Cornbread Supper, December 13, 2010: A Mystery Flan

Each Cornbread Supper has its own firsts and distinctions. Tonight before Supper began, we found in the front door a gift of homemade flan -- that face-in-the-moon, above, is luscious caramel yummy goodness -- with a container of homemade whipped cream alongside. As if the universe or a kind anonymous friend had listened in to Rona talking over the weekend about flan being her favorite dessert -- and then delivered one in a pretty blue Pyrex pie plate that twins Rona's own. So - we had a mystery donor contributing to a bountiful dessert table, rich with tiny chocolate-frosted, cream-filled eclairs, and Pumpkin-Chocolate-Cranberry-Pecan-Pumpkin Seed COOKIES with Cinnamon frosting, below.

On the coldest night for Cornbread Suppers so far this year -- temps around 20 degrees F., ice and snow crunching on Campsie and beyond -- people brought beautiful hearty stews, soups, and chili.

Curried Carrot Soup w/Potatoes, dill, etc. Chicken broth

Potato Soup

Chicken Cacciatore Stew: 3 Cheese Ravioli, Chicken/Broth, Tomatoes, Chard: Yumminess

And chili that was too busy getting all heated up to bother being photographed.

Other wonderful tastes of this evening:

Quinoa Salad (cilantro, jalapeño, black bean...)
Roasted local beets, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, rosemary. Oliva Bella oil, salt, pepper
Chleb: Czech Peasant Bread
Onion-Cornbread Bread Pudding; has Kentucky beef, bacon, eggs, milk, cornbread, cheese, and more; not vegetarian, no gluten
Plain Kentucky black skillet cornbread
Cranberry Apple Pecan Oatmeal Casserole

Cornbread Suppers so appreciates people convening for conviviality even when it's not convenient!

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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