By Jan Jackson –
It is true that One Pan Annie only cooks with one pan – the pan just like her maternal grandmother used on the farm. One Pan Annie is in love with her cast iron skillet.
One Pan Annie talks:
My grandmother (1890-1966), cared for herself, my grandfather and their 10 children. The family followed the crops and worked in the fields. They ate fresh (or home preserved) meat, vegetables and fruit. That called for a lot of cooking so its good she had a friend. That friend was a cast iron skillet.
My grandmother didn’t have any of the time saving conveniences we have today, so she didn’t have much time or energy to spend on cooking. I contend that with all of our time saving conveniences we don’t have any more time to spend on cooking than she did. What you say? How could that be?
We are either working multiple jobs, balancing work, home and commuting/piano lessons/soccer practice/working out/karate lessons/. We are carrying multiple responsibilities and local/national/international problems on our minds. We are enrolled in or teaching classes, workshops and seminars. Our lives are filled to the brim. Because of that, we are eating precooked food out of bags, boxes and take-out windows and it’s killing us.
“I don’t think that it’s the lack of time keeping us from real cooking. I think it is the lack of a cast iron skillet and the knowledge of what to do with it. I love mine, because all you have to do it heat it up, turn it down to medium and put the/a lid on. It cooks evenly – no hot spots. – Shortly before your cooking is done just turn it off and it will continue to cook as it slowly cools down. Every time you use it, it seasons itself. Do I wash it? Almost never. Do I love it? Yes I do.
The busier you are the more you need the skillet and the know-how. You can drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a cast iron skillet, add a piece of meat and a couple of fresh vegetables of your choice and in less time than it takes to eat the chemically infused foods you find in the bags, boxes or take-out windows, you can have a fresh, cheap and healthy meal (and only one dish to wash). You can read how I do it at One Pan Annie Cooks for One.”
Bon Appetit
Editors note: Be like One Pan Annie
