WEDNESDAY'S SUMMER SUPPERS

I do not like peas, but I love my hubby. He loves peas, so I made the sweet boy peas & cornbread for supper. His quote was, "It was better than my Momma made." QUITE THE COMPLIMENT, HUH? I am not trying to insult all of you "Old Cooks" out there, but we have young, novice cooks who may not know how to cook peas, so here we go.

I started with a pound of salt pork. If you buy the whole pork, cut it into 3 or 4 pieces. I bought the pre-sliced. Put it in a quart of water and simmer with lid ajar for 2 hours, adding more water if necessary. Remove from heat and add 1 more quart of cold water and let come to room temperature.


Wash your peas and be sure and pick out all the hard ones & pieces. You can use frozen peas or dried peas that you have soaked overnight or 4 to 5 hours. THOSE fresh peas are better.

Put the peas on to simmer for 15 minutes in the salt pork water. During that time cut up an onion, a pod or two of garlic and about a 1/2to 1 cup of celery with leaves.

Add that to the pot along with about a T. of Worcestershire, 2 T. of salt,

1/2 t. Tabasco, & 2 T. Pepper. Simmer covered 2 hours or until peas are tender but not mushy.

TA DAH- Peas

Momma was not much on cooking, but the few things she did cook were ALWAYS good! This is Momma's cornbread recipe.

Preheat oven 450 deg.

Put iron skillet in oven with 1/4 c. shortening in it & melt shortening and get pan hot (be careful & do not burn shortening or start a fire)Roll the melted shortening around in the pan to grease it well. OH YES-I ALWAYS USE A HEAVY WELL SEASONED IRON SKILLET.

Sift together 2 c. cornmeal/ 1 t. baking soda/1 t. salt/1 T sugar (Optional if you don't like your cornbread a little sweet-omit). Put in large bowl & make a well in the center-like below.

Pour 2c.buttermilk, 2 beaten eggs, & melted shortening into the well. Mix well (check that you have not left unmoistened cornmeal mixture) and pour into hot pan.

Bake 30 minutes and then test with a toothpick in the center. The Finished Product.

Here is the Man of My Dreams plate. He LICKED THE PLATTER CLEAN & told me multiple times how good it was. What more can I say!