1-1/2 cups yellow corn meal
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking power
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Sift dry ingredients into one bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs until light, then add milk and melted butter.
Heat two seven-mold, greased corn stick pans in 450 degree oven for five minutes. Remove from oven to fill the molds four-fifths full with batter. Return to oven and bake for eighteen minutes, until the corn sticks are golden. Makes fourteen.
Hoosier cabinets served early twentieth century housewives as both pantry and work space. A rectangular cupboard on one side held flour, while its complement on the opposite end contained a cylindrical glass container supported by metal brackets. This device swung out to scoop sugar from the top opening. At the bottom, a lever opened to let sugar flow into a measuring cup. Between these tall cupboards was a smaller one with shelves for spices and, below that, the open cubby where Mom kept her cookbooks. A white porcelain table top pulled out to create space for rolling pastry or cookie dough and kneading bread. Beneath it, a long drawer held the rolling pin. Baking pans, pie plates, and other cooking essentials were stored at the bottom of the cabinet.
Mom made good use this handy cabinet for the seventy-plus years the kitchen was hers. The flour compartment also had room for the big bag of potato chips she kept on hand for evening snacks, when she craved "something salty." She stashed bars of Baker's semisweet chocolate on a top shelf to snack on when she felt in the mood for "something sweet." A side drawer, within reach of small hands, contained chewing gum, usually her favorite Black Jack, Clove, and peppermint.
During the time she and Dad lived in the house together, they remodeled every room except the kitchen. Created by combining two rooms at the back end of the house, a partial supporting wall divided the kitchen, stove on one side and sink and dishwasher on the other. Four six-foot tall windows and two doorways with transoms limited possibilities for counter and cupboard space. We had numerous discussions over the years about how to remodel the kitchen. No one could come up with a practical solution that Mom approved, because she liked her kitchen just as it was.
Recipes are from the collection of Anna May Cullison.
©2010 Margaret Cullison for SeniorWomen.com
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