Northwest Edible Life

urban homesteading in the pacific northwest

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{Giveaway} Five Piece Lodge Cast Iron Cookware Set

You know what’s blacker than Black Friday? Beautiful, glistening, well seasoned cast iron cookware.

Oh, yeah, baby. Screw waiting in line for some discount plastic crap or overpumped electronica that’ll be in a landfill in 6 months anyway. If you must shop, shop for something hewn from the living, molten rock of Earth. Something hefty enough to stop a bullet. Something that holds heat so well a steak will tremble and bow down before it. Something you can pass down to your grandbabies. Something strong and heavy and black enough to rival Black Friday itself.

Shop for cast iron. Something like this Lodge Five Piece Cast Iron Cookware Set. Or better yet, don’t shop at all. Enter to win this set without even having to even put on your pants. Hey, I have a three-year-old. I am well aware of how overblown pants are as a “thing” in our society.

Lodge Cast Iron Giveaway

Thankful, Joyful, Turkeyful, etc.

You may remember this set from the recent post on Skillet Brussels Sprouts. I couldn’t get it out of my head, but I couldn’t justify buying it for myself, given that I really do have quite enough cast iron, thank you very much.

Solution: Giveaway!

You see, as I type this post it’s Thanksgiving evening and I’ve had a few glasses of my husband’s excellent homebrew, so I’m feeling all “I love you, man!” towards my readers (except for the douche-waffles, but we are ignoring them). It is a screaming blessing to be the girl behind the keyboard of this blog, to be able to connect with, and inspire, and be inspired by other gardeners and productive homemakers. It is an honor to learn from you and to share what I’ve learned, and to help connect questions to answers.

So, this Thanksgiving I thought I’d give thanks for my readers by giving cast iron, which is – as we all know – the heaviest way to give thanks.

Enter To Win

Update: This contest is now over. Congratulations to winner Benita, who is “thankful that my 28 yr old niece was able to come home for Thanksgiving. She recently finished up radiation from her 3rd major diagnose of cancer since she was 23.”

To win this five piece set of Lodge cast iron, simply leave a comment on this post telling me what you are thankful for this holiday season.

This set includes a 10-inch griddle (excellent for pancakes, crepes, etc.), an 8-inch and 10-inch skillet (excellent for, well, everything) and a 5-Quart Dutch oven with lid (necessary for No Knead Bread). It’s a pretty awesome starter set of cast iron. There is very, very little you couldn’t cook on these pieces, and I say this as someone who cooks on cast iron about three times a day.

And look, I know I don’t have to convince you guys – you already know this – but nonstick is bullshit, ok? It’s not good for you or the people you feed (kids? grandma?). It turns out inferior food, and it scratches if you glare at it strongly enough. And according to the Environmental Working Group, “Toxic fumes from the Teflon chemical released from pots and pans at high temperatures may kill pet birds and cause people to develop flu-like symptoms (called “Teflon Flu” or, as scientists describe it, “Polymer fume fever”).”

Cast iron when well seasoned is also pretty dang nonstick but it doesn’t give you flu-like symptons. It just slightly boosts the iron content of your food which is, unless you are very atypical and drink liver smoothies for breakfast, a very good thing. It also goes from stove to oven to table without missing a beat and will help you cook like you really mean it.

So leave a comment and enter to win. I want to buy someone these cast iron pans.

Fine Print Stuff

This giveaway is for the cookware set described here. Contest entirely self-sponsored by Northwest Edible Life (that’s me!). Contest open until Thursday, December 5th 8 PM PST. Winner will be contacted by email. Contest open to residents of the US only, due to shipping costs. Sorry international readers. I still love you, but cast iron is really, really heavy. Fulfillment of prize via Amazon.com. One entry per person. Multiple entries will be disqualified. Void where prohibited by law, blah blah blah. Best of luck everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving, all y’all. Thanks for being the best readers a blogger could hope for.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I am thankful for awesome neighbors who want to start growing food together (and for neighbors who are willing to let us grow food together on their back lot). And if I don’t win your delightful giveaway, you have me convinced, so I will probably run up the street to the 100 year old hardware store that one of my neighbors runs and get me a cast iron Dutch oven. It’s bread-making season!

    • I’m thankful this season brings us the closeness of God to me and family. This year has brought all the members of my family closer to God and each other. We wish all can share this closeness with their families and friends.

  2. I am thankful for the chance that every year I get to have just one more Thanksgiving with my Grandmother. She was the best part of growing up and as she ages and get frailer I know the year is coming when she won’t be with us. I would love to learn to make bread in that Dutch oven so that she could eat a piece. I told her about the process and she currently disbelieves it can be done:)

  3. I’m thankful that all of my (adult) children had a wonderful Thanksgiving, even though they’re all in different places across the county–North Dakota (son in USAF), Texas (daughter/son-in-law/grandkids in USAF), and Pennsylvania (daughter in school). They each spent some time with good friends and reported that they had a great time with wonderful company and fantastic food. It’s not spending the holidays together, but it’s a good second choice.

    • I am thankful for my family! My loving husband, four terrific sons and all my brothers and sisters! And the rest of my family – all those ladies weren’t born from my parents union, but are my sisters none the less!
      PS – I was anemic for years – I am thankful that has been resolved! I started cooking with cast iron after a nurse recommended it at the VA. What the heck couldn’t hurt – right? It ended up being a bit more than a diet problem, but I love cooking on cast iron! And I am also thankful that I don’t have to drink liver smoothies any time of day!

  4. The list of things I am thankful for is endless…I thank God every day for my many blessings: my family and friends; a warm, safe home; and the ability to find people like you to help me in my journey towards real food and sustainability.

  5. I’ve gardened long enough to be thankful how the act of gardening has tweaked (NOT twerked) my mind and body. The inequity is gardening always gives me so much more than I give it.

    You are always so helpful. entertaining, and generous. Thank you for your posts.

  6. I am thankful for feeling thankful. Sounds cheesy, but I’ve learned that not everyone truly feels thankful. I have learned from my young children that feeling thankful and grateful is simple if you allow yourself to see it. I feel thankful for each day and even the “teachable moments”. When I’m frustrated with life, I try to remind myself that I am thankful for my life and what I DO have.

  7. I am quite simply, Thankful. For the last couple of months I have been trying to consciously live in An Attitude of Gratitude and it’s been very eye-opening, calming, and satisfying. When you take the time daily to be aware of everything you have to be thankful for, it transforms you and blows your mind! I highly recommend it!

  9. I wrote a poem about this! Here is part of it, the whole thing I posted on my blog! Enjoy…
    I am thank full…

    full of the gratitude that can make my heart burst and my body explode, into a million little thankful pieces…

    I have a home that is my savior and my paradise, like god and eden, for now.

    my man, a husband, is my best friend,

    my soul mate, my creator mate.

    my 2 corgi dogs are my best friends, inseparable and entangled around my feet when I am at

    home, laughter surrounds us every day.

  10. I am thankful for your wonderful website, oh yeah. And I am thankful for my 4 wonderful children and the news that we are expecting a new grandchild in 2014.

  11. Really enjoy your posts and as a lover of Brussels Sprouts, I especially appreciate the recipe. My 17 year old daughter will soon be heading out on her own, and I have been meaning to get her a Dutch Oven, get it seasoned and ready to go before she departs. Thanks for having this giveaway and I look forward to your future posts.
    V/R,
    Jeff

  12. I’m thankful for the freedom we still have in this country and hopeful we will keep it. The freedom to grow and buy food that has not been laced with chemicals and pesticides. Freedom to choose what you feed your family. The freedom to make your own alternatives to canned, genetically altered and store bought! The freedom to share and learn about how others are taking this long sometimes bumpy ride through life. I am thankful for those who openly share their finds and short cuts to making this sometimes trying life a little bit easier to handle. Thank you Erica for giving us ways to make our lives a little bit easier and for making the sometimes mundane………fun and funny!

  13. I love my cast iron skillet and it’s killing me I don’t have more! My husband bought me a 12 inch skillet for valentine’s day (he obviously knows the key to a girl’s heart) that I use for most recipes that start with “throw x, y,and z into a skillet” but would love a smaller version to replace my nonstick and stainless ones.

    • Also, I am thankful for being healthy for the first time in months and for our amazing little boy who brings joy to my life.

  14. I don’t own any cast iron…yet. Every day I am thankful for my family and our health, but I am feeling extra thankful this year for the land we are living on today. We bought my grandparents farm and are bringing it back alive. So grateful we could make this happen!

  15. Thankful? You bet! All 4 of my young adult children returned to the nest for Thanksgiving–the first time it’s happened in several years. I’m thankful for the other lovely young adults my kids have chosen to bring into our family too. I’m thankful for this husband who supports my whims and is a friend to my soul. I’m thankful for plenty of seasoned wood and our fire pit, for this time to slow down, set aside the rest of the world’s distractions and laugh and talk together. And, I’m pretty sure my nephews were thankful that I provided marshmallows for toasting 🙂

  16. I am thankful for our wonderful birth mother. My husband and I have had a terrible year with pregnancy losses, as well as a failed adoption. We were recently contacted by our current birth mother who is such a blessing in our lives, and is willing to share each and every aspect of her pregnancy. She is due in March, so we are Thankful we will become parents for the first time next year!!

  17. I am thankful for good socks. Yep. Socks, that much-maligned Christmas present, quickly tossed aside and even more quickly forgotten. But good ones are not merely good, they’re great. I’m thankful I learned that sooner rather than later.

  18. I’m thankful for my beautiful family, a job i love, friends near and far and our home 🙂

  19. I am grateful and thankful for the loving support of family and friends. I am thankful, inspired and motivated by this blog and so many others that prove daily that we are growing and learning as a society on the ways we can grow, harvest and eat for not only our health but for the health of our planet. Thankful for all your readers that carry your message to their family and friends!

  20. I’m thankful that I lost my well-paying job four years ago. If I hadn’t, I may have never been brave enough to leave my comfort zone and the secure pay to do something I felt passionate about for a living (agriculture!). I’m thankful that I was able to raise my three daughters to (mostly) adulthood after getting divorced five years ago and that they’re all attending college and I’m really thankful that my youngest earned a four-year scholarship! I’m thankful for that although my girls are self-sufficient now, I am still able to provide them a sanctuary to retreat to when they needed to regroup to go back out there. I’m thankful I waited to sell the bunk beds. I’m thankful that three years ago I found my high school sweetheart and after thirty years apart he is still the kind, loving decent human being I knew him to be, that he loves me and my girls, and my loud, drooly Bloodhounds, Virgil and Ruby. I’m thankful that despite how hard life can be at times, I am surrounded by the love of my children, a good man, and Virgil and Ruby.

  21. I am thankful for a family that i love so much not only to i look at them as my mother/father/brothers, but i also consider each of them my friend.

  23. I have been self employed all my life and I have not always been able to put away for retirement. But here I sit, 11 miles from the nearest city, on 10 acres, with a greenhouse and enough critters to start a zoo. All I have to do is check each month to make sure Obuma is still sending out SS checks. When I roll out each morning, I check on all my survival websites as I drink my coffee. If the sun is shinning, as it usually does here in Ky, I have to get dressed by 10 am to open the windows in the green house to keep the temps under 110 degrees. Of course all the critters are lined up at the fence for their morning feeding.
    So you ask what I am grateful for, to be able to quit worrying about being in the dog eat dog world out there, and being able to sit back and watch my “stuff” grow. Oh, did I tell you I have been know to made some of Ky’s finest to sip while I am watch the world go by?

  24. Hey Erica,
    I know this is going to sound…well kinda odd, but this year I’m grateful for ‘feeling’ gratitude.
    This time last year I was doing that lovely repetitive dance called ” circling the rabbit hole”, and things where feeling pretty nasty. Kinda like what the veggie garden can look like when you have forgotten or haven’t gotten to all the clean up, and the frost has turned what little green was left into that ‘black slime’ that looks like it came right out of a science fiction movie, causing you to not want to get that shit on any part of yourself for fear it will eat a hole through anything it comes in contact with.
    All kidding aside. I’m just aware this year that being able to look around my life and see my family, friends, animals and the gifts my garden gives even with the black slime, all combine to make me the luckiest person I know.

  25. I am thankful to God for providing me with everything I need. A loving husband, a delightful son (now almost 30), a warm home, and today more food than I should have eaten. I am also thankful for blogs like yours who are teaching me so many new things.
    I have never used cast iron. I grew up with stainless steel my mom used. I am still using some of her pieces. They are older than I am. My husband swears by cast iron, as does my BF, so if I win this set I will give it a try and find out what all the hoopla is about. And be thankful for it.

  26. I am spending thanksgiving 3000 miles away from home, but I am so thankful for the welcoming and thoughtful “family” of friends and neighbors that has taken me in this holiday season and made it so much easier to be so far away. I am also thankful for the NW Edible community, who are so full of wisdom, advice and support for all of our collective crazy DIY adventures!

  28. I am thankful for each day I get to spend with my children. There but for the grace of God go I……

  29. I am thankful for delicious local organic brussels sprouts! I used your recipe last night and even my 4 year old couldn’t get enough!

  30. So grateful for a life filled with people who love and support me, for enjoying the journey, and for hope for the future.

  33. I’m thankful that you didn’t surrender on the douche waffles 🙂 But most of all that our dream to move to the US came true.

  34. I am thankful for a new home on beautiful land with a field to farm next year. I am thankful for my awesome husband and the lovely fire in the wood stove. I am thankful for a my new job at the food coop and the warm reception from everyone there. I am thankful for a fridge full of beautiful and nutritious food from all my farmer neighbors. My cup truly runneth over!

  35. I am thankful for so many things, but mostly for Jesus and the freedom to worship Him as we choose.

  36. This Thanksgiving I was able to serve food grown right in my backyard… and for that I am grateful!

  38. I am thankful for my veg and herb garden, fab and funny food blogs (like yours) that keep me inspired, my husband and little pup. But the list could go on. Thanks 🙂

  39. I am thankful for the chance to win something that (thanks to you) I recently decided that I must have 🙂 I am thankful for my kids and my hubby. I am thankful for my newfound love of running which gives me motion, solitude and peace of mind so that I can be a better person. I am thankful that my garden grew tomatoes this year…. a lot of tomatoes! I am thankful for my gloriously large extended family. I only recently found you blog, but I love it. Thanks for all the great info and for sharing with us.

  40. I’m thankful for my parent-in-laws who are letting us move back to the family farm while taking care of us financially as we start up the farm. Grateful for all my family & friends that are supporting & encouraging me in my decision to leave my job to follow my dream. Blessed that my husband has always been there for me, loved me through my chronic illness, & has taken care of me when I haven’t been able to take care of myself. He loves to cook, especially with cast iron and this would be a great gift for him.

  41. I think my nephew said it best when he was about 8 years old, ‘What are you thankful for Matt?’ ‘Grilled cheese sandwiches’ was his reply. I think that about sums it up.

  42. I am thankful that at 0645 PST on Black Friday, I’m not out battling my way through the mall. Still have to work on this whole “sleeping in” concept…

  43. I’m grateful for my 4 healthy boys and being surrounded by family. I’m grateful that even though the man I married was hurt during his last deployment that he is still alive and I can hear his voice and see his smile through the struggle.

  44. I am thankful first and foremost for my amazing family. I am thankful for people like you who enlighten me and keep me educated on the best ways to feed my family. Thanks for all you do!!!!

  47. We looked around, and said, “another year! We’re all still here!” and the youngest (8 years old) gave the prayer. I’m more grateful every year for FRIENDS who love my against-all-odds South Florida vegetables. I’m grateful for the retirement leisure and a body that still mostly works and the space to trial 9 new heirloom leaf lettuces and all the crazy Asian vegs that Johnny’s and Fedco bring out each year. They would taste great sautéed in Lodge cast iron………….

    I’m really grateful for this blog, a little island of natural sanity.

  48. I am very thankful I took the time to drive often the 400 miles this summer to see my parents. My Dad passed away 3 weeks ago, after only knowing for 4 months that he had terminal colon cancer. I am also very thankful that I have 2 brothers and their families close by to my Mom so they can be support to her.

  49. I am so grateful for my wonderful family. And I don’t have any castiron yet so I’m thankful for the opportunity to win some. 🙂