ready for anything.  Cast iron skillets, indoor dutch oven and outdoor dutch oven.  I'll be making a few trivets so I can use the skillets and indoor DO by the fire.  Also in this picture is a half full glass of Sierra Nevada Torpedo.  Dang I can smell the hops from here.


If you don't have any cast iron, get yourself a skillet at least.  They cook so well and evenly.  You also use less energy because it doesn't take as much heat to cook with.


Those were my Cast Iron Follies for the day.  The first thing in the outdoor dutch oven is going to be squirrel.  Got 3 in the freezer waiting for a good recipe.