we have started a tradition in our home mostly out of necessity. instead of going out to eat after church we come home and have sunday dinner. its never anything too fancy, usually something i can throw in the crock pot. sometimes its just us and sometimes we invite a friend or two. never too many because i can only fit 10 people at the table comfortably and i want everyone at the table....kids and all. the purpose is to have the whole family together.
well i am a very sentimental person and the silliest things make me cry. today i made a big pan of cornbread for dinner and of course i made it in my little granny's cast iron skillet. that had to be the best cornbread i have ever eaten. if you have never had cornbread cooked in a perfectly seasoned pan then you are missing out. i grew up with grannies that could cook and let me tell you they cooked big home style meals. to this day my favorite meal is beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes w/sliced onions and fresh sliced garden tomatoes.
well anyways, my little granny would get up every morning and make fresh biscuits and for dinner we always had fresh cornbread. well my cornbread today tasted just like my little granny's and i kinda teared up. partly out of pride that after 22 years of making cornbread i finally produced a pan that would make my granny proud and partly out of just missing her. she would have loved my cornbread and would have made sure everyone tasted it and told me how good it was. she was like that she made sure all the kids that wanted to learn how to cook had plenty to do in her kitchen. she was always very patient and even if what you cooked came out bad she would still taste it and say it was good. but then isn't that what grannies are suppose to do.
I don't know why, but that made me cry.
ReplyDeleteI guess those family ties are strong in all of us...
It made me miss my granddaddy, and his out of this world cookin.
Me too. It made me tear up. My grandma is still alive but has Alzheimer's pretty bad so she can't cook anymore. =(
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to do the whole cast iron thing but I don't really know how. I don't have one that's been passed down so do I just get one and then every time I use it it will just get better?
My granny and my grandma loved to cook, too, and were so good at it. Same thing with sewing. I'll never forget the first home ec class I took. We had to sew a sweat suit. My granny was so proud of me even with all the little mistakes and everything. She made me go with her across the street to the neighbor's house to show her the sweat suit I made! I miss my grandma and my granny.
ReplyDeleteyes you can start with a new pan. you will have to season it first which is a pretty simple process. once you get it seasoned its pretty hard to ruin it.
ReplyDeleteI knew we were kindred spirits! that is my favorite meal! beans, cornbread, fried tators with onions, and fresh vine-ripe garden tomatos! Add a fresh jalapeno and I'm in HEAVEN! And it had to be cooked in my mama's cast iron skillet. OOOHHH can't ya taste that crispy bottom! and then you can always have the left over cornbread in a glass of cold whole milk! It don't get no better than that baby!
ReplyDeleteAnd if you suffer from low iron, you'll get a good dose from cooking your food in an iron skillet.