The Old Stand By

With four boys running through our house, we go through five gallons of milk in a week. That's a little over a gallon per boy bringing the total on milk alone to around eighty dollars a month. This is the standing joke with my family and the punch line is always that we should buy a dairy cow and put her in the backyard. Of course I know my wife would love to milk her twice a day which I'm told will render two gallons putting you around fourteen gallons a week. Instead of a lemonade stand, perhaps we could sell milk to all the neighbors.

My grandfather was a farmer and they had two milk cows which produced twenty eight gallons of milk per week. They actually used it not only for themselves but to make butter and feed the hogs.

A favorite stand by for my grandfather was cold milk and corn bread and not separately but mixed together in a tall glass and eaten with a spoon. I've done this on many occasions which has raised some interesting looks from my family but it really is good. Especially with left over corn bread.

I'm not going to give you a recipe for putting corn bread into a glass. Hopefully you're smart enough to figure that out on your own but I will give you a great cornbread recipe.

The trick to making good corn bread is to heat the skillet first. And if you don't have a well seasoned cast iron skillet then you should purchase one and season it yourself. Take some time and do your homework on the proper care of cast iron. It lasts forever and really bakes better than any other material I've used in the kitchen. Or on the ground.



Down Home Cornbread

First, make sure your cast iron skillet (# 8) is well seasoned. Use non-stick spray or Crisco coating the inside of the skillet. Place the cold skillet in an oven and then start the pre-heating process to 450 degrees.

2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 Tablespoons melted butter
Single drop of Mexican Vanilla

Combine the buttermilk, eggs and baking soda and beat it well. In another bowl, sift together the cornmeal, sugar and salt. Add the buttermilk mixture, butter and vanilla mixing well.

When the oven buzzes reaching 450 degrees, take out the skillet and pour in the mixture. Bake until golden brown.

Serves 8 to 10.