Thanks for the helpful responses. Just after I posted this, I found that Target pot listed on their website, and was initially over the moon. But of the five Targets within an hour of driving, nary a one has it. And shipping is $14, if I order it from the website... I think I'm going to keep calling and keep looking for it, and maybe ask my local Target store manager if she'd try to get a few in for me. (Some of my friends also want to try that recipe!) athomein1914 (love your screen name -- I'm a historian and study that period!) -- no TJMaxx around, alas, though we do have Marshalls, which I think is the same chain. I'll keep looking there, too. Thanks for the info about cast iron vs. enameled, too. I have heard people complain about the newer Lodge cast iron -- that the inner surface is really rough, so even if you supergrease it, it's difficult to get food to disLodge, so to speak. I am going to order an antique cast-iron skillet on Ebay for scrambled eggs... not so sure about the antique dutch ovens, though. I'll sit tight and keep looking. Thanks, all!

Got reunited with CI a few years ago when I found 3 different size "name-brand" (Lodge, griswold, etc.) skillets for next to nothing at a yard sale. It took SEVERAL applications of oven cleaner to get the unknown GOOK off. I reseasoned like my Grandmother always did... HOT pan and a dab of bacon grease smeared all over... inside and out. As for cleaning, if cooking something "dry" like eggs... once pan was seasoned, only needed to be wiped out with paper towel. If something "wet"... scrape with metal spatula... HOT water, cheap salt and a scrubber. Then on burner till hot and another dab of BG. IMO, KEY to cast iron is USE IT!! I think it's easy to find... CHEAP at yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets... cuz it is HEAVY and some people think it's "old-fashioned"... they don't know what they're missing. When I first started "collecting" CI, stored several pieces in oven. Then noticed minor rust?? Figure from steam coming off whatever was cooking while pieces were sitting there. Just scrubbed it off, a little more BG... but I moved pieces to where I saw them everyday and then use them frequently.

Lucy- See, the siren song of your pizzas, so delicious that they even lured Lou in to take a peek :-). I must have spaced & completely missed your suggestion about baking the pizza on the stone with the cast iron pan above. I wish that I had noticed it! I'll try it that way this weekend (my guys looooove pizza- I swear that's why my husband married me, the fact that I made pizza & the whole Italian Christmas eve fish frenzy). I was a woman posessed and made pizza this weekend while test driving recipes for the boozy bake off. Using Julia's french bread recipe for the crust was insipired and produced a much crispier crust than I had ever achieved before. This dough could also be worked much thinner than my usual pizza dough. I'll be using this dough method from now on unless I'm in a super hurry for pizza. While my pizzas were nowhere near as gorgeous as yours the pizza under the stone (baked on the cast iron pan) was far superior to the one baked over the stone (but not directly on the stone, what a dope I am!). I will begin the quest for a second stone...and a peel! Do we even have a restaurant supply place in our neck of the woods anymore? The one in Port Chester is still there, I think, but the huge one in Elmsford is gone & the one in Peekskill seems to have mainly commercial ranges and giant mixers. I love to mix provolone in with the mozzarella but my son claims it's "too spicy" (he's 3, whatcha gonna do?) Oh Lou, I crave one of those outdoor brick ovens! My father used to build them (him being a bricklayer) but he passed when I was a little girl. He'd be very amused to see his little girl pining for one of those old ovens that he used to make. I swear, I'm gonna have to build it myself one of these days. BTW- I got my baking stone on the clearance shelf at Kohls for 3$ a few years ago. It can't hurt to keep an eye on the dept store clearance, especially after the holidays. I would definitely be interested in the wirtual pizza party, as well as the cupcakes. throw in cocktails and, well, you're playing my song :-). Nina

Love my Stab. 5or6 years ago I purchased one treat every year. So I have I think five now. That was when, it seemed, everything started breaking down. A lifetime veg peeler snapped in my hand, a favorite chefs knife handle cracked. A couple handles fell off a couple measuring cups. A gorgeous wooden spoon broke in half. Lids to my glass pyrex cracked... Then Zwilling started having great cyber Monday deals. My first was I think my small grain pot. These two live 24/7 on the back right burner. Use them daily/weekly. The 4qrt like on sale now is handy just under the stovetop in the cabinet. The baby, 'my sweet baby' grain pot I've given as gifts since it is usually around 79$ every year during the holidays.