Diane posted on her blog about her favorite potato masher being broken. It reminded me of my favorite cookware item of all time, not being broken, but being stolen. I had inherited, well it was handed down to me, my grandpa’s BIG DEEP iron skillet. Man. That thing was perfect for cooking a number of things on the stove, everything from a pot of beans to pot roast. It had to be 80 years old at least, because Gramps actually got it from HIS mother, so it was perfectly smooth and had a big heavy iron lid, too.
Very early in my marriage, while we were building our house, Mike’s mom asked us to come and live with her while our house was being built. One reason is that she was bedridden, she had a live-in caretaker, JUDY (the bitch), but Judy was taking 3 months off. Mama Ralls needed someone to take care of her during that time, and we needed to be close to our house-in-progress, which was just less than a mile from there. So we moved in, I took care of her and got to know her (a saint, I tell you.) When Judy came back, all hell broke loose. She wanted us out, and FAST. She basically made our lives hell until we hated her and she hated us and we went ahead and rented a trailer even closer to hour house.
I had my stuff stored in Mama’s basement, including the cherished skillet. That was the only item that was not found when I moved. Just up and walked away I guess. I know Judy took it and hid it because when I was moving in and she was temporarily moving out, she saw the skillet and commented on how “They don’t make em like that anymore.”
It’s true, they really don’t. I’ve searched high and low for one like it. You know, when you buy a new iron skillet, they really suck. They have ridges that would take forever to wear down. And when you find old, already seasoned iron skillets at garage sales and flea markets, the price is usually an arm and a leg. Even so, if I could find one like my gramp’s skillet, I would gladly pay at least an arm.
Oh how I miss grampa’s skillet… almost as much as grampa.
I despise Judy.center colorado 2nd mortgage loan2nd colorado loans mortgage2nd home equity mortgages loanmortgage home arm 1 5 loansloan year fixed 5 interest onlycash loan 500 personalloan day advance pay 500 onlinemoney payday online 6 loan fastunsecured day 60 loanauto loan 800program afs loanact home abusive loansloane alex200.00 cash loancalculators amortized loanhome accredited reo loansloans of amortizationbridging national loans abbey Map
I say we hunt the bitch down and smack her over the head with the pan. The new ones DO suck and if you find a good one at a garage sale or whatever, it’s like you say! An arm and a leg.
Let’s kill her.
Mel, I know a little how ya feel. My best hand tools are hand downs from my Grandfather and his brothers (there were 9 of them and some of their kids and grandkids didn’t want the old tools). If some of them went walkin’ I’d be huntin’ Likely with Granddaddy’s old Model 1894 Winchester…
But fortunately, we have a discount dollar store in town: all tools a buck. Make great “loaners”.
*heh*
And we’ve been fortunate that the cooking utensils handed down to us have stayed in our kitchens, except when WE moved them. Grandmother’s potato masher, pressure cooker (still good after alla these years), sharpening steel, etc., are indispensible tools in our daily life. They “walk off”… out comes Granddaddy’s .30-30…
I wish I would have had one of grampa’s guns when the witch stole his skillet!
Oh my. Who knew people were so attached to their cookware.
Sorry for your loss, buddy.
I hope she chokes to death on something she cooks in it.
LOL Paul!