My spouse is already in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving. I did my part this morning. My job is to make the cornbread for the dressing. Cornbread making is my specialty. I was taught by the master when I was a child; my mother. Cornbread is the basic ingredient for the dressing that accompanies the turkey. Some folks prefer the dressing made primarily with flour. Yuk!!

Cornbread is like nectar from the Gods. God provided manna for the wandering Israelites when they left Egypt. Manna is supposed to come in the night with the dew. I can mix the cornbread up anytime and it goes with everything. God hadn’t discovered cornbread at the time of the exodus or he would have provided the Jews with this delicacy and they would probably have been a much less contentious bunch through the years. God had to wait until the birth of my mother before one of the great food discoveries, namely cornbread. Mankind missed out on a lot without cornbread. I could do without cell phones and even computers but not cornbread.

My favorite meals have been at home, not at some fancy expensive restaurant. There is nothing better than a meal of blackeyed peas, fresh homegrown tomatoes or a stewed mixture of okra, tomatoes and onions, all of course complimented with cornbread and iced tea. I like an evening meal or late night snack of nothing but cornbread crumbled into a big glass of cold milk.

My cornbread has an egg and buttermilk as a couple of the essential ingredients, so it’s probably bad for you. Who cares? I had rather cross over the River Jordon than be denied my cornbread. Like my little granddaughter said, “if it taste good it must be bad for you.” In the case of cornbread, I prefer the taste to good health.

As I sit on the porch and enjoy the aroma of the goodies being prepared in the kitchen, I noticed the deer getting closer to the house. If I left the door open, I’m sure they would be in the kitchen for a piece of that cornbread as it comes out of the oven.