Foodie Freebie Friday: Lodge Cast Iron Skillet!

Welcome back from the weekend and Happy Foodie Freebie Monday to you! Notice anything different? Yep... Joelen's Culinary Adventures got a facelift and was in need of some updating. I was getting tired of the "cutesy" look (it was slightly annoying to have so many pictures/widgets on the site) and opted for a more sleeker, modern, polished look. So look around, check out the info I've put on my left sidebar, and I hope you enjoy the culinary adventures I continue to have and share! I'd love to hear what you think and if you have any suggestions to improve it further.

So what's my foodie freebie for the week? Well, it's definitely a piece of cookware I think everyone should have... a Cast Iron Skillet! When cared for, cast iron skillets can stand the test of time and provide some wonderful meals for your family and perhaps even your generations to come. Here's a chance for a lucky reader to receive cast iron skillet which I hope will be something that will be passed on to future foodies in your family.

A company that I look to for my cast iron needs is Lodge. Not quite a Chicago based company, but I love them nonetheless. They've been around for over a century (yes... a century!) and their products only get better. If you have a cast iron skillet or have family that do, I wouldn't be surprised if it was made by Lodge! Some are even lucky enough to have a cast iron skillet passed down to them.

Nestled alongside the Cumberland Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains is the town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee (population 3,300). Yet out of this tiny community comes the finest cast iron cookware in the world. Lodge Cast Iron began making cookware during the first presidential term of William McKinley. Amazingly, some of the first cast iron skillets, gridlles and dutch ovens made over 100 years ago are still being put to good use.

Today, Lodge Cast Iron remains a family owned, family operated business producing the most extensive selection of quality cast iron goods on the market. Lodge now offers an expanded line of cast iron cookware for America’s kitchens—Dutch ovens, the largest selection of cast iron skillets on the market, deep fryers, country kettles and more. When cooking outdoors, Lodge Cast Iron goes too, with camp Dutch ovens, grilled, combo cookers and grills of unparalleled quality.

For more than 112 years Lodge has been making cast iron cookware. And, much of the cookware made generations ago is still in the kitchens of fourth generation cooks. That’s why we say that when you choose Lodge Cast Iron Cookware, you’ve made a friend that will last more than a lifetime. - Lodge

This week I'm giving a lucky reader a choice between the Lodge 10 1/4-inch skillet (which was rated as one of the two dozen essential tools in the home & kitchen as seen in Martha Stewart Living: February 2008) or the Lodge 12-inch skillet. Read on for your chance to get this week's Foodie Freebie on Friday!

Some guidelines:
- Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States - my apologies to my international readers!
- You must have a valid email address (within your comment or blog link) so that you can be contacted if you win.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment answering:

- Do you have something special that was passed down to you? Or do you have something special you plan on passing down to someone? (It doesn't have to be cooking/baking/food related!)


Deadline: Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12 midnight CST.

ONE WINNER will be randomly chosen by Random. Org's Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on Friday, August 14, 2009. Good luck!