Moore: The pioneer skillet

Published 5:15 am Sunday, August 25, 2024

John Moore

Editor’s note: This column was originally published in September 2017.

My momma’s skillet and this columnist are featured in the fall 2017 issue of The Pioneer Woman Magazine.



Well, it used to be my momma’s skillet. She gave it to me when I left home almost 40 years ago.

And there it is on page 72 of Ree Drummond’s new magazine.

If by chance, you aren’t familiar with Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman), she has built a media empire that grew out of a blog she began writing in 2006. It chronicles her daily life with a husband and four children living on a large ranch in Oklahoma.

Most Popular

Her story is one of a metropolitan woman who married a cowboy. Her tales of adapting to her new life resonated with millions, and her world has grown to include a TV show, several books and cookbooks, and a mercantile in her hometown of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, among other things.

So, how does a guy living in East Texas wind up with a small feature in the magazine of one of the most popular women in America?

First, let me tell you about my skillet. It is 9 inches in diameter and is old. How old, we don’t know. From the limited information it provides and some online research I did, this piece of cast iron likely was made by one of two companies: Wagner or Griswold.

What I know for sure is that this skillet originally came from my dad’s maternal grandmother and was used by my mom to prepare virtually every meal I ate growing up.

I can recall being just the right height so that the cooktop of my mom’s gas stove was eye level for me. My mom would put some bacon renderings in that skillet and turn on the burner.

My mom would then put sliced potatoes, breaded okra, or whatever else was on the menu into that piece of cast iron.

When I was a child, there were three things that were part of every meal. We always had fried potatoes, white gravy and homemade biscuits. The first two were made in that skillet. The biscuits were baked on a cookie sheet in the oven.

Often at dinner or supper (there is no lunch in Arkansas) my mom would make me a fried baloney sandwich, which was blackened to perfection in that skillet.

My mother bequeathed me that skillet when I moved out after high school. I’ve had it with me ever since.

Back to The Pioneer Woman. My wife and I are big fans. One evening last January, we were watching her TV show, which featured her using her cast iron and bragging about how much she loved it.

At the time, I just happened to be logged on to Twitter. So, I sent Ree Drummond a tweet, thanking her for highlighting my favorite cookware.

A few months later, I received an email through my website. It was from a lady named Lauren who worked for Hearst Publications in New York City. She told me that Ree was launching a new magazine and that my tweet had caught someone’s eye (I have no idea if it was Ree or someone else) and asked me to expound on my love of cast iron.

I wrote a short bit, similar to the one I just shared with you in this column, and sent it to her. A short time later, she emailed again and asked for pictures, one of the skillet and one of me. She also asked about my plans for the skillet.

I wrote her back and said that my mom’s skillet, along with my now much larger collection of cast iron, will go to our grandchildren.

A couple of weeks ago, I received word that I had been selected to be included in the second issue. Other cast iron lovers were also selected. I share a page with them.

Needless to say, my mom is pleasantly pleased about this whole thing and is in the process of buying every copy she can find. So, if you want one, you’d better hurry before my mom finds them first.