the ancestral skillet
The tool that I use most in the kitchen is the old iron skillet that my mother passed down to me.
This piece is called into service almost every day for any number of different cooking tasks. It's our preferred method for reheating leftovers, making leisurely breakfasts or preparing anything that needs to be golden brown and delicious.
However, this certainly isn't because it's easier to use and maintain. It's heavy, with a handle that gets almost as hot as the cooking surface. Keeping that surface smooth and non-sticking involves a lot of scrubbing with salt and re-seasoning whenever I have a chance. When it's really bad I can de-glaze with a mixture of water and vinegar, but just rinsing it off and throwing it in the dishwasher will never be an option.
So, why has it outlasted every other piece of equipment in my kitchen?
For me, it has to do with how I feel when I use it; or how it looks in it's regular place on top of the stove. It was a part of my mother's life, and now it's become a part of mine. I know that if I keep up my side of that relationship, it won't ever let me down. It's value and usefulness will never decrease over time, while it becomes more beautiful every time I cook with it.
With the way things have been for the last few years, many of us a wondering what sort of wealth we'll be able to accumulate for the future. How much money will we need to make sure we can be comfortable and secure? How much does it take to give us the life we want?
How we collect and develop ourselves financially is an important part of the answer to these questions, but I think the full answer for me involves things like my skillet. It's worth doesn't have to do with how much I could buy it for, but the place it has in my life. It supports me in ways that other pans couldn't, regardless of the price.
The things that make our lives better and more secure can't be defined solely through the investment of money, just as people can't be defined in that way. For someone or something to have value, you have to build a relationship.