Deb was out of town for a couple of days, so Suzanne and I headed over to the Green Dog for dinner on Tuesday night. I can’t remember how it came up, but it turns out that Suzanne doesn’t own a single cast-iron skillet. And Suzanne’s a very good cook, which is one reason I can’t quite wrap my mind around this absence in her kitchen.
I don’t know why, but that’s what I’m thinking about this morning. Frankly, I probably spend way too much time thinking about cast-iron skillets. There are four different ones within my reach right now. I can’t imagine a kitchen without them. I think they’re beautiful…the blacker, the better, of course. My mother’s cast-iron skillets are so black and so shiny that I think of them as works of art. And they are. My mother is the best cook I know. As I recall, my mother leaves one of her skillets on her stove at all times. I would, too, but then Deb would put it away somewhere and I’d never find it again. Ours hang on the pot rack over our stove so I can get to them easily. When it comes to skillets, I never use anything else.
Both of my grandmothers used cast-iron skillets. They fried a lot of food, and when it comes to frying you cannot beat these things. And, after they’re good and seasoned, they’re a cinch to clean…just wipe with a cloth. Sometimes you have to scrape a little bit, but not often. Never ever ever use soap…and never ever ever let it rust…soap or rust ruins all that wonderful seasoning that comes with use. So, when you wash it, dry it immediately. You know this, right?
I guess I think of these skillets as I think of my tools. I love how dark the wood and how dark the iron and how wonderful they look with use.
P.S. Lodge makes a very good cast-iron skillet (but not the enamel kind…get the raw, black, naked kind). The brand really doesn’t matter, though…buy whatever one you find so long as you like the looks of it. You can usually buy one in a good hardware store, too…I mean an independently owned hardware store…not Home Depot. The 10-inch size is a good place to start. My mother uses a glass lid, too, but I don’t. And I buy mine unseasoned…I want to take full credit for how lovely mine eventually looks, and you can’t do that if Lodge seasons it for you.
Cast-iron skillet
Not Alice 
