02.20.12 = Cast to last Unable to sleep last night, I decided to a little channel surfing. Out of desperation, I landed on one of the home shopping channels where a “world renowned” chef was peddling his latest and greatest line of cookware. He pointed out all the features and benefits of the quality handle and rivets. They had a pan cut in two to show all the layers of metal and stated how it was the latest technology in cooking….blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada…In my critical and cynical fashion, I began to challenge him and his hi-tech cookware. Rivets? Who wants to clean around those big bolts? My old cast iron pan is one solid sleek handle design. And all that fancy, shiny, high-tech metal will end up looking dull, dirty and ‘out’ in a few more years when you roll out with your “new and improved” line of cookware. If you cut my good old cast iron skillet in two, you know what you will see? Yep, cast iron all the way through. I think I can relate to my good old iron skillet a little more and hope to be more like them. Cast from iron and cast to last. Hard working and well seasoned. I may not be shiny and pretty but I get the job done. And what you see is what you get; solid through and through. Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.” Ralph Waldo Emerson