March 30, 2009 Cornbread Supper

Smaller group, 26 people, and more food! The wonderful Chef Mark Williams, leader of Slow Food Bluegrass and Executive Chef at Brown-Forman in Louisville, has begun pointing people toward the Cornbread Suppers as slow food events, and yes, we are. Convivial, committed to food that is good, clean, and fair without being food police-y about it, and certainly interested in increasing support for and connections to the people who grow our food.

Cornbreads for this evening:

> Traditional (with olive oil this time, vegetarian)
> Corn-Bacon-Chive
> North Country Sweet Corn Muffins

And the other food! Goodness gracious! People left behind these little labels:

> Sweet/Sour cabbage - some bacon
> Weight Watchers: Pear, Carrot, and Celery with a bit of ginger (vegan)
> Chicken
> Spinach salad w/cranberries, croutons, blue cheeses, lavender black pepper vinaigrette
> Boiled Peanuts

> Applesauce from Wilson trees
> Rhubarb jam
> Indian cauliflower - ginger-garlic-coconut-cashew - Splendid Table
> Pesto with roasted peppers and olives. Some Parmesan cheese
> Ziti pasta vegetarian
> Corn Pudding (veg w/dairy)
> Mystery Grapes
> Oberholtzer Sorghum
> Local ricotta with creme fraiche and lemon zest and organic sugar

Oh yes, and the children found some Play-Doh that has to be 15 years old. Soft, fresh, smelly, and worth mixing all together.

Read Rona's in-depth interview with Chef Mark Williams at www.savoringkentucky.com.

Comments

Boone Tavern Spoon Bread, the 1950s recipe

We have tried spoonbreads (soft, luscious, buttery—described by James Beard as a "heavy, dense soufflé") as Cornbread Supper mainstays before, and used great recipes, but the spoonbreads always did what spoonbreads (and soufflés) do: deflate. Through serendipity, and thanks to a Cornbread Supperian, I lucked into the old Boone Tavern (Berea College) recipe for spoonbread, and it is far less droopy. Perhaps Boone Tavern developed an approach to spoonbread that preserves all its goodness while still working for a busy restaurant. In any case, with thanks to Kentucky food and foodways author and guru John van Willigen, here's an excellent recipe for that can be doubled, tripled, and quadrupled to feed spoonbread to a crowd. It did just that on Monday, February 25, 2013. From Richard T. Hougen. Look No Further: A cookbook of favorite recipes from Boone Tavern Hotel, Berea College, Kentucky. New York: Abingdon Press. 1955. Southern Spoon Bread 1955 Ingredients 3 c...

We remember Vicky Schankula, 1947–2016

Vicky Schankula, at right, in purple One of life's most gracious and delightful people, Victoria Fairbanks Schankula, found Cornbread Suppers early on, and took joy in the weekly gatherings. She came to Cornbread Supper faithfully, bringing beautiful food, laughter, a camera for her "picture of the day," a lovely British accent, a commitment to helping clean up, and a constant interest in each other person in the room. When Vicky entered the house on Monday nights carrying a particular large round plate, children (and a few adults) trailed her to the dessert table to see what she had brought. The favorites: lemon bars, brownies and her mother's most unusual, delicious carrot cake. Vicky graciously shared and allowed us to publish recipes for Lemon Bars and Isabel Fairbairns's (Gangy's) Carrot Cake on this site. Gangy's Carrot Cake on Vicky Schankula's special dessert plate When illness prevented Vicky from returning to Cornbread Supper...

Cornbread Supper now is resting

For all the Cornbreadians and would-be Cornbreadians -- it was a good run. A bit more than nine years. You came on Mondays. Conviviality ensued. You made community. Gratitude to all. It was a gift to us.

Cornbread Supper

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