By Thanksgiving is coming and the full weight of what that means hit me this week: this will be the first Thanksgiving since Bernice passed with both Shanice and Travis at the table. We are going to need a bigger table. I am not speaking metaphorically.
I called Destiny and CJ on Tuesday evening and we did the logistics. They are both coming, which I knew, but now I realized that means Shanice and Travis are also coming, and Travis wanted to know if his mother Carolyn could join us, and CJ mentioned that Shanice's parents might come depending on what they decided with her sister Tamara's family. So I went from a Thanksgiving of three people last year to a possible eleven this year. I got out the folding table from the garage, which has not been opened since before the pandemic, and I set it up next to the dining table and stood in my dining room measuring the result with my eyes. It would hold eleven, barely. Thirteen if everyone was friendly about elbow room.
The phone calls multiplied. Destiny called about the dessert situation. CJ called to ask if Shanice could help with cooking — yes, always yes. Carolyn called to ask what she could bring and I said a sweet potato casserole if she had a recipe she liked, and she said she did, and then she described it and it sounded wonderful. Something is always gained when a table grows, even when the growing is complicated.
I mapped out the cooking schedule on Tuesday. The turkey and the cornbread dressing are mine. Macaroni and cheese, mine. Greens, mine. Yeast rolls, mine. Everything else comes from wherever it comes from and it will be wonderful and it will be enough. Marcus always said I overcooked for Thanksgiving. He was right. I still will.
When I mapped out the cooking schedule and wrote down “cornbread dressing, mine” for the eleventh time in the last twenty years, I realized I should share where it all begins — because the dressing is only as good as the cornbread underneath it. This Bacon Corn Bread is what I bake the day before: rich with drippings, studded with crumbled bacon, sturdy enough to hold up in a pan of dressing but good enough to eat half of before it even gets that far. For a table that went from three to eleven people in the span of two phone calls, I will be making a double batch this year, and I will not apologize for that.
Bacon Corn Bread
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 6 strips thick-cut bacon
- 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup reserved bacon drippings
Instructions
- Cook the bacon. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and crumble once cooled. Carefully pour off all but a thin film of drippings from the skillet, reserving 1/4 cup in a small bowl.
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Return the greased skillet to the oven to heat while you prepare the batter — a hot skillet gives the bottom that signature crisp crust.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beaten eggs, buttermilk, and reserved bacon drippings until smooth.
- Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the crumbled bacon.
- Bake. Using oven mitts, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Pour the batter into the skillet; it should sizzle at the edges. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool and serve. Let the cornbread rest in the skillet for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm as a side, or cool completely and crumble for use in cornbread dressing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 205 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 23g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 375mg