MaryL wrote:
>
> "John Kane" > wrote in message
> ...
> On Jan 15, 2:14 pm, Omelet > wrote:
>> In article >,
>>
>> "MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER> wrote:
>> > > You don't have to be destitute to enjoy cornbread. ;-d
>>
>> > No, the part about being destitute was relevant only because
>> cornbread > was
>> > very cheap to make, and so was the syrup. I was really thinking back to
>> > some of my father's childhood stories. He used to joke that his
>> family > was
>> > hardly aware of it when the Great Depression hit because they were >
>> already
>> > so far down that there wasn't any farther to fall! My dad actually
>> > preferred "sugar water" for syrup to the end of his life. We had
>> real > maple
>> > syrup, but that isn't what he remembered from his mother (who, >
>> incidentally,
>> > was an *excellent* cook and baker--she earned their income by
>> selling > baked
>> > goods and taking in laundry for "wet wash").
>>
>> > MaryL
>>
>> Sorry hon', I was just being cryptic. ;-) Nowadays, "po' folks food" is
>> considered by many (including myself) to be comfort food.
>>
>> Mom always cut pure maple syrup with simple syrup to save on money.
>
> Amazing. Where I grew up, we wouldn't have wanted to spend all that
> money on 'simple syrup' so we had to make do with maple syrup. I
> think I would still tap a tree if I had to.
>
> Is cornbread likely to be the same as jonnycake (sp?). My mother used
> to make it once or twice a year.
>
> John Kane, Kingston ON Canada
>
> Cornbread and johnny cakes have similiar ingredients, but cornbread is
> baked. I think johnny cakes are fried.
>
> MaryL
>
>
>
Yep, jonny cakes, aka Shawnee cakes, are fried cornbread, here's a
recipe but recipes vary by region.

CORNMEAL JOHNNY CAKES

2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup cornmeal

Slowly add the cornmeal to the boiling water and cook for five minutes.
Add the sugar, butter and salt. Pour into a buttered frying pan and fry
until done.

We never ate jonny cakes when I was a kid but Mom remembered them from
when she lived on the rez.