Poetic recipe

Table Hopping reader Mary Beth Watrous said of the poem below, "It was taught to my great-grandmother as a child, who passed it down to my grandmother Rose, who gave it to my father Dave and ultimately me. I have my grandmother's handwritten copy framed in my kitchen. It's charming."

Johnny Cake

Two cups of Indian*, two cups of wheat*,

One cup of sour milk, one cup of sweet,

One good egg that you will beat.

One tablespoon of butter new,

Salt and soda, each a spoon*.

Mix up quick and bake it soon.

Then you will have cornbread complete,

Best of all, cornbread to eat.

It will make your boy’s eyes shine

If he’s like that boy of mine. ’Tis fit to set before any king

That a husband home might bring.

*"Indian" refers to cornmeal, "wheat" to white flour, "spoon" to a teaspoon.