I grew up eating cornbread that my mother made in a cast iron skillet. When I decided I wanted to help with the cooking, making cornbread was one of the first things Mom taught me how to make. The recipe was simple; a cup of self rising cornmeal, a bit of sugar, an 1/8th teaspoon of baking soda, an egg, a tablespoon of vegetable oil and cup of buttermilk. While you mixed up the ingredients, you heated up the skillet and another tablespoon of oil in the oven. Once the skillet and oil were hot, you poured the batter in the skillet and baked it until it was firm in the middle with crisp brown edges. Finally, you might have to turn the broiler on for a few minutes to brown the top.

It seems like we ate that cornbread about five nights a week and we never got tired of it. Sometimes, we smothered it with stewed tomatoes and bacon. Mostly we just ate it as a piece of bread to go along with our minute steak or pork chops. At the holidays, we used the cornbread to make dressing. I still make that cornbread from time to time and it is always a key part of our holiday meals, but I had long forgotten the story behind it until a recent conversation with my mom. Continue reading →