Cast Iron Skillet!

Your mother-in-law must have went to the same school of cooking as my grandmother...if it wasn't jerky or hard enough to break your tooth, it wasn't done enough! She even managed to apply that to biscuits...oddly, she could make heavenly cakes.

I set off two smoke alarms making flatiron steak in our apartment last night. We had to unattach and bury the "permanent" one under a stack of pillows to stifle it

I swear my mother-in-law used the smoke alarms in lieu of a timer to determine when the food was done which translated into well, well done.
Redwinger

When my mom and dad got married, he used to tease her about her cooking, saying he must be some sort of Greek God, because he was always being given burnt offerings. She still laughs every time she tells the story.

I seasoned the pan today and cooked a nice marinated (fake) kobe beef sirloin steak on it. It was beautiful.

Just for future reference, though, do you put a small amount of oil in the already seasoned pan when you sear the steaks, or is the oil from the marinade usually enough.

I'm excited to try John's frittata. That's next on the agenda.

You will probably want to put in a little oil initially, with more use and continued proper care it will become nearly non-stick over time.

You're just plain mean, Robin. I'm pregnant, and you just made me drool!

I thought it was alcohol that you were supposed to avoid during pregnancy? Not red meat too!? (Sometimes I wonder how any of us managed to get born, with all the bad things our Mommies did because they didn't know any better.)

Best wishes, though, Michelle! Will this be your first?

Michelle,

Congrats! ( and you'll do fine

I'm puzzled like Robin, though, why no steak? I couldn't eat deli meat, blue cheese ( this was really painful) , some fish and of course alcohol with my last one. But never a red meat restriction. Brian brought Point Reyes blue cheese and champagne to the hospital immediately I delivered Aiden.