It was a weekend of baking. I don't remember what came first...the cast iron skillet or the desire to eat something sweet at the crack of noon (I am not a morning person). It's like...what came first? The chicken or the egg?

For a long time I've been eyeing the cast iron skillets that sit in the cupboards...way in the back corner. I didn't want to use them because the thought of cleaning them gave me anxiety. I just don't know how to. Or more accurately, I get nervous I might ruin the skillet and prevent future generations of inheriting it. I really have no excuse as every time I think of avoiding a project because of my "I don't know how to do anything woes," I hear my friend Mona's voice in the back of my head say, "you can learn anything just by googling it!" Ugh...reality slap! There is no good excuse for anything these days when it's literally at your fingertips!

So one simple search later I find Pioneer Woman's methods on cleaning. Enough ammunition for my next few attempts.

Attempt #1 Apple Popover

The apple popover was inspired by a trip many moons ago at my first Airbnb experience in Duluth, MN. The host actually made us breakfast one morning and I've wanted to duplicate that steamy, Apple popover since! I don't know why I have projects in my head forever before I ever attempt them. Do you do that? So four years later, voila, I finally did it. The Stars have finally aligned!

The original recipe I used called for a 11x13 pan but instead I used a 9 inch cast iron skillet which is the whole point of this blog post. I believe the size of my cast iron skillet was the reason why mine wasn't as poufy in the middle as my host's version. My popover only sort of rose on the sides. If you understand the science behind this please explain it to me!

Attempt #2 Blueberry Streusel

The next day, after feeling some triumph from not having my popover cemented into the cast iron skillet (use butter!!! Lots!!!) I remembered my large container of blueberries from our most recent Costco trip. Then the sudden realization that it was the last weekend of summer hurled me towards confronting my bias against baking with seasonal fruit. Cooking with apples is one thing, they don't seem that special because they're around all the time...but blueberries! They're so precious because you hardly find them out of season. Or in my situation I both refuse to pay the price for them out of season nor believe in the idea of transporting them to wherever I am out of season.

So I decided to make a blueberry streusel. BTW, streusel apparently means a combination of flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter which ends up looking like chunk of crumb.

So if you have a few cast iron skillets you bought that's collecting dust...season it...and let the baking begin!