The Cast Iron Yumminess Cookie

               The Raggedy Garden dwellers are cast iron cooks. This is literal truth telling, because I have cooked with the same cast iron pans all the years. It is also innuendo truth telling, because the Raggedy Garden cowboy thinks that I have a cast iron stomach. The reason he thinks this is because he is a meat and potatoes and eggs man. And I have been known to try various other dainties like quiche... quiche is made of eggs, but that "quiche" word is suspicious. I know the Readers Digest had a story called "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche", back in the 70's, but if I was a man I would say, "Just for that I WILL eat quiche". Oysters , they were on the half shell, all smothered with creamy sauce and cheese and stuff...I think there might have been an oyster in there somewhere, but I'm not sure. Escargot....It was soup. It was rather salty. The escargot were chopped up in miniscule pieces. Soup de Escargot sounds much better than snail soup. And you don't envision all those critters you war against in your garden. Or, if you are from the Pacific Northwest, they do not look anything like slugs, which are bigger, slimmier snails with no shells. Brie and Feta. Yes, I've tried both. A chunk of Brie , slathered with maple and wrapped in pastry? Yes! Feta? Not so much. And corn chowder, which I dearly love, thick and bacony and loaded with corn...But he says they tried to make him eat it in school and it looked and tasted like dirty dish water. So, I make a mean corn chowder, but only for some one else, or if the cowboy is off on his iron horse.
          Cast iron is easy to cook with. They have every shape of cast iron pan you can imagine, beside skillets. Muffin tins, cornbread pans that look like ears of corn, dutch ovens, tea kettles, griddles, you name it. I have a 10 inch and an 8 inch skillet and a big dutch oven, with legs. It has a permanent spot on my wood kitchen range. It weighs a ton. You wouldn't want to be huffing it around too much. When you need a large amount of soup or stew, or chili, or a ham or a roast that you want to slow cook, it is just the ticket. The two skillets, I use them for everything. Breakfast turns out beautifully in them. Eggs...perfect over easys. Pancakes, french toast, grilled english muffins or bagels...evenly browned and golden. Unless I wander off with my nose in a good cook book  or something, and forget about them. ( Then they can be the color and shape of charcoal briquets.)  They even have cast iron waffle makers, but you can't plug 'em in!
        Cast iron is easy to care for. Alot of times, you can just wipe them out, after they are cooled off, with a paper towel. Of course you are never, may I add NEVER, supposed to use soap on cast iron. But if you're clean squirmmy,  you will feel like you have to. That's okay. Just do it. Make sure you rinse well with hot, hot water and air dry. I always just leave mine on the stove top, and they have never rusted. If they do get rusty looking, you need to coat them well with cooking oil and put them in a warm oven for a few hours, and they will look like new again.
       My friend, Cindy, has a covetable collection of cast iron, and guess what? Her mother doesn't dare to eat at her house, because she doesn't wash her pans with soap! Sigh. You still gotta love your mother, even if she's difficult sometimes. Remember all the times she stuck up for you, when you were being difficult.
        Makes just right grilled cheeses for lunch. Supper, they fry up steaks and hamburgs and chicken. Wonderful for stir fry. In the oven they go for scalloped potatoes, mac and cheese, any casserole....Baked beans, meatloaf, they all come out like they are supposed to. And , of course, dessert and goodies! Why not? You can bake a fine round loaf of bread, (who decided sandwiches have to be in a loaf shape?) some cinnamon rolls, pie...and of course a cast iron cookie!
         So, why a cookie in a skillet? Well, all you need is the skillet, a wooden spoon, and a measuring cup. No dirty dishes and mixing bowls and cookie sheets. That should be enough right there!

                                     
                                      Cast Iron Yumminess Cookies
                                          Preheat oven to 375
                                            1 cup brown sugar
                                            1/2 cup granulated sugar
                                            1 cup soft margarine
                                            1 teaaaspoon vanilla
                                            2 eggs
                                            2 cups flour
                                            1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
                                            1 teaspoon baking soda
                                            1 teaspoon salt
                                            2 cups of yumminess, your choice
                                      ( I used chocolate chips, raisins and craisins )
                                            can use any flavor chips, nuts, marshmallows,
                                            whatever seems good to you.
      I didn't take the margarine out to soften soon enough, so I put it in the skillet on low heat to soften it up some. Don't melt it, just soften it. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Dump in the flour and oats, baking soda and salt. Mix in. Your wooden spoon works great for this. If you don't have a wooden spoon, you will just have to use something else. A wooden spoon is best, though. ( I will tell you about wooden spoons another day.)   Mix in your goodies. Slide the skillet in the heated oven and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes.

                 Here's where the maple sugar makers come in the house for coffee. They think house smells really good. You cut them big, pie slab sized pieces, all hot and melty, with a scoop of ice cream, and this is all you have left. They think you are magic, or something, and groan contentedly. No muss, no fuss, just a cast iron skillet and a wooden spoon.
        *** If you need gluten free, just whizz up enough oats (in the blender) to make 2 cups of oat flour, instead of the regular flour.                         

              Of course, if you don't have a cast iron pan, you can just drop these by tablespoon-fuls on a cookie sheet. They would, no doubt be good cookies, but just regular, plain old cookies.. no pizzaz! Have fun, and eat cookies, with love from the Raggedy Garden..