From PRX, this is the Moth Radio Hour.

I'm your host, Suzanne Rust.

Indiana Jones braved a pit of snakes in his quest for the ark. Charlie Bucket

longed for that golden ticket to get him through the gates of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

The Wicked Witch of the West was willing to annihilate a little girl and her little dog too

for a pair of ruby slippers. Point is, whether tangible or intangible, we all yearn for something.

We all have our personal objects of desire, and that's the theme of this show.

My grandmother and mother used to make the very best fried chicken in a cast-iron skillet.

Now that they're gone, that magical, well-seasoned skillet is mine.

I treasure it and use it whenever I can,

so it's no surprise that I was drawn to our first story by Mark Lamb.

He told it at a grand slam in New York, where WNYC is a media partner of the moth.

Here's Mark.

When I left home, my mama gave me an iron skillet that was seasoned years before I was born.

Now, if you don't know what it means to season a skillet, basically every time you cook in it, the food kind of emits the oils into the iron,

and the iron it absorbs it, and it creates this natural teflon.

You don't want to wash it out with soap and water, first of all, iron rust.

And you just kind of wipe it down with a paper towel. Where I'm from,

we like our skillets good and greasy. Now, that skillet that mama gave me, went with me across many

estate lines, different homes, different kitchens, And then somehow, and I hate to admit this,

I misplaced it. Honestly, I think I misplaced it amidst the pieces of a shattered heart.

Have you ever been cooking all day like Thanksgiving and you finally sit down to eat and you're not hungry?

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