By Grant Guggisberg
In rural Oklahoma, the Grant family only knew one thing, and that was how to work. Abandoned by her husband, Ila Maude Grant was left to care and provide for five children during one of the most destitute times in American history, the Great Depression.
They all worked hard in the corn fields, earning enough to get by and nothing more. For meals, the family could not afford meat, so they did without. One of their favorite meals was cornbread crumbled in a glass of milk.
My grandfather, Richard Grant, lived through those hard times and ended his life a happily-married man, retired in Texas with a middle-class wealth that his family could only dream of during the 1930s. Even in his old age, one of his favorite meals was crumbled up cornbread in a cold glass of milk.
Grant Family Cornbread
From Ila Maude Grant
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine corn meal, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk, egg, and oil.
Beat until fairly smooth, about 1 minute.
Bake in greased 8-inch square baking pan 20-25 minutes.
Makes about 9 servings.
