Restoring a Carbon Steel Wok

A few years ago I gave Meg and Ben a carbon steel wok. It has a build up of carbon in the bottom and is ready for a "strip 'n season" (my girlfriends are convinced this would be a great business name if I ever decide to do this on the side- one even made a logo for it).

The carbon build up is only in the bottom of the pan, so I went with the localized oven cleaner spray, or "yellow cap treatment" in the cast iron enthusiast community (I know- nerdy).

First, I sprayed the built up areas with a good dose of the spray (use goggles and gloves) then wrapped it up in a garbage bag to soak for a couple of hours.

Before treating

After soaking, some of the carbon had bubbled up, but not all. I gave it a rinse and scrub (using PPE as always) and then gave it another spray and soak in the garbage bag (this time about 24 hours).

Carbon build-up is bubbling from cleaner

After the second soak, I gave it a good scrub with my chainmail and then Barkeeper's Friend. There were still a few small areas at the bottom, but not enough to warrant an additional cycle.

After stripping. The other color variations don't affect the surface 

I dried the wok well with a minute of heat on the range (but not so hot I couldn't handle it) then proceeded to rub it with a thin layer of Crisco and a clean rag. I put in in the oven at 400 upside down for one hour. After this seasoning, I anticipate it can be maintained with a quick wipe of oil. 

Surface is smoother with the seasoning

Now- to preventative maintenance:

• Rinse/soak right after using, while it's still warm
• Scrub well with an abrasive scrub pad (or even chainmail)
• Dry with a bit of heat
• Give it a light coat of oil on the inside before storing

Water Ski Table

More fun with water skis. I got this pair of vintage Dekko Lake Region water skis at an online estate auction for $37. These were probably made in the mid-1970's and in were in surprisingly good condition. 

I cleaned the skis and removed the screws to remove the bindings. 

Bindings removed

After needing to fill all of the holes on the skis in my recent bench project, I opted to screw the binding clips back in place, thinking that it added to the ski appearance as well. It took me some time to figure out how I wanted to cut the skis, and exactly where, to preserve the designs as much as possible. I had to make careful measures and markings, given that the skis aren't flat, nor rectangular. I used Cara's miter saw to cut each ski into thirds, as well as the remaining length of 2x3 board I used in the bench, planning how I'd join the ends so the joints would be hidden under the table legs. The skis were wide enough that they couldn't be cut in one go, so there was dremel and hand sanding involved to smooth the cut edges. 

Frame assembled, ready to stain

I assemble the frame offsetting the screws so they wouldn't be in the way when I screwed on the table legs. I stained the frame and then gave it a coat of poly. I stained the cut ends of the skis and touched up the stain on the ends. I added a coat of gloss poly to the table top to protect it.

Vintage Water Ski Bench

I like furniture made from old water skis. Building an Adirondack chair is beyond me, but I found this bench idea and figured I could do this. This would be nice in our bedroom for us to put our duffels on at the stuga. I found vintage wood water skis at an estate auction and got them for a $5 bid, plus a long drive to Marine on St Croix. They were filthy from being stored in a pole barn for decades. I took off the old boots and fins (a bit challenging with a few rusted/stripped screws). The rubber boots had melted into the wood over the years and I tried a variety of methods to get through the gunk, including scraping with a putty knife and utility knife, Goo Gone, sanding, and ultimately my dremel with the sanding drum to get the worst spots. I filled the screw holes and touched up the rough and sanded areas with a matching gel stain I had on hand, then finished the skis with 3 coats of semi gloss polyacrylic. 

For the frame, I bought two 8-foot 2x3" boards and one 2x2 board (it took a while to select boards that weren't bent or full of knots- a lot of the boards were poor quality). I cut them using Cara's miter saw (so fast and accurate). I decided I wanted the frame to be slightly asymmetrical because the skis are much wider in front than in back. I cut the frame sides 46" long, one end 9" and one end 7". I cut 4 legs from the 2x2" board, each 18". I didn't have enough long screws, so another trip to the hardware store for 2.5" screws (3 trips to the hardware store in total for this project). I drilled pilot holes then screws to build the frame. I added 2 coats of stain then a coat of satin polyacrylic. 

Dusty original condition

Cleaned, holes patched

Trial dremel sanding of boot residue

Assembled and ready to bring north

Big Green Egg

First meal

We'd been looking to buy a used Big Green Egg for a few years and a size large finally popped at an online estate sale. Our winning bid was $325 with the bid premium added it was ours for $375. We went to pick it up and learned it was UNBELIEVABLY heavy as we struggled to lift it into the back of the SUV. A 3rd person finally helped us give it a boost, but once it was in the back of the car, we realized it wasn't coming out until we got the the stuga, so we went home to get the dog and then drove on to the stuga in an impromptu visit.

It needed a thorough cleaning inside and out. It came with a nest which had a few rust spots I spray painted and a couple of missing screws we replaced.

Before

Andy started a fire and burned the inside clean. The top iron piece was so coated with grease the vent spinner was hard to move. I gave it a one-week soak in my lye bath at home. 

After cleaning

Notice the pile of torn out decking

Speeding up charcoal lump readiness with the leaf blower

S'more on the Egg

August

Our first foray with pizza didn't go as planned. Andy bought prepared crusts and sauce from Cosetta's and went the route of hand-tossed crusts. We put our cast iron round in the grill and it got so hot the bottom of the crusts burned before the crusts cooked or toppings fully cooked. We definitely need to go with thinner crusts for this.

First try with pizza

Peanut Chicken Pasta

Peanut Chicken Pasta

One of our all-time favorite recipes from the Desperation Dinners cookbook (1997).

Note- it wasn't until I'd written this post that I realized I'd already published this recipe as a dip. Another sign of how much I love this. 

Serves 4

For the pasta 

• 12 oz. uncooked spaghetti

• 12 oz. to 1 lb. grilled or roasted chicken breast (I poach frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot for quick prep)

• 1 medium red bell pepper (about 1 cup chopped)

• 4 green onions (about ½ cup chopped)

• 1 cup Easy Blender Peanut Sauce (recipe below)

• Finely chopped unsalted peanuts (optional garnish)

Cook the pasta  

Break the spaghetti in half if you like. Cook it in 2½ quarts of boiling unsalted water for 7–9 minutes, until tender.

Cut the cooked chicken into bite‑sized pieces and place in a large bowl.

Seed and chop the red bell pepper into bite‑sized pieces; add to the bowl.

Slice the green onions into ¼‑inch pieces, using both the whites and enough green tops to make ½ cup; add to the bowl.

Put the prepared peanut sauce in a microwave‑safe dish and heat for 1–2 minutes, until warmed through.

Drain the spaghetti and add it to the bowl with the chicken and vegetables.

Pour the warm peanut sauce over the top and toss until the pasta is fully coated.

Easy Blender Peanut Sauce

• 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil

• 4 cloves fresh garlic

• 4 tsp chopped fresh ginger

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• ½ cup creamy peanut butter

• 1 tbsp onion powder

• ¼ cup water

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

• ¼ cup ketchup

• ½ tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)- I omit this

• ¼ cup reduced‑sodium soy sauce

• ¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

1. Smash each clove under the flat side of a knife to loosen the peel. Drop the cloves one at a time into a running blender to chop them finely.

2. Add all remaining ingredients to the blender: lemon juice, peanut butter, water, ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, oils, ginger, vinegar, onion powder, and crushed red pepper.

3. Pulse on high for about 5 seconds, scrape down the sides, then pulse 3–4 more times until smooth.

4. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight, microwave‑safe container for up to 1 week.

2026 Shared Garden

In very sad news, we lost our good friend and gardening partner Dawn to cancer on April 28. The garlic bulbs that she planted last fall greeted us in the garden as we embarked on Spring planting, and we took time to share our great memories of Dawn, with whom we built and started this garden in 2021.

Dawn's garlic bulbs

Donna recruited a neighbor couple, Matt and Beth, to join us this year, and we created our garden map together.

We collectively bought our starters and seeds. Andy and I tried the Acme greenhouse when we were traveling in Iowa- limited selection but great prices.

Goofiness in the greenhouse

We planted on May 16, a lovely sunny day.

Repairing fencing

Planting tomatoes

Donna bought turnip seeds rather than parsnip, so we're going to give those a try.

Done planting

Looking good, early July

6 Qts of garden tomatoes canned

Speculoos Cookies

Speculoos

 

I got these speculoos molds when we were living in Belgium years ago. I think I may have tried to use them once over the years, and now I had the urge to try again. I started by experimenting with this recipe, which is a gingerbread recipe more than a traditional speculoos recipe

Following a method from YouTube, I rolled out the dough flat then pressed the molds face down into the dough.

Pressing mold down over rolled dough

This didn't work well because the shapes never got enough definition, plus this cookie recipe had some rise to it as it baked. They tasted good, even if the shapes weren't a great success.

Poor definition from the molds

I decided to try a few of my cookie stamps (and my Poppin' Fresh cookie cutter) with the same batch. 

Next I tried a half-batch of the speculoos recipe published on Daring Gourmet. I substituted regular flour for the almond flour so I could share them with our kids with nut allergies. 

After letting the dough rest overnight, I used the site's instructions for packing the dough into the mold. This method was easier, and yielded more definition. I chilled the shapes 30 min before baking 12 min at 375.

Mold filled and shaved with a knife

Baked cookies

I also had fun using a new carved rolling pin to imprint the dough. First, I rolled the dough to 1/4" thick (using rolling pin spacers), then I went over it with the carved rolling pin and cut out the shapes.

At some point, I plan to try this recipe as well.