During this journey to discover new ways to enjoy history, I found a connection through this utensil. Cooking with an iron skillet is so fundamental. The first step is to season it. After coating it with a light layer of cooking oil, the skillet is baked in the oven at 250 degrees for a few hours. This completes the bonding process for the cooking surface, and for the cook.

Everything goes into the new skillet. When I made cornbread with stone ground cornmeal, I popped the whole works into the oven. The bread came out evenly baked and golden brown. Ground turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving cooked up into a splendid and savory hash. Leftover sliced pork roast went into the skillet with some bar-b-que sauce and chopped onions, and, oh yes, a splash of Kentucky bourbon. Of course, the bourbon was strictly for historical purposes – a toast to my pioneer ancestors who migrated across the Wilderness Road into Kentucky bluegrass country.

If pioneers were fortunate, they cooked on a wood stove in their cabins. Without this luxury, cooking was done on a campfire or in a hearth with a skillet or a Dutch oven. I bet more than one woman in the wilderness used their hefty skillet for a weapon. Considering its weight and substance, a sound smack from an iron skillet would surely discourage unwanted visitors, whether they were varmints of the rodent or the human variety.

I will continue to find new ways to enjoy this simple device. However, do not startle me in my kitchen. You never know how I will react with my trusty black iron skillet close at hand.

Joyce Lohse, 12/3/2008
Visit my web site at www.lohseworks.com
for book titles, news and upcoming appearances