Vintage Cast Iron

I wandered into my favorite thrift store earlier in the week and in the 3+ years that I’ve been going there, I’ve never seen cast iron there.

The store is located in a pretty hip part of town and I don’t think I’m the only one hip to the thrifting game.

I surmise as fast as old cast iron comes in, it flies off the messy shelves.

Except this week because I found two pieces.

 I think I can make eggs muffins or who knows what in this piece.

Whatever it’s intended use, I could stop a burglar with it. Theft protection for $10 bucks.

Updated to add: This is an ebelskiver pan for making puffy little filled pancakes. I remember when there was a craze a few years back on blogs about making ebelskivers but I tuned it out because I didn’t have a pan. Well, now I do and can play around.

This piece is small but must literally weigh about 8 to 10 pounds.

Who needs dumbbells? Just get your three sets in with the muffin pan.

And vintage Le Creueset for $6

Or maybe not vintage, just well-used.

I’m fairly certain what I picked up at the thrift store is this 9-inch iron handle skillet, which retails for $110

The pricing structure at thrift stores and antique stores is always amusing. Sometimes true junk is truly expensive.

And sometimes true gems are dirt cheap.

Maybe because this gem is as dirty as dirt is the reason it was $6 bucks.

I found a short and sweet helpful article on how to clean and refurbish cast iron.

A quick google search turns up tens of thousands of hits.

But I really didn’t purchase the cast iron to cook with, but instead to use as photography props. If I can actually cook something in either of them, bonus.

Collecting dishes and filling up my new cabinet is my favorite pastime.

Favorite pastime other than eating Baked Cinnamon Bun Donuts with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze, which I intend to make Saturday morning.

I wonder if I could make donuts-muffins in the cast iron? Doubtful. I think I’d end up with the worst stuck-on mess ever. Donuts and muffins aren’t supposed to sear.

Do you have any cast iron? Tips on taking care of it or cleaning it?

Are you a thrift store person? Do you like antiques or collectibles?

The last thrift store round for me was 8 pieces of vintage silverware for $2 bucks and a vintage sifter

I found these thrifty dishes

These dishes and old Corningware

I used to live literally just a few blocks from it and walked in at least once a week. For five bucks, you can really feel like a kid like a queen in a candy store.

I could troll around all day on Ebay, Etsy, and Pinterest looking at vintage dishes, old wood boards, old kitchen utensils and bakeware. Something about it all really speaks to me and I wish I knew the stories behind the pieces.

My parents collect antiques of all kinds and as a child, I used to think my mom with her canning and sewing, my dad with his gardening, their antique collecting, and all their hobbies were boring and used to wonder why on earth anyone could think going into a dirty antique shop was fun.

But I have officially turned into my parents when I get excited about dirty cast iron.

And this store is the creme de la creme for antique furniture shopping that I’ve come across in San Diego, or anywhere. I got my 150 year old+ photography table there (item #5) and could spend days (years) wandering the aisles.

The winner of the Cascadian Farms Cereal coupons is Paula

Thanks for the Zoku Single Quick Pop Maker and Chocolate Station Giveaway entries

Have a great weekend!

Scott, Skylar, and I are going to the Pride Block Party and the Pride Parade. We’re going to have the best time people-watching and soaking it all in.