Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that you will all have a very Happy Thanksgiving. I realize that days of thanksgiving are celebrated at various times of the year around the globe, but in the US, tomorrow is our national day for giving thanks for all of our blessings. In keeping with the feasting aspect of this holiday, I thought that I would pass on a family recipe for making cornbread. The ingredients definitely aren't according to strict dietary guidelines, but can easily be changed to meet your health or cultural preferences.

Mama's Southern Cornbread

Combine and mix dry ingredients in large bowl:
1 C yellow cornmeal
1 C flour (I use whole wheat)
1 Tbs sugar (I use honey, some people don't use any)
1 heaping Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Combine and mix together wet ingredients in separate bowl:
1 C milk (or 1/3 C powdered milk with dry, and water here)
[if you use buttermilk, cut the baking powder to 2 tsp, and add 1/2 tsp of soda]
1 egg

Heat oven to 350
Heat generous 1/3 C bacon drippings in iron skillet or pan of choice until hot and melted. (I used a combo of bacon drippings and olive oil, but any oil or butter will do)

Quickly combine wet ingredients with the dry, but don't overmix.

Swirl drippings/oil around the skillet or pan to coat and quickly pour most, but not all directly into the batter. Stir and immediately pour batter back into HOT skillet, and put into the oven. Take it out when the top is golden and the curled edges start to pull away from the sides of the skillet/pan, or center taps solid.

Variations and additions:
cheese, cut corn, peppers, crumbled bacon, sausage, or anything else that tickles your taste buds.

Now, what are you going to do with the leftover cornbread?

Cornbread Dressing:
Basic: Do this to your own preference.
crumbled, plain cornbread
green onion tops
regular sauted onions and celery
parsley
sage (go lightly on this one)
itty-bitty bit of garlic
beaten eggs
chicken or turkey stock until very moist
Instead of using salt - if necessary, I give it a few drops of Tobasco to sparke it, and a little dash of bouillion, which is mostly salt, but more flavor.
Cook all of this in a cassarole, not in the bird! 350 is a good temperature.

Variations and additions:
chopped gibblets
oysters
bacon
boiled eggs
pecans

mushrooms

chopped apples
or anything else that tickles your taste buds.

Count all your blessings, and Happy Thanksgiving

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance

And loving good food :-)