Today, I’m excited to share a truly special story from Barbara, who has a deep connection to her family’s cast iron skillet. Passed down from her mother, this skillet carries generations of memories and love. Here’s her story in her own words:
“I am the youngest of five children, born when my parents were 40 and 43, and after I already had grown siblings. When I married, my mother gave me one of her iron skillets. I had learned to cook in it and a couple of others that she’d always had. Years later it occurred to me to ask her where she got that skillet. Here’s the story she told.”
“When she was still a young wife and mother, long before I was born, they lived and farmed deep in the country in SE Texas, and had very little. One summer day my mother answered a knock at her door, and there was a young African American woman there. She showed Mother the skillet, and told her that she would trade it for a ‘mess’ of greens from their garden. (This lady lived with her family in a small sawmill camp some miles away, and had walked there.) Mother told her to pick all of the greens she could carry, but keep the skillet. She did, and later, when Mother went outside she found the skillet on the porch. This probably happened about 1935-1940. She used it all my life until she passed it down to me.”
Isn’t it incredible how one simple cast iron skillet can be part of such a rich story? I love how Barbara’s skillet ties together a piece of family history, generosity, and a connection to the land.
What’s Your Skillet Story?
Do you have a story about a family heirloom skillet or a piece of cast iron that means something special to you? I’d love to hear it! Share your story with me, and it might just end up featured on the blog.
