My First Cast Iron Pan!

Hallelujah!  I finally broke down and purchased my very first CAST IRON PAN!

I've been wanting one for a while now - they're the original non-stick pan, they last forever, they can easily go from the stove-top to the oven, and I kept hearing about how great food turns out when cooked in cast iron.

The only problem was I tried to cheap out by hunting yard sales for old cast iron pans I could get for a few bucks.  Sadly (for me) cast iron pans are coming back into vogue and I wasn't the only person hunting for them.  Each yard sale I went to I was told one of three things:

1.) "Nope, no cast iron pans.  Sorry."

2.) "Why, sure, I had an old cast iron pan I was selling but the very first person who was here at 5:30am bought it.  Sorry."

3.) "Sure, I have cast iron pans!  They're in my kitchen, and I will never ever sell them."

Seriously.  EVERY yard sale I went to I got one of those three responses.

In desperation I priced out new cast iron pans and learned that a 10" skillet was only $15.  $15 for a pan that would easily last the rest of my lifetime and that I could pass down to my children, still in practically the same condition.

And yet still I hesitated... I have perfectly good pans at home.  Did I really need another one?  Like, REALLY need it?

This kept me waffling back and forth for months.  Each time I was in the store I would walk by the aisle with the new cast iron pans and longingly gaze at them, but never purchased one.

Then, last week I was given the perfect excuse for getting a cast iron pan.  The doctor told me to get one.

Seriously.

I'm about to start my third trimester (jeez, time has flown by) and so I had another batch of blood work done.  One of the things they check is iron levels, and mine were lower than they wanted them to be.  The doctor told me to eat more iron-rich foods, and to start cooking with a cast iron pan if I had one.

I think it took me less than 24 hours to become the proud owner of a cast iron pan.  WHOO HOO!

I've never used one before, so I'm slowly getting used to the best way to cook and clean one.  I found some good instructions online at The Art of Manliness, which I've found to be a good resource for several of my other slightly bizarre projects (how to field dress a squirrel, and the benefits of a push reel mower which I seriously want and am still trying to convince Jack that I need).