Use one tablespoon bleach to one gallon of water for the cleaning solution. It will kill all the bad bugs. Use it to disinfect everything and anything around your home, of course, for some people gloves may be needed.
If you opened the package and did not get a gushing of fetid air then everything is OK. Good by dates and sell by dates are useless. Use your nose and your common sense.
If you do not have a copy of Fannie Farmer get one. Best book for a new cook. Buy your cast iron skillet but be sure to get one that you can easily use. As I have gotten older I have 12 incher is getting heavier and heavier.
Simple case of old metal being hot and cold material put into it. After thirty years of who knows how it was used this is not unusual. One of those things that makes get party chatter.
First off, cast iron pans will crack under certain conditions such as very hot pan and a cold steak. Use medium heat to sear cast iron works just fine. If really season a cast rion pan get good beef fat such as scraps from strip, cut it into 1/2 inch cubes and cook it to cracklings. Remove...
Apparently there was a residue of the forming lubricant that was not removed by the initial washing. Get Bon Ami (much better than BarKeepers and much cheaper), clean cloth pads and a bit of elbow grease, scrub till shiny. If you have a drill and buffer pads use them and save the elbow grease...
Onion and garlic powders are just that, small particles of insouluble material. Dispersing them and dipping the meat strips will work just fine. If you really want juice, just put bith into a blender with a bit of water and liquify them.
Windex is not "primarily ammonia"; if it was people would be gasping for breath. Windex is methanol, Triton wetting agent and blue dye. The Windex D supposedly has ammonia but it is a salt of ammonia. If you want ammonia but it in the grocery store which is 3%. Want 10% go to a hardware store.