Dear Cornbread Diaries,

If y'all hang in there with a perplexin' problem...the answer will come, eventually. Let me explain. I've been wonderin' how the heck to make a crispy, dense, tasty, fried type of cornbread patty that I have experienced in many a fine Southern restaurant. Seems like those testy restaurant owners would be flabbergasted when I dared to ask for the recipe. So, I just wandered around, clueless for years and it sorta happened by accident, that I finally found the answer...

You see, I make and serve lunch at the homeless shelter, Our House, once a month. And, one day as I was talkin' to one of the dear residents about the cornbread I had just served, she told me of her mother's hot water cornbread recipe she dearly loved. Seems you just whip up a little cornmeal mix, oil, egg, and hot water. And then you fry it in a skillet of hot oil. Hummm...could this be my answer. Well, I couldn't wait to try it and yes, my quest has ended for that crispy fried cornbread flat patty. Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. And, the moral of this story is...

Never, never, never, never, never give up. Until next time, sweet dreams, dear diary,
Love, Di

Oh, here's the recipe:

Hot Water Cornbread

 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups cornmeal mix

Boilin' hot water

Oil for fryin'

Place the oil and beaten egg in a large bowl. Add the cornmeal mix and mash it up to make a crumbly mixture.Then add just enough boiled hot water to the mix so that the texture sticks together as you roll it up and flatten it out. Now, fry it in the hot oil that you've been heatin' in a skillet and be sure to brown on both sides.