Cornbread
Cornbread is one of my favorite
foods. I must have it with vegetables. Crumbled in
buttermilk with a large onion on the side is a prized
snack.
There are a number of ways to make cornbread. Some put a
little flour and an egg in the batter. Some even add kernel
corn. One of my grandmothers liked it plain. She just added
water to the meal, cooking it like a pancake. She called it
a “hoecake”. Hoecake got its name because this type of
unleavened johnnycake was originally baked in the South on
the blade of a hoe over an open fire.
Mother sometimes added an egg and a little sugar to the
batter. She called it “egg bread” instead of cornbread. It
was sweet with a smooth texture. She often made this when
we had company.
Mother usually made cornbread in an iron skillet. She used
bacon drippings,a little baking powder,an egg, and
buttermilk with the cornmeal. This is my favorite type of
cornbread. I also enjoyed it when she added pork cracklins
for a little added flavor.
My other grandmother never learned to read. One time she
used a soap detergent thinking it was baking powder for her
cornbread. Of course this was quite a surprise at dinner.
It’s difficult to find plain cornmeal. What you find in the
grocery stores now days is cornbread mix. It already has
salt and baking powder added. You then add milk and oil or
even an egg. It’s not too bad and easy to use. I like the
“White Lilly” brand best.
In the old days, farmers took their corn to a corn mill to
have ground. Daddy ran the Tinsley mill in the 1930’s. The
Tinsley Mill district in Peachtree City is named for this
old mill.