That's a bald, sweeping generalization. Some of us do admit this, much as no one likes think themselves linked to such fetid evil. I admit to an ancestor who fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. I know many fellow Southerners who admit this shameful ancestry. It's hardly something we can deny.

The small cast iron skillet my ancestor carried with him is still somewhere in the family – because no one throws out a well-seasoned iron skillet. Except me, of course. When it was offered to me, I didn't want the curs-ed thing!

True story: I just finally got my first iron skillet of my very own this year for Mother's Day – at the age of 58 years old! My husband got a 12" and an 8", well cured iron skillets from an estate sale when someone was selling up to move into a small retirement home.