Bread of the Month: Staking a cornmeal claim for ‘Johnnycakes’

Armed with freshly ground cornmeal from a local historic grist mill (see previous blog entry), I pondered ways to use it. I loved a good cornbread, but I had made many pans in my day, so I was up for something different. One Sunday, I Iooked to something cozy and comforting and breakfast-y . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Staking a cornmeal claim for ‘Johnnycakes’

Bread of the Month: Feeling fully corny with muffins

Around the end of May, my usual love and admiration for all things corn amped up a bit.

I mean, I’ll put corn in anything, but I took it to an extra corny level as corn season approached, exploring recipes related to my favorite vegetable. Working ahead on my column for Kansas Country . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Feeling fully corny with muffins

Scone of the Month: Sweetening with fresh corn

Come August, I almost always get a bout of “cornostalgia.” Never heard of it? I hadn’t either, since I just came up with the term that has me dreaming of rusty tassels, rustling long green leaves, shimmering gleams of blonde cornsilk covering kernels in shades of cream to gold.

I wanna make things . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Sweetening with fresh corn

Molding an artful cookie

Life, baking and the Internet can sometimes take you down paths you never expected to go. On one innocent afternoon about a year ago, I was “tossed” one of those random food videos that come our way, generated by our googling interests. Sometimes when these are sent in my direction, I’ll ignore; . . . → Read More: Molding an artful cookie

Bread of the Month: Braiding a blonde biscuit

Recipes can come from surprising sources. The backs of boxes or packages, coupon inserts, obscure Internet sites and offbeat cookbooks. If you had told me even a year ago that, upon seeing a copy of “The Disney Princess Cookbook,” (2013) I had gotten for my nieces that I would have not only bought one for . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Braiding a blonde biscuit

Bread of the Month: Spooning up an ideal side

I have no idea how I came to be here so long that I had not only never made nor eaten spoonbread. Coming from a household that was decidedly Southern, despite their geographic location, it seems odd that this delightfully moist cousin of cornbread never graced our holiday or potluck tables.

If it did, . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Spooning up an ideal side

Bread of the Month: Hushing a craving

Ever get a hankering? We all have those moments where a thought of something is not only drool-worthy, but urging enough to send us hunting down said object of our drool. That being, for me occasionally, a hush puppy (more than one, most likely). It is not the cod basket or the cole slaw that . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Hushing a craving

Bread of the Month: Digging into past with hoecakes

When we travel, we meet ourselves head-on. Outside of our regular routines and familiar environments, we can self-startle and see sides of us we don’t always see. Like my stomach…I saw it walking ahead of me in downtown Atlanta, sticking straight out, fuller than I had ever seen it, proud and distended. Following (or should . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Digging into past with hoecakes

Simmering in the wake of hot chocolate

Sometimes it is necessary to fall under a spell. And my potion of choice recently has been hot chocolate. I have been inspired in the past and of late by a beautiful little film called Chocolat (2000), which has its own mystical properties. Based on the novel by Joanne Harris, it is the story of . . . → Read More: Simmering in the wake of hot chocolate

Bread of the Month: Testifying to a proper cornbread

Traditions. More and more — in terms of cooking and beyond –it seems the option one grew up with, be it a recipe, cooking method, practice, is the correct and only one.

Take cornbread, for example. I do like a sweet cornbread, but because of my family’s declaration that a true cornbread should . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Testifying to a proper cornbread