John’s Neighborhood

Don't trust quotes you may get from Al's Auto Salvage in Oklahoma City.

Yup.  It's winter time again.  Time for pulling out the heavy coats and gloves.  Time for lighting fires in the fireplace.  Time for making big steaming pots of soups and stews.  And time for my favorite accompaniment to such foods -- corn bread.  I've decided to share with you, my Vox friends, my time honored recipe and technique for making basic [1] cornbread [2] from scratch.  No silly box mixes for me.  This stuff is super easy to make! 

Let's begin with the recipe just as my mother gave it to me.

That's right.  She only gives lists of ingredients.  I'm surprised she was able to come up with measurements for any of the stuff.  She hardly ever measures anything.  And that's how she taught me to cook.  Just put it together and adjust the amounts until it looks and/or tastes right.  I will kindly fill in the gaps for you here.

Begin by choosing the pan you are going to cook in.  There are those who swear you cannot get good cornbread without using an iron skillet but, like my mother, I use an 8" Pyrex pie plate.  We prepare it in the same fashion as an iron skillet and get the same results. 

Pour a couple of tablespoons vegetable oil, or olive oil for the health conscious, in the bottom of the pan.  Or do as I've done here.  Use bacon grease!  Place the pan with the oil or grease into the oven and turn it on to 400 degrees.  Let the oven and pan preheat while you mix up the batter.  This is the source of the "magic" touch those iron skillet folks swear by.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in your mixing bowl.  Measure out the milk and then drop the egg into it.  Beat the egg into the milk [3] with a fork.  Pour this mixture into the flour and mix just until moistened.  Don't worry about those lumps.  Over mixing flour and liquid mixtures develops the gluten in the flour and makes your baked goods tough.

Now it's time to add the cornmeal.  Mother doesn't say how much, she just knows what it's supposed to look like.  And the same was true for me until I mixed up this particular batch.  I went to all the trouble of measuring it and I used 1 1/2 cups.  This is about what it should look like after you mix it in.  You can adjust the amount to suit yourself.

Now it's time to pour this into the hot pan.  Be very careful that you don't burn yourself!  As you pour the batter in you will notice some of it climbing up the side of the pan and can even hear it sizzling.  This is what creates that lovely crunchy bottom crust those iron skillet folks love.

Yes, that's bacon grease floating on top of the batter.  Let this bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. [4]  I have a bad habit of taking mine out a couple of minutes earlier than I should because I can't wait to eat it.

Try to let it stand about 5 or 10 minutes before you cut into it.  I rarely last longer than 30 seconds.  This batch was enjoyed with a big pot of venison stew.

[1]  I did say basic.  Once you've mastered the basic technique feel free to jazz it up with chopped jalepeno, chopped onion, grated cheese, corn, or anything else your little heart desires.  I have lots of fun coming up with new options.

[2]  WARNING: This is not light, sweet, fluffy cornbread that looks and tastes like cake.  This is serious cornbread designed to stand up to the soups and stews it's served with and not go soggy.

[3]  Sure you could beat the egg separately, but this saves time.

[4] There are also those who swear you need sugar to make the crust brown.  Clearly, you don't.

I don't remember seeing this sign on the wall of my doctor's office last year.

...because my cats are sleeping together again.

First, Xoco went into heat the day she was scheduled to be spayed, so no spaying yet.

Second, I had to drive to Texas on a busy holiday week to get my sister's banking information so I can start sending her money until her husband either finds a job or gets old enough to collect SS.  Since he's 3 years away from collecting SS, that means I'll probably be sending her money for at least 3 years.  I gave her a lump sum for the car, but haven't been able to afford the title transfer yet - that'll have to wait until I get my tax return.  The lump sum will catch them up on bills.

You'd think my sister would be glad I bought the car from her, but the whole time I was there (overnight), she kept  going on about how I didn't "love" the car as much as she did, and wouldn't I rather just fix my Hyundai instead?  And then she'd mention  how she thought of that car as hers for the last 10 years (it was Mother's car) and how hard it was to "let go" of it to some stranger (what am I - I thought we were sisters!) who wouldn't love it as much as she did. 

And then, after making me drive to her place to get the banking information, she almost wouldn't give it to me because she "didn't trust the online banking transfers".  Well, sorry, but I'm not mailing check via the Post Office when I can safely transfer funds from my bank to hers and know she got it and have a nice traceable trail for that money.  I've sent her checks before that she says she never got, and when I point out they were cashed, it's always, "Oh, yeah, I guess I did get it."  Direct transfer will stop those games.

Gah! Sometimes I wish I was as rich as my family seems to think I am.

From the turkey and stuffing to all of the fixin's... Who's cooking your Thanksgiving dinner this year? What dish are you most looking forward to?

This year's Thanksgiving, as usual, will be at my sister Myrna's house.  Today she and my other sister are getting the meal ready.  I have spent my typical Thanksgiving Eve baking the pies.  This year we have mince meat with an orange ginger crust,

pumpkin with cinnamon and spiced rum crust,

pecan with a brandy and vanilla crust,

and this year's wild card pie is apple cinnamon with a cardamom crust.

The only jobs left for me to do are to get these pies over to my sister's tomorrow and then eat myself silly.

Black Friday is known for its deals and steals. What items are you hoping to find in the stores this Friday?
Sponsored by Best Buy. Find holiday gifts for everyone on your list.

I don't shop for anything other than groceries between November 15th and January 5th.  My biggest holiday during that time is Cookie Day.  The past couple of years have been plagued with disasters preventing many of the long distance cookies from reaching their destinations and I'm hoping that streak ends this year.  I have some old favorites and a couple of awesome new ones to make.

Black Friday is known for its deals and steals. What items are you hoping to find in the stores this Friday?
Sponsored by Best Buy. Find holiday gifts for everyone on your list.

Absolutely none.  I stay as far away from the stores as possible on that day.  In fact, I have quilt camp at my house most every year, this year included, on Friday and Saturday.  My big holiday shopping day is the Monday after Thanksgiving.  The stores are empty of shoppers, the merchandise selection is still excellent, and the store clerks are still energetic and polite (or as polite as they are going to be).  Most years I'm done with my shopping by lunch time!

What was your favorite class in high school? (And no, lunch doesn't count.) 

Geometry.  DUH!!  8:-)

The List:

1.  Frog Star using 2008 shop hop fabric -- finish purchasing fabric, finish designing, piece, applique, quilt, bind

2.  Pacific Koi block swap -- quilt, bind

3.  Edmond Quilt Guild block of the month -- piece blocks,  prepare applique blocks, finish applique, assemble top, quilt, bind

4.  Front Porch stars -- quilt, bind

5.  Starry Night in May -- quilt, bind

6.  The Mother Road -- quilt, bind 

7.  Weather Vane -- quilt, bind

8.  Christmas Quilt -- quilt, bind

9.  Plumeria alba II -- design, fracture, border, quilt, bind

10. In the Merry Old Land of Oz -- quilt, bind

11.  Yellow Brick Road -- piece blocks, add borders, quilt, bind

12.  Lone Star -- piece star, add borders, quilt, bind

OK, I've made very little progress this month.  But the quilt that I've added to position 12 will get finished.  It's a challenge quilt that must be turned in before the end of December.  And since I really do have all those wall hangings I made this year that don't show on the list I think it's fair to say that this resolution is in the bag.  Now to start planning my strategy for next year's resolution...