By Tank Hoover

The rich savory aroma of frying bacon poked my senses, waking me up and causing my stomach juices to churn. Jumping out of bed at 5:00 a.m. was much easier, as my nose followed the aromatic trail to the kitchen. It was opening day of buck season and grandma was up long enough to start breakfast for Pap and me.

Dressed in her flowery housecoat, she stood before the hot stovetop, expertly twirling the bacon with a fork. She never fried the bacon flat, but fittingly kept it curly, like pigtails.

Grandma sure could cook. When I wuz a kid, she was legendary, to my way of thinking. Her biggest asset was her cast iron skillet skills. She was magical, transforming food into amazingly great treats to eat. It wasn’t fancy, but it was plentiful and perfect.

As a kid, bacon was a given every breakfast during my summer visits. Crispy, but not to the point of crumbling, it set the salivary glands into hyper-secretion mode. Whenever Grandma fried bacon, you never had to worry, no matter how much you ate, there was always more. How’d she do that?

I told you, her skillet was magical.

Breakfast

Pancakes were another specialty. She could fit four flapjacks into her 12″ Griswold skillet and flip them without touching the pancake next to it, getting raw batter on it. She’d wait till the batter top filled with air-bubbles, signaling her it was time to flip it.

The edges were always crispy-crunchy excellence while the middle was light and fluffy, having maximum maple syrup and butter absorbency capabilities. The golden-brown hue of the stacked cakes, dripping syrup, drop by drop, from their edges was enough to hypnotize you. The opposing tactile characteristics made for a celebration of the mouth with each bite.

Like the bacon, the hot cakes were never in fear of running out.

Lunch

Being dairy farmers, dairy products were a natural. What better way to support the cause of hard work and labor than with a grilled cheese washed down with a cold glass of farm fresh milk? Grandma would once again fire up her spell-inhabited skillet and put a pat or two of butter in it while buttering up some white bread at the same time.

When the pats of butter started skating around, emanating their wonderful aroma, she’d drop the bread in, buttered side down; add some cheddar cheese, topped with another piece of buttered bread.

When the bottom piece was fried golden-brown and the cheese was starting to ooze, grandma would flip them, filling the air with the sounds and bouquet of sizzling butter, again. The ensuing stimuli caused a Pavlovian effect on me, making me drool in anticipation. It still does, to this day.

Supper

Everyone says their grandma fries the best chicken, but mine really did. Her well used frying pan was filled with a mixture of bacon, butter and Crisco oil. Grandma would heat it till the surface tension looked like it was angry and drop her egg, flour, salt and pepper battered yard bird into the hot oil. The sizzling was torture, as it took a while to crisp up the chicken to just so. It was then baked in the oven until the meat dropped from the bone and the coating crunched with every bite. Biscuits, mashed potatoes, corn and a relish dish were typical sides. There was always plenty to eat.

My Own Skillets

I have an extensive collection of cast iron myself, now. While my food is almost as good as Grandma’s, it has lost some of its magic. For some reason, while endless piles of food are possible, I can’t eat to my hearts content without gaining weight? I wish I knew Grandma’s secret.

Primitive cooking with cast iron is not only fun, but practical as well. Once the secret of keeping your cast iron well seasoned is learned, cooking with it is a breeze. And like most things in life, the concept carries over to other things.

Cookin’ and Shootin’?

Just as grandma always kept her skillet well-lubed with butter, bacon grease or beef tallow, for non-stick performance, the same principals apply to shooting muzzleloaders or cast bullets. It’s all in the lube and the condition of your cooking surface, be it flat-iron or shooting-iron.

Smooth, non-stick surfaces give you best results no matter which iron you’re operating. Just remember to coat your surfaces with some type of grease. Don’t believe me? Just ask Grandma — she knew.

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