Posted by Suzanne McMinn on October 13, 2006
Do you cook?
The other day, I drove my cousin to Peewee’s garage to see if he could pick up his truck. Okay, I had to live in West Virginia for nearly a year before I could say Peewee in a sentence without cracking up.
But I digress…..
My cousin had been grinding corn for the annual Black Walnut Festival. Yes, he puts bad guys in the slammer, grinds corn, leaps tall buildings! His freshly-ground cornmeal makes THE BEST cornbread on the planet, ever. But I digress again…. On the way to Peewee’s, I said, so how many bags of corn do you think you’ll sell at the festival? Not as many as he used to years ago, he told me, because women don’t cook anymore. I said, I’m a woman and I cook! He said, you’re an oxymoron. And to some extent, I do think that is probably true. So many of us have busy careers and family lives, and homecooking (especially baking) just isn’t at the top of our priority list when we can get a Jiffy mix at the grocery store. Or even easier, grab something from the Super Wal-Mart bakery. I do that sometimes myself. But I still cook, and especially I still bake. I love to bake.
When we got back from Peewee’s, I scooped up a couple cups of fresh cornmeal right out of the pan in the cellar porch where my cousin was bagging up the ground corn to sell at the festival. I baked two pans of cornbread from corn ground just moments before, and man it was GOOD. There is nothing like freshly-ground cornmeal. If you’re at the West Virginia Black Walnut Festival in Spencer, West Virginia this weekend, go grab a bag of cornmeal.:yes:
What about you? Do you cook, bake? Are you an oxymoron, too? This month, celebrating Halloween and autumn, I’m giving away one book a week from one of my favorite authors. Drop a comment here, and one commenter will be randomly selected to pick from the new, currently available releases of fellow Silhouette author (and all-around wonderful person) Loreth Anne White! (Winner announced Monday. Book will be autographed to the winner by Loreth.)
(And!!! Post a comment on Loreth’s blog as well as here and be in the running for a prize from Loreth, too!)
11:09
am
I have Loreth’s books and they are fabulous!! I do cook and can bake some things. But nothing complicated!!!
11:33
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I’m not a very good cook, but I love to BAKE!
Are your loyal blog fans getting the recipe for your cornbread? 
11:39
am
I am not a good cook…I recently cooked fried chicken for the first time and was so proud that no one got sick.
I am excellent with a microwave though.
11:41
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Cheryl, that’s a great idea, I’ll post it on Monday with the winner!:hyper:
11:57
am
My mom makes homemade bread every Wednesday and we have a sit down dinner every evening. She loves to bake!
12:03
pm
Yes, I do cook on occasion - my children are out of the house and my husand work nites; so I cook stuff for him to take with him.
Also cook for company which is more enjoyable because I can experiment.
12:13
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I love to cook
12:28
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When I first got married I cooked almost every night (not so much on the baking)- then had two small kids and kept it up for a while but kids want simple stupid dishes lol. Anyway it’s back to the two of us again and I’m not back to every night but at least I can make everything again.
12:39
pm
Loreth’s new series is fabulous! The winner is in for a real treat! FYI I’ve got them Suzanne, so don’t worry about me.
And I can bake, but I don’t very often. When I do, it’s always from scratch. Cooking though? I do that at least once a day. Sometimes 2 and 3. We don’t do a lot of fast food in our house. sigh. ;)
12:52
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I saw on the news the other day that the average American eats out four times a week. That’s not us since I cook just about every day. I enjoy baking more than cooking but don’t bake that often since I enjoy eating what I bake.
1:39
pm
I cooked and baked for years. Now that the kids are out of the house, I don’t cook every night and I’ve stopped baking. I don’t mind eating leftovers so I make enough for more than one meal. Cooking is more of a challenge now because I no longer eat meat.
1:41
pm
I cook and I bake, what can I say. I love to bake and go crazy at Christmas time. I used to bake buns more often than now but the kids are gone.
2:00
pm
I cook and I bake. Made an apple pie with apples from our own tree day before yesterday.:!:
2:10
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Suzanne,
I can cook and bake, but I cannot grill. That is left to my husband as a safety measure. :rolleyes:
I am looking forward to your recipe for cornbread. It sounds yummy!
2:14
pm
I hardly cook anymore since all the kids are long gone - unless you count nuking frozen entries and “doggie bag” leftovers… Love to bake but love to eat it, too, so try to stay away from it.
2:15
pm
I cook but I don’t bake..just basic cooking nothing fancy
2:18
pm
I cook, but I love to bake and I’m always looking for new recipes. I started to collect recipes while I was in vocational school. Lately I’ve been looking for easy banana bread recipes.
2:30
pm
I used to cook and bake but since the kids have left home and I find that I am by myself, I have turned into the microwave queen. I will cook up enough meals to freeze and then I just have to pop them into the micro. Your talking about your cornmeal bread, reminded me of a recipe that my late husband used to love made out of cornmeal. It is from an recipe that my Mother gave me from when she was young…….so you can say it is over 60 years old…….but a great recipe non the less………..
3:16
pm
I like cooking. Since most of the time it’s just me and my son I don’t do elaborate meals. I try and heat up alot of things in the toaster oven. I don’t like the taste of things cooked in the microvawe.
4:41
pm
I love to cook.:bananadance:.baking pretty good except for pies.:no:
5:43
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I’m single, so I cook every Sunday, a roast or something large enough to eat off most of the week, take for lunch, etc. Nothing fancy. I LOVE to bake, though. I’m so excited with the holidays coming and all the baking and cady making!
6:14
pm
Hi Suzanne,
Just dropped in from Loreth’s site, love her books. And was thinking about your PAX series just the other day wondering if there will be any more. (No pressure or anything!) I love to bake, but love to eat it too, which the scales tell me is not good!!! I cook every day hardly ever do the fast food thing. But I’m also a stay-at-home Mom, so that’s part of my job description!:smile:
8:25
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I’m not a good cook, so I don’t cook very often. But baking is fun! I love finding new recipes to try out
9:46
pm
I cook! I’ve never used freshly ground cornmeal, though. May have to try that.
9:50
am
My roommate does all the cooking, grilling, and baking. He’s an excellent cook! He bakes chocolate chip cookies for me all the time.
10:50
pm
I love cooking and baking, not that I get to do it that often thought :neutral: