Thanksgiving Traditions: Don’t Mess With The Cornbread!
Thanksgiving traditions often focus on food. We find comfort and security in familiar foods as our taste buds transport us to a place of gratitude.
Does one food represent Thanksgiving to you? If that one food is not on the table, does your Thanksgiving dinner feel strange and incomplete?
Many of you may say turkey or ham is that food for your family, but for our co-founder Lisa, it’s cornbread.
Seriously- don’t mess with the cornbread!
It cannot come from a box or a mix. This particular cornbread must be made from scratch with self-rising cornmeal and buttermilk.
And….baked in a cast iron skillet! No shortcuts, here, people!
Why is this cornbread such a big deal?
Well, cornbread was the dish that only Lisa’s grandmother, Anita Talbott, could make. Even in later years, when she no longer did the bulk of the meal preparation, Grandmom Talbott still made her famous cornbread! It was a constant on the family’s Thanksgiving table.
Lisa notes that there were two other foods that appeared on our Thanksgiving table every year: collard greens and butterbeans. She choose not to remember those since then (and now!) she avoids both. Just pass her an extra piece of cornbread with lots of butter, please!
Thanksgiving Traditions Through the Senses
Remembering the smell and taste of the cornbread instantly takes Lisa back to memories of her grandmother in the kitchen. She still remembers the crunch as Grandmom Talbott cut the first piece. The edge pieces were the best!
Today, Lisa admits she shudders a bit when she remembers the lard Grandmom Talbott used to season her heated cast iron pan before cooking the cornbread. (For one day a year though, we think it’s okay.)
Grandmom Talbott did try to teach Lisa how to make the cornbread once, but there is no real recipe! Lisa is a detail person who likes specific measurements, but making cornbread was always a matter of look and feel. It was good ol’ “dump cooking” at its finest.
Our co-founder Sarah also fondly remembers her great-grandmother’s cornbread. She plans to recreate and document the recipe for her family someday, as soon as she purchases (and learns to season!) a cast iron skillet.
Listen as Lisa and Sarah talk about their food memories surrounding their Thanksgiving tradition of Grandmom Talbott’s cornbread!
[Yes, those are authentic North Carolinian accents!]
Other Food Memory Posts of Interest:
You May Also Like
Connecting Across Cultures, One Dumpling at a Time
Peppermint Patties & Family History
