Corn Pone and Corn Cob Jelly

Two and a half acres of corn for a family of three was standard corn planting in the mountains of West Virginia, any more was for the hogs and chickens.

A standard pone recipe is:


1 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon lard or fat

Combine the meal and salt and, while blending gradually add water. Melt the fat in the baking pan. After pan is greased, pour surplus into the mixture and blend.
The mix should not be more than one inch thick in the baking pan to start with. It will rise very little. (to make it rise like corn bread, 2 teaspoons of baking powder would be needed) The pone will develop a rich, brown
crunchy crust. In this modern day it would take about 50-60 minutes in a 350 oven.
It was usually baked in a "step oven" on the wood stove or fried on a griddle where a stove lid was removed. Corn bread and corn pone was a staple in the mountaineer diet. With greens, called "salit greens", boiled eggs, meat, and of course, cold milk from the spring house. Salit greens were pokeweed greens that were boiled for a very long time as it was thought that they were poisonous if you didn't. It tasted like spinach. This was good eating and friends were always welcome.

Not to waste anything Jelly was made from the corn cobs. This jelly tastes a lot like apple jelly and has a pretty red color.

Boil 12 bright red corn cobs in 3 pints of water for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. If needed, add enough water to make 4 cups liquid. Add one package fruit pectin and bring to full boil. Add 4 cups sugar and boil 2 or 3 minutes until jelly stage.