Have You Seen Hot Ones?

Okay, so. 

When Jordan and I were in Santa Barbara in January, it was rainy one day so we needed to stay in for the afternoon. Like magic, a friend of ours texted us recommending a YouTube series called "Hot Ones." Initially, we were like, "Hmm, okay, maybe." We decided to give it a try. 

The first video he said to watch was the Hot Ones episode featuring Kevin Hart. So we started there, ended up both laughing hysterically, and watching about ten more. 

The premise of Hot Ones: host, relative nobody Sean Evans, interviews various celebrities while each of them eats ten hot wings covered in increasingly hot and spicy sauces. So they'll both eat the wing, then Sean asks a question, and the guest has to answer the question as best they can while also trying to stay alive from the searing sauce dripping down their throats. 

The first few are always okay, but once they get to wing #6, things get dicey. Each hot sauce's ranking on the Scoville Scale is listed on the screen so you have an idea of exactly how hot these sauces are. 

It is extremely entertaining and you should watch it right now. I've linked my favorite episodes below. They're full of profanity, of course, so just be warned. 

Ladies and gents, I give you: Hot Ones. 

Caring for Cast Iron

One of the greatest pieces in a Southern cook's arsenal is a good cast iron skillet. I have several that were handed down to me from my great-grandmother, and one that Jordan bought me for my birthday this year. 

The trick, though, is cleaning these suckers properly. Left unattended and uncared for, they get rusted and persnickety. A good cast iron pan should release the food once it's done cooking, but a poorly cared for cast iron will burn everything you try to make, leaving a sticky, charred warzone behind. It can be frustrating and eventually make you choose to abandon cast iron altogether. 

But don't! Once you get the hang of it, you and your cast iron will be best friends for the rest of your life. Because they'll last you that long if you treat 'em right.  

I let a couple of my pans get too dirty recently, so I hunted for the best method to rejuvenate them. I found a few videos online and thought I'd share for all my Southern girls out there who need to fry a piece of chicken the best way: in a cast iron skillet. I've been seasoning and caring for my pans in this method (thanks, Crisco!) ever since I saw this and they work like a dream. 

Hope it helps! 

On cleaning and seasoning: 

On restoring cast iron that's too far gone to season or clean:
Note: this video uses oil instead of Crisco, but I'd use Crisco. It's a wonder-product.

The Coolest Dyed Easter Eggs

So my friend Katie and I were talking recently about a fresh way to dye Easter eggs, and she sent me a link to a Southern Living post about using nail polish. 

So I tried it, failed at the original method, and modified it for us. I know. I'm just a martyr that way. 

But seriously, though - this is such a cool, unique, and quick way to dye Easter eggs! If you have little ones, it would probably need to be either heavily supervised or an adults-only project given that you're working with nail polish. 

What you'll need: 
Hard-boiled or blown (hollow) eggs
Nail polish of your choosing
Tupperware/disposable container
Room temperature water
Egg crate (for drying the eggs) 
Optional: Plastic gloves to keep your hands clean

The process is so simple that I did the whole thing in this short video below, but the steps written out right under the video should you need to re-read them. 

Step 1: Fill the container with room-temperature water. The temperature of the water is crucial because if the water is cold, the nail polish will sink to the bottom of the tub. 

Step 2: Drop as many or as few drops of the polish into the water. Wait for the nail polish to dissipate and form a film on top of the water. 

Step 3: Gently roll your egg across the surface of the water until all of the nail polish has been picked up. Repeat the process as many times as you'd like to achieve your desired result on a single egg. 

Step 4: Set the egg back into its crate to dry. The polish will dry without sticking to the crate, so don't worry about ruining your masterpiece. Eggs dry in about 3 hours!

Happy dye-ing! 

Perfect "Boiled" Eggs, Just In Time For Easter!

I mean I should really just write two sentences for this post. 

Find your oven.

Head that oven to 375 degrees. 

Grab a dozen eggs. 

Place an egg into each space of a muffin tin. 

Put that tin in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Most important step! When the eggs come out, plunge them into an ice bath immediately to stop the cooking process. Keep the eggs there until they're completely cooled. 

Eat 'em, decorate 'em, whatever your heart desires. 

(Seriously though, why did no one tell me about this sooner?) 

Picnic at Max Patch

One of these days, I'm gonna make every single one of you come up here on top of this mountain. Max Patch is just ridiculously fabulous every single time. 

On Sunday, I got to meet a sweet friend's parents and hike up this familiar trail with a group of folks who'd mostly not been to this heavenly spot. When you crest the mountaintop, you get a 360 degree view of layers and layers of mountain ranges. I am positive that's not the correct way to describe it, but I have cake on the brain and "layers" seems okay. Always so wonderful to experience it anew all over again through other people's eyes.  

If you would like to see shots of it, complete with a cheesy score, watch this video! 

So anyway, it was totally fabulous. Cindi, my friend whose parents were with us, brought an adorable vintage picnic "basket" (several deep metallic discs that stacked on top of each other) full of deliciousness: cookies, broccoli salad, berries, pimento cheese...we had it all. So yesterday, we sat up there, ate, and talked about how good it was to be alive. 

Here are some pictures (my favorite is Jordan making a dog tent for the two Frenchies that were with us who were overheating a bit. Hehe!): 

Hope you guys had a great, relaxing weekend filled with a little bit of outdoor beauty. On to Monday!