Grandma's Cornmeal Recipe
Grandma takes a large earthenware bowl and puts a splash of warm water in it; then takes a small handful of dry yeast and sprinkles it on the water, along with a smidgen of sugar.
After swishing the mixture around a little bit, she breaks two eggs and adds to the mixture, along with a couple of galumphs of buttermilk from a bottle. Now she pours several handfuls of white flour and stirs a bit. Then she opens a cloth bag of stone ground white corn meal (ground in an old mill by the stream) and pours in a proper amount of cornmeal.
Now the mixture is looking weird and a bit moist. Grandma adds more cornmeal until she has a big lump of dough, rough on the outside, soft on the inside. At this point, the lump is easy to handle and can be shaped into any form at all. Grandma then instinctively wants to knead the thing with her hands while thinking of wonderful shapes to create. She usually ends up with two roundish objects that are then placed on a large baking sheet or broiler pan.
Grandma always puts something mealy - like uncooked cream of wheat or cornmeal on the bottom of the pan. That way the bread does not stick.
Then grandma sprinkles a proper amount of green herbs and paprika on top of the loaves and also a little bit of butter to make the tops pretty looking after baking.
At this point, instead of covering with a cloth, grandma uses clear plastic wrap. That way, there is no messy cleanup afterward.
After a couple of hours sitting on the kitchen counter, the bread is now ready to go in the oven. Grandma uses 350 degrees and sets a timer for one hour.
When the loaves are done, they can be sliced immediately and enjoyed with any buttery spread. There is usually enough bread to last for a week. Grandma likes to breakfast with a mug of coffee and generous slices of cornmeal bread.
Warning: Do not try this at home since grandma does not measure anything. You may end up with cornmeal soup, mush, or some strange object that might grow and grow and grow, squeezing you out of the kitchen altogether.
