Wow - isn't it interesting how our lives turn full circle...?? In ways you never dream. Growing up as a girl in the SOUTH, I remember the black cast iron frying pan that 'lived' on top of the stove. I say it "lived" there because it was NEVER put away... I mean, why would you put it away?????
For breakfast, mom fried eggs... for lunch, she fried up some cornbread with collards, and then for dinner, fried chicken - or country fried steak... every meal, the frying pan was center stage... and, because it was a lovely cast iron pan, you just wiped it out with a paper towel, and left it sitting on the stove top for the next meal.
Well - when I left home and went away to college, I wanted MODERN cookware - so I got me some of that non-stick magic cookware - you remember - TEFLON !!!! It was great til it flaked off...Then I had some T-FAL - stuff - magic, that was... til it got yucky... and then there was some decent copper bottom frying pans - and I don't know what happened to them... and , of course, a few pans that warped and nothing would cook in decently...and then I bought some "new" cast-iron and it was awful - nothing like I remembered.
Well - I've gone full circle now - just bought this on eBay... it's a Griswold, and a beauty - all cleaned up and ready to fry up some Sunday chicken...and I've become an expert on "vintage" cast-iron... and its wonders...
You may ask why I didn't just 'get' my mom's cast iron? Why, of course, cause she is still using it - at 86, it is right now sitting on her stove, I am sure, awaiting breakfast tomorrow morning..
I wonder if I can find any decent lard in San Francisco???? (teasing, teasing... although chicken WAS better cooked in lard - but I will spare my poor arteries that torment)... and will try to find more healthy options to cook in my new pan...
TILAPIA - lightly pan-fried... yes, that's just the thing...must keep my strength up so I can quilt.
Kate
3 comments:
That's funny....I was due to replace my non-stick pan too and pulled out the cast iron from the back of the cupboard about a month ago. Mine's an 8, wish it were bigger.
Great post! You scared me at first with 'lard'!
Loved your cast iron pan post!
Funny story - my aunt and uncle from Indiana were staying at my parent's house in FL and we went over to visit them. My aunt breaded grouper filets with cornmeal and cooked them up in a cast iron skillet on the gas grill outside! She just covered the grill and didn't have to stand over them. I was amazed. My aunt is an excellent cook and everything she makes is wonderful, but I'll never forget that grouper.
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