A love poem to my cast iron skillet

[jd_1138]

Or maybe not, as I am not poetic enough for that. But I love this cast iron skillet. I bought it as a Christmas present to myself. My wife has had a bad back for a year, and I've had to learn to cook.

My wife is from Ohio (not that people in Ohio don't use cast iron -- plenty do), and she has never used cast iron before. Her mother & grandmother never did either. I grew up with yummy food prepared in cast iron. My mom and her mom are from the south and my grandmother was full-blooded native American (Choctaw/Cherokee), and my mom is half and was born in a Native hospital. Anyway they made awesome food prepared in cast iron skillets. My mom could take some beans and a hamhock and turn it into the best plate of beans and cornbread you ever had.

But in my family, the menfolk never were taught to cook. That was "women's work" (in the words of the women). I know -- not very PC, but that was a different generation/era. We guys were allowed to help clean up, though. lol.

Anyway, so I am learning to cook. I love this cast iron skillet. I can beat the heck out of it with heavy duty cooking, and all it takes to clean is a quick wipeout with a paper towel. It's getting nicely seasoned.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Or maybe not, as I am not poetic enough for that. But I love this cast iron skillet. I bought it as a Christmas present to myself. My wife has had a bad back for a year, and I've had to learn to cook.

My wife is from Ohio (not that people in Ohio don't use cast iron -- plenty do), and she has never used cast iron before. Her mother & grandmother never did either. I grew up with yummy food prepared in cast iron. My mom and her mom are from the south and my grandmother was full-blooded native American (Choctaw/Cherokee), and my mom is half and was born in a Native hospital. Anyway they made awesome food prepared in cast iron skillets. My mom could take some beans and a hamhock and turn it into the best plate of beans and cornbread you ever had.

But in my family, the menfolk never were taught to cook. That was "women's work" (in the words of the women). I know -- not very PC, but that was a different generation/era. We guys were allowed to help clean up, though. lol.

Anyway, so I am learning to cook. I love this cast iron skillet. I can beat the heck out of it with heavy duty cooking, and all it takes to clean is a quick wipeout with a paper towel. It's getting nicely seasoned.

I know what you mean about both using the cast iron, and women stating that men have no place in the kitchen. I and a friend volunteered to cook at a Girl's camp one year. Our food was very well received, with many of the young ladies asking why they never got as good food at home. There were several women at the camp who said to our faces that we had no business in the kitchen. Both my friend and I are accomplished cooks, and the girls made appreciative pie plates for us. One of our helpers brought in some plastic spiders and laid them on various counter tops. Various young women were tasked with coming in and helping with the dishes after the evening meal. These girls were all teens. Well, the man with the spiders, after the girls had just begun to wash dishes, hollered, "Spider!", and snatched the plastic spider from next to where the girls were and popped it into his mouth. The girls simply went berserk. They were completely fooled, and unnerved. It was funny to watch. There were always camp leaders, ladies, who chaperoned whenever girls were anywhere near, though every man in the kitchen was beyond reproach. Still it protected us as well as the girls. No one could throw false accusations against anyone else. I hate that our society is so distrustful and that even the best intentioned men have to watch their backs every minute of every day, at work, in public, in friends, or neighbors homes, etc. But I digress.

I'm glad you CI pans are living up to your expectations, and you have developed a passion for the cooking arts.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North