The Fourth Of July -- 2021 -- From A Reader

The following is a piece of a much longer note from a reader. This excerpt is almost poetic. A prose poem. 

As I shopped for groceries for the 4th, I marveled at how well stocked my Smith's store is (Kroger owned). 

We live in a land of boundless plenty. 

Probably the biggest hit of our meal was Jalapeno cornbread.  I preheat a twelve0inch iron skillet, add half a stick of butter and it instantly browns.  Quickly shove in the batter and the dark grease bubbles up over the top of the cornbread.  Then it gets finished in an oven.  I serve it in wedges and leave it in the fry pan.  The crust is unbelievably crisp and the batter has a small can of cream corn in it, so there's moist surprises. 

Anyway, since I have refrigerated air, it doesn't bother me to bake bread in the middle of the summer.  If it hadn't been 95 degrees in the shade, I could do the same thing with a covered Dutch oven on my grill - but, a hot cook is a cranky cook - ha!

It's funny because I've reconciled myself to committing a menu "No-No."  

When I do brisket, I always make Jalapeno cornbread and Green Chile cheese grits.  

I shouldn't serve corn twice - but we don't want to give up either dish.  

Buns aren't as good with smoked meat as that cornbread (and I make Blue Ribbon Dunn county buns).  And I've tried baked beans, mac&cheese, tater salad etc. - all fine - and all can appear as side dishes, but nobody wants to skip those grits.  

I never make them unless I'm going to smoke meat - I never have plain grits, but oh baby, do those grits taste good.  A friend of mine has a fastidious millennial daughter-in-law.  When Laura told her the menu, she said her DIL moaned at the mention of those grits.  So - there's coleslaw and fruit and other fresh things available - but the moist beef, crisp cornbread and cheesy grits are prominent on everybody's "must have."  We just need to haul some hay bales or dig a few post holes to justify eating that food - ha!

Anyway, there were several comments made about how good that hot cornbread is.  I couldn't resist giving credit to the Bakken (;>).  

Huge American fridge and freezer, a pickup to haul groceries home, an A/C that never skips a beat, any liquor that anyone wants to drink whether they're outside in plain sight or in the privacy of my home, limitless ice, etc. etc. etc.   

I could not have said it better.