Northwest Edible Life

urban homesteading in the pacific northwest

1Recent Posts by

{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.

1

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I’ll start by saying that I don’t want/need this cast iron. I am thankful for people like you who share freely a better way of living. For showing people that there is a way to better living in your own backyard! I have a lot to be thankful for, way too many things to list. Some of the highlights would include expanding our garden to 3000 sq. ft. and got a fall cover crop on it. We raised and ate turkeys for the first time and it was delicious. Got a new roof on the hen house for our layers. The pantry is full of canned goods and boxes of apples. Venison in the freezer. Won the election for Mayor in our small town. Our anniversary was yesterday on Thanksgiving day–21 years. Our 3 children are all happy and healthy. Oh, and I “got rid of” my type 2 diabetes through clean eating and exercise! It has been a fabulous year! Thank you for being you. Please give the cast iron to someone who really needs it! We have about 10 pieces and really don’t need or want any more. Thank you, Jon

  2. I’m thankful to be able to live my life pretty much the way I like it, without fear or deprivation. And kittens. Very thankful for kittens.

  5. I am thankful for all of my wonderful friends and family. I am thankful to be able to spend time with everyone for the holidays – all those who are near – because next year we will start a new chapter in our lives and be moving to Seattle! Also thankful for that opportunity. I am thankful for my doggies – we’ve had a hard time with them but every day it gets a little better.

  6. I am thankful that I awoke this morning. Having the opportunity to share all the wonderful people, places and things (all except the douches-waffles of course). Wishing you the best holidays and coming year.

  8. My little sister wrote this. It expresses what I am thankful for.

    Maluna Ke Anuenue
    (Over The Rainbow)
    Andrea’s Thanksgiving prayer

    I am forever humbled and uplifted
    by the blessings I have received in my life.
    I am most grateful for my family and friends
    who have graced my life with such abundant Love.
    Together may we all learn not to clutter our minds and hearts
    with pilikia (pettiness).
    Instead, may we strive to achieve and reflect
    our own greatness within that is the truth of us.
    Our spiritual fabric is woven from the aka and fiber of God.
    No one has ever walked this plane who is any greater
    or any less then each of us in divine potential.
    May we realize our potential together.
    May we pay our deepest respect and gratitude
    to those who have come and gone before us
    and made our life journey so rich.
    May we all find the most direct path
    to the joyousness within our hearts……..
    for joy is the foundation of healing and enlightenment.
    May we laugh our most joyous laughter
    and cry our most heartfelt tears…………
    as we rejoice in our ability to feel
    from the heights to the depths.
    May that golden sunlight of laughter,
    as it meets the nurturing rain of our tears,
    fill our hearts with a glorious rainbow
    that shines through our eyes
    and uplifts the spirits of all whom we meet.
    May we then together with winged hearts
    Soar over the rainbow!
    This is my prayer.
    So Be It!
    Love, Andrea

  9. I am thankful for my friends and family. If I win this set, I would share it with my circle of friends who all hang out together at a cabin in northern Michigan. The cabin is always open to anyone who needs a break. Last year I accidentally left my cast iron skillet up there for a few months, and everyone enjoyed using it. I would love to be able to gift a whole set of cast iron cookware to the cabin and the group!

  10. We have recently moved to Colorado from the Westcoast and I am particularly Thankful that Colorado had turned out to be pretty awesome. The Westcoast is home, always will be, but the sunny days and mountains at our doorstep are hard to beat.

  11. I am thankful for the good in the world; Good people, good food, acts of kindness, the beauty of nature. I am also thankful my partner and I survived almost two years of long distance dating between Oregon and California, and I’m thankful to be back in the beautiful Pacific NW where I was able to have a cozy and wonderful Thanksgiving with him and our dog.
    Thank you for your generosity with this contest!

  12. I am full of gratitude for this moment, and this one, and this one (ad infinitium). I am grateful that I have a wonderful daughter who opened my heart. I am thankful that my husband and I are reconciling and going mushroom hunting today! I am thankful that my mother and sister love me. Yup, I’m just full of it today!

  13. I am thankful that I am blessed beyond what I deserve with a loving husband who is my best friend and four healthy children.

  14. I’m thankful that there are writers who have already gone down the path I’m starting, and not only share their successes, but also their failures and foibles. It makes it a lot easier to believe I too can grow food, raise rabbits, chickens, and bees, and it will be okay if I mess it up once in a while.

  15. I am thankful for a supportive group of friends and family! I am also thankful for the series of good luck and privilege that has allowed me to do silly wonderful things with my life, like riding my bike across the country and working at organic farms. I am thankful for future opportunities to use my luck, privilege and determination to help others achieve their dreams. I am also thankful for black and beautiful cast iron.

  17. I’m especially thankful for my husband, Thanksgiving day marked our two month anniversary! I’m thankful for our families and our home and all the wonderful blessings we have in our country. When I was making Thanksgiving dinner for the first time for my inlaws I was reminded how thankful I am for good teachers. With every step of the meal and every dish on the table I was thinking “Nana always kneads her dough like this,” “Grampa uses this for a marinate,” “Mom taught me how to chop an onion like this.” It was endless! Nothing I did to prepare that meal came from my head, I was a part of an ancient dance, the way my family has moved throughout their kitchens for generations. Everything I cooked was only because of the teachers that inspired me. I am thankful for you too, Erica! You have let us all peak over your shoulder in the garden and in the house and showed us a thing or two. Thanks for teaching us a thing or two!

  18. I am not a fan of thanksgiving, well I do like the food, and try to be thankful all year round. I am a fan of cast iron cookware.

  19. I – and my wonderful husband Michael, who has just nursed me through a hip replacement which meant taking care of the horses, chickens all the garden and other chores – are immensely grateful that we have a beautiful little piece of land in Montana where we can raise pretty much all our own food, eggs, veggies, meat chickens and a piggie a year, together with a deer out of the pasture, as well as a lamb from a neighbor. We don’t have to either buy food or rely on the food industrial complex which means we are extremely healthy and can indulge our love of cooking. I am in love with cast iron and don’t use anything else to cook, and actually traveled to London to visit my daughter with three Lodge pans for her birthday (don’t even ask about the overweight charges lol). We raise heirloom sustainable veggie plants which we sell at the Farmers Market, participate in a CSA, save heirloom seeds and I regularly drop off excess stuff at a local shelter which is entirely supported by the community. We consider ourselves immensely fortunate and spread the joy around our valley.

  20. I’m thankful for good healthy foods fresh from the earth! I’ve been blessed to have fun in my kitchen cooking up real meals with csa farm fresh fruits & veggies and it makes me so happy to be surrounded by lovely bright alive things 🙂 my only complaint is a lack of good sensible cookware… these look amazing!!

  22. I’m thankful that my hell of a pregnancy is over and, after many years of waiting, can finally snuggle into a child of my own.

  25. This year I am thankful for my amazing service dog – Owen – who makes it possible for me to work fulltime AND enjoy my life with friends and family.

  26. I am thankful for so many things; a loving family, wonderful friends, a warm home, and lots of love in my life!

  27. I am most thankful for my boyfriend, who is being so supportive during my writing of my bachelor’s thesis.

  28. There are too many things to count. I’m thankful for all the obvious things, certainly; roof over my head, food on my plate, family by my side, relatives close by, etc. I’m thankful that I can work from home… sometimes. Sometimes it’s a frickin’ curse – “sometimes” being whenever the (blessed) children are in the house or when I’m just so lazy that I can’t make myself log off of Facebook and set the nose to the grindstone. I’m thankful to have nearly any information I need or want at my fingertips 24 hours a day. How long should I go on? The more I think about it, the less I realize I have to complain about.

  29. I am thankful for a bountiful harvest of not only veggies but of friendships cultivated in our neighborhood’s community garden.

  30. I am thankful that back in February, when it was depressingly cloudy and I was grossly pregnant, that you posted about planting peas, which inspired me to get my butt up and go out in the greenhouse and plant some peas. They didn’t produce jack squat, but it sure made me feel better to put my fingers in the dirt! Happy Thanksgiving, Erica!

  31. This year I am thankful for food to eat and a roof over my head, and that one of the most stressful months of my life is almost over.

  32. I am thankful for the gardens in my life. I am thankful for my parents who taught me how to grow food, and beauty. I am thankful for my parents, who taught me how to prepare that food, in beauty. I am thankful for the opportunity to pass that knowledge on to my son. I am thankful for cast iron, which will continue on, making beautiful food, long after I am gone.

  33. I am so incredibly thankful for my friends! They lift me up when I am down and tell me the truth when it’s so necessary. They make me laugh until my belly aches and are just such great roll models for life. I seriously don’t know how I lucked out with the most amazing set of friends all across the country.

    KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile

  34. I am thankful for all my family, for so many things, but right now foremost on my mind is that I just spent Thanksgiving with my almost 80 year old Mom who made a delicious turkey, and I sorta helped her with her fabulous stuffing. She did the gravy, the cranberry salad, and creamed peas and onions. I did the mashed potatoes. (Big whoop) I AM SO THANKFUL TO STILL HAVE HER WITH ME. SHE HAS BEEN SUCH A BLESSING TO ME ALL OF MY LIFE. I have never known another person who is so loving, so giving, so selfless. She is incredible. I LOVE YOU MOM!

    • I am extremely grateful God has brought me through all I have been through this year and continues to guide me. I am especially grateful for my family of friends who support me when I can’t support myself.

  36. I am thankful for a job and income that covers my basic needs and is beginning to to start paying off my debts.

  37. I’m thankful for my wonderful son and husband. We gardened for the first time this year and were able to contribute a sweet potato casserole – enough to feed 20 people! To our thanksgiving meal. Yesssss for homegrown!

  38. I’m thankful for my wonderful husband, who introduced me to your great blog this year, and who would most use this cast iron set, as he does most of the cooking around here.

  39. Was just looking at this set last night online, and telling my husband I’d like to add a griddle like that and the Dutch oven to my cookware. This would be perfect! Thanks for the opportunity to win it. We just bought a small farm in WV and are transitioning from city dwellers to country life. I am so thankful to be able to live this life style.

  40. Hello,
    I am SGT Pauline Johnson. I am so very grateful for my family, although I was not able to be with them this Thanksgiving there is much to give thanks for.
    I have a beautiful little family waiting for me back home in Colorado. My husband and 2 children (5 and 9). My favorite thing to do when at home is to cook for my family.

    I follow a few blogs and have my favorite recipe websites, but it truly is a pleasure to follow this blog. While I am deployed I pin recipes that I want to make for my family when I return. When I home, the tried and tested family favorites make it to my blog. Those recipes include some from my lovely grandmother (passed away a few years ago). Every once in a while my mother shares a picture of an old piece of paper, brown from aging, wrinkled from being stored away. The recipe written neatly in cursive letters that run into each other remind me that my grandmother was always cooking and baking for those she loved; family and friends, even throughout having cancer it was her duty to take care of others in her life.

    I cherish her life and my memories with her and my mother. I learned so much about baking and canning and how to make the best stews for cold winter nights.

    I am thankful for those memories and thankful to share them and build them with my husband and children.

    Looking forward to being re-united with my family again soon.
    Happy Thanksgiving
    ~Pauline

  42. I am thankfull for my wonderful husband,and my beautiful daughter, who both support me learning to cook from scratch and still love me when dinner is better served in the garbage!

  45. I am thankful for my two healthy children and my wonderful husband. And family and friends. And that we are still strong even though my husband just lost his job in October. We are still pushing forward.

  46. We are thankful for chickens in our backyard and some ingredients for turkey noodle soup coming from our garden.

  47. I am thankful for my family. My aunt and uncle live nearby again, and my in-laws were happy to have us for Thanksgiving instead of Christmas this year.

  49. I am thankful for my family and that I was able to cook a meal that brought everyone together this year. I also am thankful we all decided to stay home from Black Friday!

  50. I am thankful that my kids’ grandparents are healthy enough to know my kids, and that we can Skype with great grandparents who live far away.