Dear Beloved Cast Iron Skillet, Text by Sophie Baron | Illustration by Sarah Skalski
W
hat would we have done without you? With your love and care, my family has been graced with both the tenderest of chicken and the tenderest of memories. The best meals are perfectly curated in a cast iron. Whether it be a crispy fried egg, tangy shakshuka or a gooey chocolate chip cookie, you never seem to disappoint. Passed down for years, you have been providing generations of family members a stress-free, yet gourmet cooking experience. In order to truly understand the greatness of it, let me tell a little story about how you came to be. It all started when my Bubbe and Grandfather were given their first cast-iron skillet at their wedding. When 18 | baked
they arrived home and settled in, Bubbe seasoned her skillet right away by giving it a thick coat of vegetable oil and baking it in the oven. Once seasoned, the skillet would be set to-go for many meals to come. One of Bubbe’s favorite things to cook for her family was thick-cut bacon. Every morning after a living room slumber party, we could hear the sizzle and pop of the bacon grease on you, her beloved skillet, in the kitchen next door. We would come running in with grumbling bellies ready to devour our family sleepover breakfast. Once Bubbe had passed away, her memories and recipes lived on through her cast-iron skillet which was handed down to my mom.
