I live in Murray, Kentucky, and I’m very interested in foodways. Needless to say, when I ran into the book A Culinary History of Kentucky: Burgoo, Beer Cheese and Goetta at the Golden Pond Visitor Center in nearby lovely Land Between the Lakes, I snapped it up.

The book mentions Weisenberger Mills (near Lexington) as a company that makes the best grits in Kentucky. I love grits, so I bought some from Weisenberger’s online store; I also bought some self-rising cornmeal mix to experiment with. They are both delicious! I reproduce the corresponding cornbread recipe (the original is HERE) below for your inspiration (and my own convenience).

Ingredients

• Self-Rising Cornmeal Mix: 1 3/4  Cups
• Sugar: 1 teaspoon (omit if using sweet milk)
• Egg: 1
• Buttermilk: 1 ½ Cups (can replace with sweet milk, see sugar above)

Procedure

1. Preheat muffin or stick pans while preheating oven to 500 degrees F (260 C).
2. Mix dry ingredients then add beaten egg.
3. Pour in buttermilk, mix.
4. Fill pans after a generous greasing.
5. Bake 15 minutes at 500 deg. F (260 C) oven.