The Cast Iron Skillet
The Cast Iron Skillet……So recently I was gifted a Cast Iron. I had seen other people, growing up, using the black hard skillets and crockpots but never really knew the value until I met Dewey. They were a mystery to me. How one could use those dark heavy pans that would bend one's wrist when carrying instead of the shiny silver ones which were easy to manage always befuddled me. They looked cool though. Still, no desire to use or own them.
through his thirty or so "Cast Irons". They all took the
ones they wanted and needed most. But then they gifted some to me!!!!!! What an honor. I have cooked on them and to say they are extraordinary is an understatement. It is though, the kindness, that I have been given something that was the center of their family. That was stacked in the kitchen to be seen daily, pulled out for every family gathering, painstakingly seasoned and cared for and it is now in my home waiting for the same memories to be created.
I think of the legacy and now I get to start that in my home just as Dewey (and Kim) have done so in their home.
Go and do and get a cast iron!!!!
Then I met Dewey. Mr. Dewey was a what I could call a "True Blue" New Mexicano. At 5" something short and white as a grain of rice, he was a giant when it came to food. He knew taste. The cooking of real, authentic food was a true adventure. Anyone who dare use Pinto Beans grown in the Hatch, New Mexico region, wouldn't use anything but a dark rich skillet seasoned to taste, to cook it in. It would be unholy. I appreciated the the sentiment but my forte is in decorating not cooking. Yet when I was invited into the home of Dewey (and my bestie Kim) I acknowledge the bounteous flavors and vibrant colors of the food they prepared against my old good American standbys such as spaghetti. My food was lacking. Then one day, Kim, gifted us a dinner of enchiladas. It arrived in the biggest cast iron that I had ever seen. The colors of rich corn tortillas and green chili sauce from New Mexico almost was orgasmic. Not kidding. I fell in love. The vision of the most enticing food steaming from a very large dark skillet still remains fresh today. That is the moment I fell in love with them.Dewey passed away this year. His girls and wife sifted
through his thirty or so "Cast Irons". They all took the
ones they wanted and needed most. But then they gifted some to me!!!!!! What an honor. I have cooked on them and to say they are extraordinary is an understatement. It is though, the kindness, that I have been given something that was the center of their family. That was stacked in the kitchen to be seen daily, pulled out for every family gathering, painstakingly seasoned and cared for and it is now in my home waiting for the same memories to be created.
I think of the legacy and now I get to start that in my home just as Dewey (and Kim) have done so in their home.
Go and do and get a cast iron!!!!
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