Ma'naise Cornbread
Today was an awesome day! It started out when my oh, so nice boss (you remember, the one who doesn't care if we are late every once in a while?) let me off for the afternoon so I could go and visit Aunt Mildred. You see, I was so busy cleaning out my closets this weekend, that I didn't have time to visit.
Oh, I can hear you now, dear Reader! Clean closets? Leave poor Aunt Mildred by herself while you clean closets? Well, hush, yes, that's exactly what I did! But, there were what you would call 'extenuating' circumstances. No one calls the cleaning done in the fall as 'Fall Cleaning' the way they call it 'Spring Cleaning'. But that's what I was doing. I was putting away summer clothes and bringing out the fall clothes, sweaters and things like that. And this was the only Saturday available. In my defense, I found a whole trash bag full of clothes that I was able to bring down to the Goodwill Store. It was a win win situation!
Peering through Aunt Mildred's front door screen, I spied her sitting in front of her freezer in her automatic wheelchair looking for something. As I opened and stepped through the door, I yelled, "Knock, knock! Hey, Aunt Mildred!"
"Yeah, come on in here."
"What are you doing, Aunt Mildred?"
"I'm looking for something to eat."
It wasn't long before the 2 of us had our heads poked into the freezer looking through frozen blueberries, TV dinners, margarine bowls full of who-knew-what, and of course, ice cream. Aunt Mildred found some cornmeal in there and decided she wanted some cornbread. We found some leftover butter beans in the refrigerator that she wanted. There was her dinner. She just had to get the cornbread done.
I was very excited about being there. Aunt Mildred is one of the best cooks I know and now I would learn her secret to her fabulous cornbread!
Wheeling herself away from the freezer, she gathered her bowl, her huge spoon, and the cornmeal, then scooped 3 spoonfuls of cornmeal into the metal bowl. Looking at me through coke bottle glasses she asked, "Do you think that's enough?"
Do I think that's enough? "Aunt Mildred, I don't know! You're teaching me." She threw in another spoonful with with all the vigor her 88 years could muster. Next came the flour, the milk and the mayonaise. She measured nothing.
"Do you want me to get the salt and baking soda for you?"
"This is self-rising flour. And I don't use use no egg either. It's got to be ma'naise."
"Is that your secret?"
"Shore is. Now git me that pan."
Now, dear reader, when I make cornbread, I melt the margarine and put it in the batter, but not Aunt Mildred. She took a spoonful of margarine and coated the bottom and sides of the pan. Then she poured the batter into the skillet and put the skillet into the hot oven.
She wheeled herself back over to the table so she could give me a few more pointers about cooking. She wasn't talking 10 minutes before she was wheeling over to the oven to check on the cornbread. It wasn't done. We talked 5 more minutes and she was checking again. All in all, it took 35 minutes to do what should have been done in 20. I asked Aunt Mildred about this.
She told me that the last 2 pans of ma'naise cornbread were rock hard. She couldn't eat it, so she didn't want this one to get hard, too.
Finally, I took the bread out of the oven, turn it onto a plate and gazed at the most perfect pan of cornbread. It sounds crazy, but it looked juicy! The bread was a golden brown that shimmered. I cut a piece for each of us, no butter was needed.
Oh, I can hear you now, dear Reader! Clean closets? Leave poor Aunt Mildred by herself while you clean closets? Well, hush, yes, that's exactly what I did! But, there were what you would call 'extenuating' circumstances. No one calls the cleaning done in the fall as 'Fall Cleaning' the way they call it 'Spring Cleaning'. But that's what I was doing. I was putting away summer clothes and bringing out the fall clothes, sweaters and things like that. And this was the only Saturday available. In my defense, I found a whole trash bag full of clothes that I was able to bring down to the Goodwill Store. It was a win win situation!
Peering through Aunt Mildred's front door screen, I spied her sitting in front of her freezer in her automatic wheelchair looking for something. As I opened and stepped through the door, I yelled, "Knock, knock! Hey, Aunt Mildred!"
"Yeah, come on in here."
"What are you doing, Aunt Mildred?"
"I'm looking for something to eat."
It wasn't long before the 2 of us had our heads poked into the freezer looking through frozen blueberries, TV dinners, margarine bowls full of who-knew-what, and of course, ice cream. Aunt Mildred found some cornmeal in there and decided she wanted some cornbread. We found some leftover butter beans in the refrigerator that she wanted. There was her dinner. She just had to get the cornbread done.
I was very excited about being there. Aunt Mildred is one of the best cooks I know and now I would learn her secret to her fabulous cornbread!
Wheeling herself away from the freezer, she gathered her bowl, her huge spoon, and the cornmeal, then scooped 3 spoonfuls of cornmeal into the metal bowl. Looking at me through coke bottle glasses she asked, "Do you think that's enough?"
Do I think that's enough? "Aunt Mildred, I don't know! You're teaching me." She threw in another spoonful with with all the vigor her 88 years could muster. Next came the flour, the milk and the mayonaise. She measured nothing.
"Do you want me to get the salt and baking soda for you?"
"This is self-rising flour. And I don't use use no egg either. It's got to be ma'naise."
"Is that your secret?"
"Shore is. Now git me that pan."
Now, dear reader, when I make cornbread, I melt the margarine and put it in the batter, but not Aunt Mildred. She took a spoonful of margarine and coated the bottom and sides of the pan. Then she poured the batter into the skillet and put the skillet into the hot oven.
She wheeled herself back over to the table so she could give me a few more pointers about cooking. She wasn't talking 10 minutes before she was wheeling over to the oven to check on the cornbread. It wasn't done. We talked 5 more minutes and she was checking again. All in all, it took 35 minutes to do what should have been done in 20. I asked Aunt Mildred about this.
She told me that the last 2 pans of ma'naise cornbread were rock hard. She couldn't eat it, so she didn't want this one to get hard, too.
Finally, I took the bread out of the oven, turn it onto a plate and gazed at the most perfect pan of cornbread. It sounds crazy, but it looked juicy! The bread was a golden brown that shimmered. I cut a piece for each of us, no butter was needed.
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