(spitting snow again....four inches left from yesterday.....
and freezing outside...this last day of the year....)
There are all kinds of corn bread recipes
in "this old world," as my dear mother
used to refer to it. Most of them are
carried in the heads of our marvelous
women, and have been used over and
over.
Corn bread, for our story might be boiled
down to two main kinds-- good old crusty,
heavy duty--(lots of corn meal), brown-
and-crispy-for eatin' pinto-beans-with
onion-chunks-Southern Corn Bread
Did I say: good also for "crumble-in,"
with buttermilk. Evenings, sitting in
your cane bottom rocker.
Corn bread number two is very popular
and with respect, some women think it
is the only kind. It's all they know how
to make. And it is really good, if you
can't make corn bread number one.
Now then, somehow in our glorious
marriage, early on (we both were working),
I helped out on the cooking with soups,
chili con carne, pots of red beans, and--
corn bread. I mean my mother had taught
me...and the "how" was memorized!
I learned the heavy duty Southern Farm
Cornbread...style.
But one day, while reading a cooking
magazine I saw this recipe for a "sweet"
cornbread. It called for more flour, less
cornmeal, buttermilk and soda, and
heavens! Lots of sugar, and berries.
I just up and tried it. It was delicious! Now
and then I made it, on the rare occasions
when we had buttermilk. But somehow
my own trusty red-private-hand-written
cookbook disappeared and we quit having
it. (Why did it disappear?)
Cut to today...overcast, cold, gloomy,
and pondering all the events of 2018,
both good and bad...well this dear
friend of ours just dropped by....with
some hot, tasty, marvelous lentil
soup with Italian sausage...and it
was to die for.
BE and I just looked at each other...
and as a thousand times before...I
said "Are you thinking what I'm
thinking?" "Cornbread!" she exclaimed.
I said: "Let's make it with the Southern
recipe, and I will adjust it mentally for
'sweet semi-dessert muffin' status."
"O you can't just change recipes to suit
yourself. Women cooks know that. Men
don't."
"Just watch me," I said. And she helped
and I rattled it off to her, and she found
the stuff and suggested adding some
butter, to go with the oil. We did, 1/8th.
Then I was was firm on getting it brown...
and she favored a cake pan and I held
out for muffins.
Here is the adapted recipe of MIL'S
Own Sweet Southern Cornbread...:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup of milk, or teensy bit more
1/2 cup of Canola oil
or less if butter used
Spray the muffin pan with Pam.
Bake 26-32 minutes @ 400 degrees.
Caution, just when you think it's done,
cook another 6-8 minutes. Nothing like
crispy muffins.
We added a handful of craisins and
blueberries in my experiment. Needs
more.
The other recipe with buttermilk is a
little smoother texture. But oh, was
this just he thing on this cold day! We
will do it again.
(Men have learned over time, when they
see brownies or some grand food baking--
they automatically ask "Who's sick?" And
I've always said that women's baking
genes are intertwined with their
philanthropic urges to be kind and helpful.)
Today, a weird thing occurred to me as
I leaned on the cabinet, literally inhaling
the aroma of that corn bread. I suddenly
began thinking: "Who's sick or downcast
that I could take a muffin to, and brighten
their New Year?" Happy New Year to you!
-------
MIL
31 December 2018
(My dear dad would have been
109 today. He loved cornbread,
being a farm boy.)
I dedicate this little story to him,
with love.
'
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