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[Mjkoaktreecottag AT aol.com]

Calumet is one aluminum free BP that is readily available, or at least  it 
was up until my favorite store for such things closed.  
My " Little Egypt" (Southern Illinois) grandma, made her own  hominy from 
their field corn using drip-lye (processed from wood ashes)  until baby #5 
arrived and grandpa hired her a wash lady, who also made the  hominy every 
fall. 
About that time, they started using commercial lye from  the general store 
for 
the hominy and also their soap.  Mama said that  the hominy making was 
unpleasant because they did it after the weather was  pretty cold, outside 
near their 
only water source--the old well. I don't know  why they waited for cold 
weather 
because I tried it once in Oct. (in my VA  weather it's not very cold then) 
and it turned out OK, but with hauling  water, it wasn't easy.
Mama grew up eating only very young field corn as fresh corn brcause  sweet 
corn seed wasn't readily available until she was nearly  grown. They also 
used 
this corn to be ground for cornmeal although now I  understand that a dent 
corn is better.  A neighbor had his own cane mill  and they used his cane 
syrup 
instead of molasses on many things, including the  corn bread and biscuits 
grandma made every day.  However, they bought  [awful !] white store bread as 
she 
was a believer in that saying about store  bought bread!  She'd wonder that 
her grand-daughter mainly makes dark bread  !  One of my favorites is a mixed 
rye, wheat,
and corn bread sweetened with molasses that's similiar to the New England  
Anadama Bread.
My corn bread is made with a tad of sugar because my husband is Pa German,  
so if I don't he'll drown it in syrup. (I make my tomato sauce without  sugar 
and he dumps it on top at the table!) A good corn cake I make is a  basic 
corn 
bread recipe with some sugar or honey, grated carrots, and  chopped nuts 
added 
that I bake either in a skillet or in a seasoned flower pot  saucer that i 
use only for bread, etc.  
maggie



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