Family Stories, Family Recipes

Nancy's Cornbread by Jan Scarbrough

2008-04-06T18:35:00.003-04:00

My mother and I didn’t get along for much of my early life. It was more than a mother/daughter thing. An only child, I saw my mother as overly critical. She tried to improve me. She didn’t accept me for myself.

“You must fire your parents as parents,” the family therapist told my group in the early eighties.

I was thirty-one-years-old and absorbing the new way of being that group therapy opened for me. I didn’t know how to “fire my parents,” but being a writer, I eventually wrote them a letter.

My dad took it hard. My mother didn’t. Gradually, I came to understand my mother’s motivation. She wanted me to be the best I could be, and pushing me was her way to do it. I heard her “encouragement” as “nagging.” She was a product of The Depression and WWII. She wasn’t versed on the pop psychology of the day.

Through group therapy I gained insight into my motivation. As a child, I had learned subconsciously that my purpose was to “make my mother happy.” I gave it up. I grew up. As a result, she quit her “frantic mothering.” She learned I was able to guide my own life.

When she died, my mother and I were friends. When I think of her now, the old acrimony and teenage conflict is a blur. I think about how she showed her love to me and my children—always “doing,” seldom with a hug or a kiss.

Nancy’s cornbread recipe is a memory from my childhood and early adult years—country cooked meals, family and fellowship. I hope you enjoy the symbol of my mother’s love for her family.

From my mother’s handwritten recipe—

#1 Self-rising corn meal	#2 Non-self-rising corn meal
1 egg	1 egg
1 cup buttermilk	1 cup buttermilk
Self-rising corn meal	¾ t. salt
	¼ t. baking soda
	Corn meal

It’s important to have a hot pan and hot grease. My mother used an iron skillet or iron cornbread pans shaped like corn.

Combine the ingredients and then add the corn meal last. It’s important that the batter not be thicker than thick cake dough.

“Bread isn’t good if too much meal is used.”

Cook at 450° or hot oven until brown.

Jan Scarbrough

Romance Novelist

http://www.janscarbrough.com

Submission and Release Form

2008-04-06T18:33:00.001-04:00

Family Stories, Family Recipes Cookbook

Name:

Email Address: (will not be included in the book)

Additional Line: (to be included in the book, for example: author of… website… title… hometown… etc.)

Please submit family recipes and stories that are related. We want to hear about your favorite foods for special occasions and gatherings, and the great stories of those family times. Be creative and have fun!

Recipe Title:

Your family recipe here: (this box will get larger as you type!)

Story Title:

Your family story here: (250-500 words)

Release/Waiver:

By submitting my family recipe and story I agree/certify that:

The story and recipe submitted are not copyrighted material.
I grant permission for this story or recipe to be printed in the publication Family Stories, Family Recipes.
Editing will occur during the editorial/publication process.
My name/byline will appear in the publication as provided above.
My recipe/story is one small part of a larger project.
I submit the story and recipe voluntarily. I will receive no compensation, royalties or income from the sale of the cookbook, Family Stories, Family Recipes, should it go into publication.
There is no guarantee of publication, or of the length of time to create and publish the cookbook.
In thanks for my submission, I will receive a free electronic (pdf) mini-collection of recipes prior to the book’s publication.

Photo Release:

(photo optional) I have included a jpg photo with my submission. I grant permission for use of the photo with my story and/or recipe.

Blog: Would you like your recipe/story considered to be featured on the Family Stories, Family Recipes website in the coming year? ____yes ____no

Please type your name:

Signature: “/s/ type your name here /”

Date:

Please copy and paste this form into a word document, attach to you email, and send to: familyrecipes@insightbb.com Thank you!

Note: A percentage of the royalties gained from sale of this cookbook will go to the National Center for Family Literacy.

Family Stories, Family Recipes

2008-04-06T18:32:00.001-04:00

The best thing about Family Stories, Family Recipes, is that it is written by you, your friends, your colleagues, and your family.

Oh sure, as the author, I'll add those those touches and embellishments that provide flavor (no pun intended) to the project, and possibly even provide a touch of statistical evidence about the "families that eat together, stay together" concept. I plan to talk about oral tradition and "passing down" though families. Sharing stories and recipes is a family tradition.

But the vast majority of the content in this book will be provided by you. That's right. I need your stories and your recipes! Tell me about those favorite family foods. You know the ones. The dishes you HAVE to have at a family gathering. The candy your grandmother always made for Christmas. Your go-to dinner party entrée. The special way you make that grilled cheese sandwich for your kids.

But wait! There's more. Man does not live by recipes alone. I need your stories, too! So, your grandma makes the best coconut creme pie ever--but don't you have a great story that goes along with that, too? Like the time she made the pie and no one ate the crust? And the dog carried it outside and buried it?

Yeah. Those kinds of stories. Send me those slice-of-life vignettes, those humorous anecdotes, those warm and toasty stories of times gone by. It's all about the food and the story and the family. That's it! Easy as pie, huh?

How to submit? Send an email to me at familyrecipes@insightbb.com and ask for the submission form. This form contains guidelines and permissions. Fill it out, send it in, and we're on our way!

So, start thinking, y'all, okay?

Karina