Suzanne

The ingredients are: corn meal (I use a mix/self rising), 1 egg, buttermilk, shortening.

In true Southern fashion, I do not really measure anything.

Put a nice sized dollop of shortening in your cast iron skillet. Heat it in the oven on 425 degrees until it has melted. Keep a good eye on it or it will get too hot!

Roll the melted oil around in the skillet. You will pour the extra into your batter.

Mix corn meal, buttermilk, egg and melted shortening to make a nice batter. Sorry, but I don’t measure this, so I don’t know the exact amount of the ingredients – just don’t make it too thick or your cornbread will be dry. Not as thick as cake batter…

Pour into hot skillet and bake @ 425 until the top starts to turn golden brown.

Invert the pan and it should come out nicely.

It took me a few times to get this down pat, so don’t worry if it is dry or doesn’t come out of the pan well. Just keep practicing! Delicious with white beans!

Being reared in the Souh, I remember more frying than grilling when it came to meat preparation, but the picture is proof that we did use the grill on occasion. We usually had a picnic with family at the Dyers Creek Recreation Area on Labor Day and Memorial Day. These gatherings included hamburgers, deviled eggs, potato salad, chips and Mamaw’s chocolate cake.

A few years ago, my sister-in-law gave me a steak marinade recipe that I love. The ingredients are usually things I have on hand. I let the steaks marinate all day.