Today's entry features cast iron cookware. Sure I have a couple of anodized aluminum sautee pans which are great for meats that you want to simmer in a sauce, but for some things, nothing beats cast iron skillets or dutch ovens.

Breakfast foods are great in cast iron because if it's properly seasoned, nothing sticks: pancakes, hash browns, fried eggs, omelettes. But I wouldn't scramble eggs in a cast iron skillet; a plain old Revere Ware frying pan's better for that. For the dutch oven, swiss steak, pot roast, and things like stews or chili, or baked beans work really well. No need for a crockpot.

Any sort of cookware that I can start on the stove top, then pop in the oven to finish off is fine with me. Skillet cornbread is great to go with the chili. I don't have to worry about whether the handle will melt over 350F. And it can be used over a campfire or on a Coleman stove just as easily as at home.

Probably the only other kitchen items I like better than my cast iron cookware are my set of Henckel knives, and my food mill. Maybe also the mandoline, which makes really short work of slicing or julienne-ing root veggies compared to say, a box grater. Potatoes au gratin, anyone?