Technically, as a second grader, I was a transplant, but I grew up in Appalachia. My roots are there, my heart is there, my family is there. The only thing that is not there is me. Sometimes, something will trigger a memory from my childhood and I can see it clear as day, as if I stepped back for a moment in time.
This morning, I realized that the hand of bananas that had been sitting on the counter all week had turned from green to yellow and was freckled with brown spots. I decided to make banana bread, but was lacking some key ingredients, namely flour. There was, however, a bag of Martha White self-rising cornmeal in the cabinet and I wondered if I could use that instead of flour. Pinterest quickly confirmed that it was possible, so I began gathering all of the ingredients to make a pan of banana pecan cornbread.
As I was stirring the ingredients together, that portal in time opened up within my mind, and I was suddenly standing in a kitchen that I used to know well. I was beside the old woman who babysat me and my brother when we got off the school bus in the afternoons. Everyone called her Sweet Pea and her husband was Big Daddy. We were in the kitchen because Sweet Pea was making us an after school snack. I watched as she drew a big kitchen knife through golden crusted, fluffy white cornbread, the knife clinking on the cast iron skillet. Sweet Pea placed a large piece of cornbread on a plate, then walked over to the stove and ladled hot, homemade apple sauce on top before handing me the plate. This, to me, was a slice of heaven.
Back to the present, I popped my banana pecan cornbread out of the oven, sliced it with a big kitchen knife, and placed a large piece on my plate. I then added a dollop of apple sauce on top. My applesauce wasn't homemade like Sweet Pea's, but it did just fine, and oh, did it bring back delicious memories!
Thank you for sharing in this memory with me. Drop a comment or a like if you've ever eaten cornbread and applesauce, or banana nut cornbread. How about cornbread in a bowl with milk? If you have a great cornbread recipe or memory you'd like to share, please do!
Carpe Diem,
Melissa Anne
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