How do you exfoliate?

I forgot to take the pork chops out of the freezer. Again. So as I'm debating with myself on the subject of dinner, I think pancakes. I love pancakes. The kids love pancakes. Hubby and mom also love pancakes. So I voice that thought and get a resounding thumbs up from the peanut gallery. So as I'm pulling the self-rising flour out of the pantry, my mom says "got any bacon?" No. "Bacon would be good. I think I'll go get bacon." No problem. I'm game for bacon, especially if someone else is buying. So since it's getting late (the planning phase was quite intensive) I whip up the batter like an old pro and bust out some mini-pancakes for the kids. They love mini-pancakes since I arrange them like a little flower on the plate. They call them "fancy pancakes". And imagine their surprise as this time I added little chocolate chip pollen and some whipped cream for good measure and added hyperactivity. Needless to say, once the bacon came home, I mean my mom came back with the bacon, they were ready for another flower. Thankfully they don't like bacon. More for us :)

Like old times, me and mom at the stove. I'm flipping pancakes, she's turning bacon. Having an actual conversation. Loving being together. Bonding over breakfast foods. Round two at the table was adults only and the kiddies were in the living room dancing to Honky Tonk Badonkadonk (I love that song). It was a nice dinner. Simple. Delicious. Too short. Mom's short vacation over, she has to head home. So we pack her up and send her on her way.

By that time, it's bedtime. So I get their teeth brushed and tuck them in tight and head in for cleanup. Mom was also kind enough to pick up some dishwasher tabs (thanks Mom) making my life easier so cleanup went pretty quick. Except for a skillet. I treasure this skillet. It's a cast iron beauty from Cracker Barrel. I have burned it so many times and with a little oil, it always comes back so nicely. Well this time, it got too hot for the bacon and some burned a little and got stuck to the bottom. Were I making some sort of gravy, this would be a bonus, but alas, no biscuits tonight.

Now I heard on the Food Network once that if your cast iron needs a good scrubbin', you should use coarse salt. And I have used it and it works pretty well. It soaks up the excess grease and scours away the stuck on stuff without taking off the finish. So I always keep a box on hand. The only thing is, that they never really said how to use the coarse salt to do the scrubbin' so I just use my hand (yea, I'm not afraid to get down and dirty). So as I'm standing there rubbing away at my pan, I look and the back of my hand is kind of dry...a little too dry and scaly looking (yuk). That got me to thinking (yes, here we go again). If this stuff is good for scrubbing pans without scratching, why not the back of my hand? So without a further thought, I scrubbed it on my hand. Yes, I am from the south and I use bacon grease and kosher salt to exfoliate. What of it????? Thankfully, I like the smell of bacon. Of course, I'll probably wake up at 2 am wishing I hadn't crumbled the last two pieces into my chicken salad for tomorrow....

Actually, the salt did a good job. And it rinsed off quite nicely. So I washed it off with dish soap, and slathered some Burt's Bees Banana Hand Creme. So now I smell like a banana. I guess that's better than bacon. Maybe not. I really like bacon.



Side-note:
It occurs to me that I promised a Chicken and Dumplin' recipe, but never delivered. So here goes:

1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed (you will not use the meat from the whole thing for one pan)
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (I like the reduced fat for this recipe)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
about a quarter cup chicken broth (this can be made by boiling the bones and skin from the chicken)
salt/pepper to taste
Carrots, celery, onions (optional

Shred the chicken into small pieces. Separate and lay out the crescent rolls. Spoon chicken into the crescent and tuck the ends over to make a little chicken pocket. Reserve 2 or 3 rolls for decoration. Place each pocket into an 8x8 pan crowd them in together in one layer. In a bowl, combine soups and broth. If you're using the veggies, pan saute them just until the onions are soft. Add to soup mixture. Pour soup mixture over chicken pockets and season with salt and pepper. Slice remaining dough into strips to lay over the top to make the thing look pretty. Bake at 350 for probably 30-45 minutes. Serve.

I like to make chicken salad with the chicken I didn't stuff into the pockets, but certainly, you could add it to the soup mixture for more chicken goodness....