I'm starting a new series here on This is Beige: cooking from the cigar box full of recipes I inherited from my grandma. Since Momer was from the south, I have to start with cornbread. If there's one thing you should know about Southerners and cornbread, it would have to be this: they do not like it sweet (or cakey, but that's two).
How can you bite into a piece of this cornbread and not be transported back to the "old plantation days?"
Digging into this recipe box is going to be highly entertaining and hopefully delicious as well. My favorite line is, "Pour sweet milk over meal and stir till mixed good." And by the way, sweet milk is just milk, as opposed to buttermilk.
Southern Egg Bread
1/2 pt (1 cup) of sweet milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 pt (2 cups) of corn meal
2 Tbsp. lard (I used butter)
2 eggs
Sift meal in pan. Pour boiling water over it, just a teacupful (I used 6 oz.). Next add lard (butter) so that the hot water will melt it in the meal. Pour sweet milk over meal and stir till mixed good. Add baking powder and salt. Always add eggs last. Bake in hot oven about 20 or 30 minutes until nicely browned, serve plenty butter with them. (Serve plenty butter with them? Where is your editor?!)
Verdict and Janet's notes: It would have been easier to melt the butter before adding it. And since the recipe didn't bother with superfluous information like oven temp ("hot oven?") I baked the bread at 400 degrees. Twenty minutes turned out to be enough; I made sure a toothpick came out clean. This was good. The kids liked it with butter and honey.
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How fun! I love old recepies, too. Two years ago my grandma gifted me the original Betty Crocker cookbook from the late 40s, and last year I got a book of traditional recipes from the South.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what else you make!
That looks delicious! How wonderful to have a box of your grandmother's recipes!
ReplyDeleteAs a born and raised Georgian, I personally prefer sweet cornbread (I'm the weirdo in my Southern family, I guess!). If it's the non-sweet kind, I have to slather it in an entire stick of butter. :)
ReplyDeleteSo awesome!!! One day I had found the blog of a woman from England and she had decided to follow an old English cook book ( I think pre 1900's). I have never laughed so much in my life because EVERYTHING was just awful. Like a nightmare hooves , tripe, toungues she said her kids had stopped speaking to her because he food was so awful! Yours sounds much better!!!! lol
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It should have read, "Serve plenty butter with them, y'all."
ReplyDeleteI grew up on the non sweet southern style cornbread, but after living out west for awhile, I prefer the sweet. MMMMM looks so good I just may have to make some to go with dinner!
ReplyDeleteYou have me salivating here, yum.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea for a series! I have a big book from my Grandma but without pictures of the recipes, it's hard to be inspired. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLooks delish! Me and my little one will love this! I love the cooking instructions from back in the day. My grandma tells me how to make things and nothing has any measurements. It's always either "a little" of this or "a few" of that. I need her to show me as I catch things with a measuring spoon!
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