I remember as a child my dad having a pressure cooker which scared the bejjeesies out of me and its’ why I never wanted one of my own. No, do I want Charlie to have a pressure cooker when he gets his own place.
But as we prepare for Charlie and Mikalya to start there own lives I want to start purchasing things for their kitchen including a electric skillet and crock pot, a air fryer I’ve never learned to use and a rice cooker for all the rice Mykalia makes and a Tortiall a Maker.
I thought I would share a post with you that takes place in my home at🔌🍳 4:30 PM — and the ELECTRIC SKILLET POST: WHY THIS PAN SAVES US more times than I can count along with my friends and family,
Forget the air fryer. Forget the Instant Pot. This electric skillet is the queen of the Cates Compound alongside my Crock Pot.
She cooks:
- beans
- rice
- fried taters
- onions
- hamburger patties
- leftovers
- miracles
And she does it without complaining, without burning, without needing anything except an outlet and a mama who knows how to stretch a dollar.
🍳 4:30 PM — When the Skillet Comes Alive
By 4:30 PM, the whole compound is moving like a storm front:
- Joseph circling on the golf cart
- kids yelling across yards
- dogs barking at ghosts
- neighbors drifting toward the smell of onions
- C yelling from his room
- David muttering dad‑isms
- Gerald asking if the taters are done yet
And right in the middle of all that noise? My electric skillet. Doing the Lord’s work.
🥔 Fried Taters & Onions (Gerald’s Love Language)
If taters and onions are on sale? You better believe they’re hitting the skillet.
Gerald eats them like they’re a spiritual experience. I eat them too. David doesn’t — which is fine, because that means more for us. Unless we leave the onions out then you better hold on because there might not be any left when David and Charlie get their fill.
The smell fills the whole house. The dogs start pacing. The neighbors start sniffing. The compound starts drifting toward the kitchen like moths to a porch light.
🍔 Frozen Hamburger Patties — The Unsung Hero
People laugh at frozen patties. Let them.
Because in this house?
Frozen patties mean:
- dinner
- lunch tomorrow
- crumbled into beans
- chopped into rice
- stretched into gravy
- turned into sliders
- turned into survival
One $5 bag can feed us three different ways if I play my cards right.
And the skillet handles every version like a champ.
🍲 Beans, Rice & Cornbread — The Southern Survival Trinity
The stove and my pan warm the beans. The other pan preheats the rice. The skillet melts the government cheese if you want it. The oven keeps the cornbread soft.
This is the meal that has saved us more times than I can count.
Food bank beans. Dollar Tree cornbread. Pantry rice. A prayer whispered over the pot.
And somehow — it always stretches.
🧽 She Cleans Easy, Too
One pan. One wipe with Dollar Tree cleaners. One mama who doesn’t have time for a sink full of dishes. That’s survival. That’s retro mom energy. That’s the Cates Compound way.
❤️ Why This Pan Matters
Because this skillet isn’t just a pan. It’s:
- dinner
- leftovers
- comfort
- survival
- routine
- stability
- love
- the thing that keeps us fed when life hits hard
My electric skillet is the one tool that never fails me, never judges me, never burns the food when I’m distracted by chaos.
My electric skillet is the pan that keeps the circle unbroken.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
