Cornpone

“ Use 6 or 7 ears of sweet corn, and cut each row down the middle with a sharp knife, and then cut the grains from the ear, and add to them 2 cups of milk, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 saltspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and 2 slightly beaten eggs. Put this into a baking dish and bake like a custard, in a slow oven for half an hour, taking care it does not cook too long nor get too hot lest it curdle. Canned corn may be used when fresh is out of season. ”

“ Pop-Corn Macaroons
Run some freshly popped corn through the food chopper, or else chop up with a knife until fine. To a cupful of these add an equal quantity of blanched almonds that have been pounded to a paste. Put these together in a bowl. Beat up whites of three eggs until stiff, then add about one-half a cupful of sugar and beat up for about five minutes. Mix the pop-corn and paste into this slowly until thoroughly blended. Drop from a spoon on oiled or buttered paper in a pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes. ”

“ Green corn, even in city markets, is both indifferent and dear at this season. We do better, therefore, to fall back upon the invaluable canned vegetables that have made American housewives almost independent of changing seasons. Open a can of corn one hour before it is to be cooked. When ready for it turn into a farina-kettle; pour on just enough hot water to cover it, and cook half [574] an hour. Then, add a little milk, a good lump of butter cut up in flour, pepper and salt to taste, and cook fifteen minutes longer. ”

“ Put dried sweet corn into a corn popper, iron frying pan or round bottomed iron kettle; cover, and shake over the fire until the grains are browned and puffed up nearly round. Served plain, this corn supplies a complete and satisfying food, as any one will find who sits down with a nice fresh-parched porridge dish of it and chews it until it is fine and creamy in the mouth. It is much more delicious than the finest popcorn. It may be ground and eaten in cold or hot milk, nut or dairy, and it may have a little salt and sterilized butter mixed with it while it is warm. ”

“ Then shave in thinnest slices. Add the corn to the yolks of the eggs, next the butter, cornstarch, sugar, and salt, then the milk, gradually, and last of all the whites. Bake in a hot oven. As soon as a light brown on top, cover with a buttered paper. Grate cracker or bread crumbs over it and serve.—Mrs. S. T.
Corn pudding.
One dozen large ears corn. Cut off the top of the grain, scrape with a knife, so as to get the heart of the grain without the husk. Season with a teacup of cream, a large tablespoonful butter, salt and pepper to the taste. Bake in a dish.—Mrs. Dr. ”

“ Nonpareil Corn Bread.—2 heaping cups Indian corn meal, 1 cup flour, 21⁄2 cups milk, 1 tablespoon lard, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Beat 2 eggs, whites and yolks separately. Sift together dry ingredients, melt lard. Mix all together, beat hard 1 minute, turn into greased shallow pan, and bake about 1⁄2 hour in hot oven.
Spider Corn Bread.—Beat 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons sugar. Add 1 pint milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 11⁄3 cup Indian corn meal, 1⁄3 cup flour, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder. In a spider melt 2 tablespoons butter; turn so as to grease sides. ”

“ His corn, beans, pease, and potatoes were abundant, and all the other good things, whether to eat boiled, raw, or roasted. Our table was almost embarrassed by these riches, which perhaps helped us to weaken on the chicken idea.
I think our favorite staple was corn—green sweet corn, carried directly from the patch to the pot, and from the pot to the table. If you have not eaten it under these [Pg 223] conditions you have never really known what green corn should be like. The flavor of corn begins to go the moment it is pulled from the stalk, also the moment it leaves the pot. ”

“ Certainly the soft corns in some of their varieties present a kernel that is larger, softer, and less fitted to the struggle with natural conditions than is the kernel from any of the other groups. Yet soft corns are the prevailing form in the mummy burials of Peru and of our Southwestern states. The popcorn, on the contrary, has stronger regerminative powers than have the other groups, is better fitted to contend against natural vicissitudes, and is the kind that has been reported as found growing wild in Mexico under the name of Coyote corn, Zea canina Watts. ”

“ As the corn was popped it was given to the hostess, who, in a corn-colored crepon gown, presently invited all the men to take partners. This they did by selecting the girls whose necklaces matched their watch-chains in color.
Then we sat down to a veritable feast of popcorn at a table which had been entirely arranged in corn color, and upon which were served salted, sugared and buttered popcorn, popcorn balls, lemon jelly-cake, lemon sponge-cake, lemonade, hot and cold, lemon ice cream, lemon water ice and lemon jelly. ”

“ My experiment with melons has not yet been a failure if it has not been a success this year. I was doubtful about the corn, so I dug up a kernel, and I found it sprouted, and I put it back and covered it. My peas were up, and doing bravely, and the beans were about breaking through, for the earth was cracked all along the rows. And I got out my sections of stout wire fencing, and put them in place along the rows [Pg 64] of peas. They take the place of pea-brush, and are much easier to put up and to take down. ”

“ Corn soup, very good, made with either fresh or canned corn; when it is fresh, cut the corn from the cob, and scrape off well all that sweetest part of the corn which remains on the cob. To a pint of corn add a quart of hot water. Boil it for an hour or longer, then press it through the colander. Put into the sauce pan butter the size of an egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle in a heaping tablespoonful of sifted flour, which cook a minute, stirring it well. Now add half of the corn pulp, add cayenne pepper, salt, a scant pint of boiling milk and a cup of cream. ”

“ After the third year there was seed for all, and corn became the best and surest food for all the Indian tribes. When the white men came, they ate it, too, and by cultivation made new kinds and colors. Now we have the sweet or sugar corn, the Davy's, and we have popcorn, too, which is only a dwarf corn with a hard, flinty shell which pops open with heat. ”

“ Day by day it has been a wonder how the corn has thriven and grown, with what vigour the stalks have thickened, enlarged in leaf, and deepened in green. Side by side in due rank and order they have risen, the blades have extended towards one another in loving embrace, until the whole has become a solid square field of corn, the murmur of which is like the distant wash of a languid sea over a pebbly beach. ”

“ Pick a quart of cranberries free from imperfections, put a pint of water to them, and put them in a stew-pan over a moderate fire; add a pound of clean brown sugar, and stew them gently until they are soft; then mash them with a silver spoon and turn them into a dish to become cold, then make them in pies or tarts. Many persons put flour in cranberry pies; it is a great mistake, as it completely spoils the color of the fruit; but if they are strained and are too thin to jelly, it is well to add a spoonful of corn starch to thicken. ”

“ Sarah Landis had used this recipe for years and 'twas seldom she lost a can.
DRIED SWEET CORN
In season when ears of sweet corn are at their best for cooking purposes, boil double the quantity necessary for one meal, cut off kernels and carefully scrape remaining pulp from cob. Spread on agate pans, place in a hot oven a short time (watch closely) and allow it to remain in a cooled oven over night to dry. When perfectly dry place in bags for use later in the season. ”

“ Indian corn, in the prime and glory of its verdure, is a very beautiful vegetable, both considered in the separate plant, and in a mass in a broad field, rustling, and waving, and surging up and down in the breeze and sunshine of a summer afternoon. We have as many as fifty hills, I should think, which will give us an abundant supply. Pray Heaven that we may be able to eat it all! for it is not pleasant to think that anything which Nature has been at the pains to produce should be thrown away. ”

“ Southern Big White Flint-Corn, having a large thick cob, with twelve rows of kernels, much resembling, in shape and size, those of the big yellow, and like that variety, is less productive than the white Virginian gourd-seed. It contains more starch, and less oil than the northern flint-corn; but is much softer and a better food for horses, though not so fattening to poultry and swine. When ground into meal, it is apt to become sour, and consequently is unfit to be shipped in that state, unless previously prepared by being kiln-dried. ”

“ There are two kinds of this corn, one with the cob red, and the other white. The ears are short, and usually contain eight rows, the grains of which, when mature, are of a light colour, and become shrivelled and appear as if they were unripe. It contains an unusually large proportion of the phosphates, and a considerable quantity of sugar and gum, though but little starch. It is extensively cultivated for culinary purposes, and serves as a delicious food, either green or dry. ”

“ Flint corn in numerous varieties has a large, hard kernel, either white, yellow, orange, red, blue, striped, or blazed. The ears are usually from six to twelve inches long and the plants commonly grow from four to eight feet high. Dent corn is characterized by the indentation at the top of the kernel caused by the drying and shrinking of the starchy matter within. The outer portion of the kernel is corneous as in the pop and flint corns, but the proportion of starch is greater in this group than in either of the other two. ”

“ There are four sorts of Indian corn: two of which are early ripe, and two late ripe, all growing in the same manner; every single grain of this when planted produces a tall upright stalk, which has several ears hanging on the sides of it, from six to ten inches long. Each ear is wrapt up in a cover of many folds, to protect it from the injuries of the weather. In every one of these ears are several rows of grain, set close to one another, with no other partition but of a very thin husk. So that oftentimes the increase of this grain amounts to above a thousand for one. ”

“ Use same dough as for Clover Leaf Rolls. When it is ready to be put in tins roll it to 1⁄2 inch thickness, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with a mixture of 1⁄2 tbsp. cinnamon, 1⁄4 cup sugar and 1⁄2 cup raisins. Roll as a jelly roll. Cut in 3⁄4 inch slices and put into a greased pan. Let rise until the size is doubled. Bake in a hot (425°F) oven for about 20 minutes.
GRIDDLE CAKES
21⁄4 cups flour
1⁄4 cup cornmeal
4 tsp. baking powder
1⁄4 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
2⁄3 cup Carnation Milk
11⁄3 cups water
4 tbsp. fat (melted)
1 tsp. salt
Sift the dry ingredients ”

“ The Indians in their succotash taught us long ago to associate corn with beans, and they hit upon a dish not surpassed by modern invention. This delicious vegetable is as easily raised as its "hail-fellow well met," the bean. We have only to plant it at the same time in hills from three to four feet apart, and cover the seed two inches deep. I have used the powdery fertilizers and wood-ashes in the hill to great advantage, first mingling these ingredients well with the soil. We make it a point to have sweet-corn for the table from July 1 until the stalks are killed by frost in October. ”

“ Slice up the onions or leeks, one carrot, and make a fagot of herbs; fry them in the butter with 1 dozen peppercorns till they are quite brown, but not burnt. Sprinkle over a tablespoonful of cornflour, and when brown pour over the boiling stock and stir till it boils up; let it simmer for an hour. If it is not brown enough, burn a little sugar in a spoon and stir it in. If half a teaspoonful of sugar is sprinkled over the vegetables when they are frying they will brown much quicker. When the vegetables are soft rub the soup through a wire sieve and return to the saucepan. ”

“ When pop corn is gradually heated, and made so hot that the oil inside of the kernel turns to gas, being unable to escape through the hull of the kernel, the pressure finally becomes strong enough to burst the grain, and the explosion is so violent as to shatter it in a most curious manner.
Popped corn forms an excellent food, the starch of the grain being will cooked. It should, however, be eaten in connection with other food at mealtime, and not as a delicacy between meals. Ground pop corn is considered a delectable dish eaten with milk or cream ”

“ Stuff the cornucopias with dry moss, and arrange in each a bouquet of grasses, autumn leaves, and dried ferns, dipping the end of each stem in flour paste, to make it secure in its place. Sprays of blackberry-vine or michella, and the satin-white pods of the old-fashioned "honesty," make an effective addition. When done, we have a delightful winter-garden, which will keep its beauty through the months of snow and sleet, and brighten any room it stands in. ”

“ Then flatten and dry them in the sun, occasionally turning them and sprinkling with sugar. When dry, pack them in layers, with sugar sprinkled between.
Green Corn can be preserved by simply turning back the husk, all but the last thin layer, and then hanging it in the sun, or a very warm room. When it is to be used, boil it till soft, and then cut it off the cob and mix it with butter, and add, if you like, dried Lima beans cooked soft, in another vessel. The summer sweet corn is the proper kind to dry. Lima beans can be dried in the sun when young and tender. ”