Cornbread

I was lying in bed last night thinking about cornbread (must have been hungry!). Now I'm talking real cornbread - not corn muffins or cake-like cornbread or sweet cornbread. Real, southern, country cornbread. Not the stuff at Cracker Barrel. A lot of people from up north go to cracker barrel for some good southern food. Now don't get me wrong, I like some of the dishes at Cracker Barrel but their cornbread sucks. Sucks, big time. The recipe must have come from some yankee (hee-hee!).

My mother-in-law makes the best. I have watched her, had her coach me, etc but I still cannot make it like she does. My aunts make pretty good cornbread too. Their recipe (learned from my grandmother) consists of "handfuls" and "pinches" of things. I never was able to get the hang of that recipe either.

The only thing I have learned is that cornbread must be baked in a cast iron skillet. One that has been greased and pre-heated in the oven - this makes the batter sizzle when you put it in and makes it kind of crispy.

Then I started thinking about fried okra. Not the stuff that is served on all-you-can-eat buffets - coated in batter and deep-fried. Real fried okra - cooked in a cast iron skillet after being dredged in cornmeal. I never quite got the hang of fixin' this either but I love it! My mother-in-law makes real good fried okra as well. I can't wait for her garden to start coming in so she will make some. Maybe I can get her to make some fried green tomatoes, too!

Are you catching on to my thought pattern? Southern. Fried. Goodness. And I can't make any of it. But I am a master of sweet tea!!!