More cast iron friends...

I mentioned a few days ago about the cast iron Dutch oven that my parents found in their basement. I also have another great cast iron find to share with you. My 88 year old neighbor, Roger, is an Eagle Scout. Years before when he could he would camp out, and he had a camp Dutch oven. Two years ago when we had our community garage sale, he mentioned it to me. I told him I would take it. He wanted to give it to me, but I paid him $5 dollars for it. He wouldn't take a penny more. I did buy the gloves and the lifter new. Now all I need is a chimney to light my charcoal and I'll be set. I have yet to use this one.

These are the skillets that I cook in all the time. I also have a 12 inch that is not in the picture.

I have completely rid myself of all other types of fry pans. Everyone has learned to cook in these, but I am the only one who seems to know how to clean them.

Baked Brown Rice

I bake my brown rice in the oven. I used to cook it on the stovetop, but I had mixed results. By baking it in the oven I have fluffy, tender brown rice each and every time. Obviously, brown rice has a different texture than white rice, so it does take a little getting used to. It should not be hard to chew or crunchy. Some of my children actually prefer it to white rice now that they have been eating it for a while. At first, it was not very popular.

Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Give yourself about 1 hour and 10 minutes for prep time plus cooking time. I measure out one cup of brown rice.



Pour the rice into a greased casserole dish.

In a pot on the stovetop, bring to a boil: 2 1/2 cups of water, 1 tsp. of salt, and 1 tbsp of butter or oil.

Here is where the batteries on my camera died and we did not have anymore, so you will have to use your imagination for the rest.

Pour the boiling water over the rice. Cover tightly with one sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil or two sheets of regular aluminum foil. Carefully move the dish into the oven. You can see I use a jelly roll pan under my casserole dish to make it easier to move and in case the water boils out which can happen from time to time.

Bake this for one hour. When you remove it from the oven, fluff it with a fork. Most of the liquid should be absorbed.

Enjoy.