Recipe Reflections
When I think about recipes, so many memories come to mind. For instance, when I remember all of the great cooks in my life, I cannot ever recall them using a recipe for anything they cooked. It’s strange how they never measured—just added ingredients and created a delicious meal.
All of the women in my family were considered excellent cooks. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized being an extraordinary cook was tantamount to being gifted—or the result of years of practice and honing cooking skills. My grandmother, I feel, had the gift. She could make any dish her hand touched taste delicious. Dishes I hated as a child tasted wonderful if she cooked them. Turnips were one.
Day after day, I sat watching my grandmother and my own mother cook, observing and absorbing far more than I could ever imagine at the time. I later learned that my mother had begun cooking for her large family at the age of ten, honing her skills by being taught and by observing her own mother prepare meals. No recipes were needed.
Because my mother’s family lived on a farm, everything was fresh. Vegetables came from my grandfather planting and tending the garden. He killed and cured his own meats, and his cows provided fresh milk. The only concessions were the milled wheat and corn he purchased from the grocer.
I remember one day while visiting my grandparents, when I was about ten years old, asking if I could make a cake. I wanted to know if I could use the purple food coloring I had seen in the cupboard. Excitedly, after being told yes, I made a huge purple cake entirely on my own and proudly shared it with everyone. Everyone told me how great the cake was, though so much was left uneaten. I floated on clouds—until I tasted it myself and noticed it had a salty flavor. Apparently, I had mixed up the salt and sugar.
It took me years to realize my family wanted to encourage and support me so that I would keep trying and not give up. I’ve never forgotten that kindness.
Recipes are passed down from generation to generation, allowing them to survive. When we taste certain dishes, we can recall familiar events or times in our lives. Sometimes ingredients for a recipe are written on a scrap of paper or tucked away and found years later, or neatly cataloged on cards and carefully filed. I wish my grandmother had written down her recipes. It has become a lifelong search for me to try to duplicate them.
I’m told by family and friends that I’m a good cook, and I credit sitting at the feet of my mother and grandmother—watching, observing, and talking as they cooked. Both were Southern, instinctive cooks with an innate understanding of how to make food delicious.
I have a fun recipe from a wonderful Southern cook. Her book is A Real Southern Cook in Her Savannah Kitchen by Dora Charles. Her recipes are delicious and easy to make, with wonderful illustrations and anecdotes from her life.
Have you ever heard of hoecakes? They are small cornbread cakes that are wonderful as breakfast pancakes with a little syrup, or served alongside collard greens, black-eyed peas, and pinto or navy beans. This recipe serves four.
Hoecakes
½ cup self-rising white cornmeal
½ cup self-rising flour
2 teaspoons sugar
⅓ cup buttermilk
1 large egg
⅓ cup water (or more if needed)
2 tablespoons melted fat or oil (bacon grease, butter, or vegetable oil)
In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Mix in the egg. Add the water and fat and stir well. The batter should have the consistency of thick soup, so add a little more water if needed.
Grease a cast-iron skillet with oil and heat over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot and the fat is sizzling, drop the batter (about 2 tablespoons per cake) into the skillet, working in batches if necessary. Fry until the edges are golden, just as you would pancakes. When done, place on paper towels if they seem greasy. Serve piping hot.
This is a very old Southern recipe, and you’ll find many others that are just as delicious and easy to make. I use these recipes often. We do not receive any financial compensation for recommending this book—it’s simply a fun and enjoyable cookbook filled with great recipes.
Take advantage of the wonderful recipes and books that are available. Cooking can be so much fun!
~ LaVerne Wallace ( Co-Founder of SFFA )
