Cornbread Supper

Festival del Dia de los Muertos, the awe-inspiring Day of the Dead celebration, takes place on Monday night this year. Since this grand event happens in and around Campsie Place, we will not have Cornbread Supper, but will join the festival. Here are some photos from the 2008 Festival that may be of interest,

It's still warm outside, and still possible to cook with fresh local foods, as some people do each week for Cornbread Supper -- but be assured that's not a requirement! Cornbread Suppers are easy potlucks, so whatever works for you will work for the meal -- including just coming with nothing at all, and joining the conviviality. Here's what the little hand made Food Identification Papers had to say after people left: "Bread" Salad: Tomato, Avocado, Peas, Corn, Artichoke, Balsamic, Garlic, Olive Oil, Basil, Feta, Mozzarella Local Turnips, Beets, Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Mushrooms; Olive Oil from Oliva Bella; Exotic Rosemary, Salt & Pepper Chicken Soup: Spicy Potato Soup: Potatoes, Onion, Milk, Water, Salt, Butter, Rosemary Good Old Beans & Rice w/Parmesan Reggiano on top Manchego Cheese Tomato - Onion - Serrano Cornbread Custard, vegetarian, contains gluten Spinach Salad: Apple Cider Vinaigrette, Avocado, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Carrots Three

That's the Janice Kay Cornbread Muffins with Blueberries cooling before Cornbread Supper began this week. The big, fat, frozen Reed Valley Orchard blueberries went straight from freezer to oven, and it all worked out. They didn't lose their identities. As for the rest of us, we had a hard time not losing our heads in the face of amazing foods, including these: Local Farmers Market Lima Beans, Herbs, and Garlic Butter Cauliflower Curry w/Sweet Potatoes, Tomato, Garbanzo, Peanuts & Almonds, Coconut Milk Campsie & Henkle Heirloom Tomatoes w/Homemade Kentucky feta Multi-pepper Cornbread, vegetarian, no gluten Somewhat Loaded Brownies Roast Fall Veggies More desserts that didn't get named, but included a handmade upside down cake and a pumpkin mousse/caramel corn extravaganza for which we may, in time, get to post a recipe.

> Yourself. > Friends and family members. Then, and only then, if you have time, energy, and means, we invite you to contribute to the shared meal. > Food you make > Food you buy > Food you grow > Wine, juice, sparkling water All manner of foods come to cornbread supper, from blue-iced bakery cupcakes to home-cooked butterbeans from the cook's backyard. Bowls of fresh fruit. Simple salads. Meat dishes, and vegetarian ones, and vegan ones. Yes, and cornbread. We LOVE it when people bring their own cornbread and corn-based dishes. We have yet to see a cornbread at Cornbread Suppers that happy eaters failed to appreciate. So if you're inclined, bring your cornbread. Many diverse palates come to Cornbread Supper, and so many kinds of food and drink are offered and eaten. It's not all Slow Food or fancy food or homemade food -- though we adore and celebrate all those good things, of course. It's whatever you like and want to share.

Cornbread Suppers the last two weeks have been full and busy, with lots of newcomers. Your documentarian turned into a host and mostly forgot about photography, except for the Butternut Bisque, above, from October 4. We do have many of the food description slips plus some memories of foods with no slips for the two weeks, so we have a bit of a record of what people brought: October 11 Curried Sweet Potatoes (not spicy) Apple Chutney Mangoes w/lime, chili powder + honey Backyard Salad Orzo w/basil, mint, tomatoes + feta Fine Cooking Buttermilk Cornbread (vegetarian) Cooks Illustrated Southern Cornbread (vegetarian) Baked Pears (Gluten free, vegetarian): pears [urban fruit rescue!], walnuts, feta (cow), orange/pineapple/banana juice Baked Apples Chocolate Grahams with Chocolate Chevre (Bleugrass Chevre) Chocolate cookies October 4 Lasagna (with beef & pork) Cheese-y Red Pepper Cornbread (should be hot) vegetarian, no gluten Berea College Farm Lettuce & Tomato (

While your documentarian is remembering where the little slips of paper may be that people so kindly use each week to describe their dishes, and which frequently serve as our online record for that week, let us note two things. First, new people continue coming to Cornbread Supper, and we like so much that they do. Each week, as one frequent Supperian put it recently, is fun, and each week it's a different kind of fun. Some weeks feature 50 people, 15 of them under 4 feet tall, and other weeks feature 12 full-grown humans sitting in one large circle. All good. Second, last week something remarkable happened, something worth sharing. One of the hosts, Steve, had to leave for another commitment right as Supper began. As he headed out the front door, one of our young neighbors, perhaps six years old, saw him going and asked whether he should save some cornbread for Steve. Steve said "Yes," and kept going. Young neighbor set up a piece of cornbread on a plate, a glass of

Something about this early fall weekend and season inspired the creation of a groaning table of multi-color -- nearly fluorescent -- fresh vegetable dishes and bean dishes, all filled with color. The food was simply beautiful, and the wine table groaned in harmony. Black-eyed peas with Colonel Newsom's Country Ham bits (not vegetarian --- hardly) Deviled Elmwood Stock Farm eggs -- not sweet Vegetable Curry w/Tofu: Spicy Potato Soup Lasagna (with beef & pork) London Ferrell Garden Salsa -- spicy Non-vegetarian Black Beans...cooked with a small amount of bacon Egg Salad Spicy Chili Rolling Fork Farm Edamame with Sweet Corn, Ginger, Cilantro, Red Peppers Black Bean Salad Green Beans & Tomatoes & Basil & Olive Oil & Balsamic: Kentucky & Italy Tomato-Cornbread Tarte Tatin ; vegetarian, no gluten Apple Cornbread Tarte Tatin; vegetarian, no gluten