According to historians, corn was probably on the menu at the First Thanksgiving in 1621. The source for that belief lies in a letter that Edward Winslow, a founder of the Plymouth Colony, wrote in December of the same year. He said that the settlers had planted some 20 acres of Indian corn with a good yield.
I cannot help but wonder what the forefathers and foremothers would think about the more than 90 million acres of land now planted in corn across the United States each year. It truly is a sight to behold.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, most of the annual crop is used in livestock feed. It is also processed into a multitude of food items, including corn starch, corn sugar, corn oil, cornmeal, corn whiskey, cereal, pop corn, grits, hominy, frozen and canned kernels.
However, today, much of the crop is also turned into ethanol fuel. Amidst the millions of acres of corn fields we drove by in 16 states, we saw several ethanol plants and rows of black tankers ready to haul the processed oil to refineries to be mixed with gasoline.
Also, farmers export between ten and 20 percent of the annual crop. In addition to harvesting the kernels from ears of corn for human and animal consumption, stalks can be made into paper and wallboard; husks can be used as bio-filler for polypropylene and in folk art; cobs can be turned into charcoal.
While historians debate whether the pilgrims boiled or roasted some ears of corn for the feast, most of this vegetable/grain, even for the first Thanksgiving, was ground into meal and boiled into mush, perhaps a forerunner to grits. I enjoy an occasional ear of really good corn during the summer; but it seems as if it has been a long time since I’ve had an ear of Silver Queen that tasted as sweet as it did when we moved to Georgia in 1964. On occasion, I’ve enjoyed an ear of Ambrosia corn in the Heartland.
However, I, like our pilgrim mothers, use more cornmeal than any other form of corn.
My hushpuppy recipe came from my mother-in-law. Over the years, I’ve learned that the secret to its success lies more in the preparation steps than in the ingredients. My mother-in-law insisted that the flat shape makes for a tastier bread. Our youngest granddaughter agrees. My cornbread recipe came from my grandmother. I also use it in her dressing recipe with a few adaptations of my own.
Hushpuppies
2 cups water, well salted
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 cup cornmeal
Add the finely chopped onion to the salted water and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until onions are tender. Add cornmeal, stirring constantly until a dough is formed. Turn off heat and let mixture rest until cool. Shape the dough into flat half dollar size pones. Let the flat shaped pones sit for an hour or more. Fry at 300 degrees. Drain.
Cornbread
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cooking oil
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine meal, flour, sugar and salt. Add eggs and buttermilk. Mix well. Pour into well greased 10-inch cast iron skillet. Drizzle oil over top and fold into batter like a marbleizing step. Bake in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Dressing
A pan of cornbread
A small loaf of stale bread (spread out with cup towel over it for a few days)
5-6 slices rye bread
1 cup chopped celery
1 small onion,
Chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Sage or Savory
Chicken broth to moisten
Soak bread in water, squeeze lightly; crumble, then crumble cornbread over it in large mixing bowl. In small sauce pan, boil celery, onion and parsley until tender. Add veggies and broth to bread. Beat eggs into mixture. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and sage. Add enough chicken broth for mixture to be very moist. Mix well. Spread into 3-quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for almost an hour or until top is golden brown.
2018
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