Thursday, October 20, 2016

Think ... Write ... Thursday!

Corn Critters at The Cabin


"Ten for me," I said with the confidence of the oldest cousin.
"Eleven," proclaimed Rick.
When Jack came back with "Fourteen," all of the cousins gathered around the oilcloth-covered table knew that the challenge was on.


There were five of us cousins, my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my grandparents at The Cabin, my grandparents' place in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. They had purchased the land when we were all quite young, and after tent camping for several years, we gradually built The Cabin. G'pa and G'ma (that's what we called them) hoped it would become a gathering place for the family, and that's exactly what it was. It had a pump, but no running water; Coleman lanterns, but no electricity, and an outhouse where you had to be careful not to get trapped by a skunk or sheep (true stories!). It also had a huge wood-burning cast iron stove. My grandmother had grown up using one like it, and I marveled at her abilities to bake cakes, bread, and produce delicious meals with it. Today she was making our favorite - corn fritters. 

G'ma's were not the usual deep-fried little nuggets of corn fritters; hers were more of a thin pancake consistency. Think crepes with corn in them. Sometime over our years of growing up eating G'ma's corn fritters, we cousins had morphed the name into corn critters, which we found hilarious. My sister and I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and my cousins lived 400 miles away in Cleveland, but whenever we were together each one of us tried to eat more corn critters than the others.


I don't remember how many corn critters I managed to eat that day, but what I do recall is how absolutely delicious they were, with crispy, perfectly-browned edges, tender morsels of fresh sweet corn in every bite, seasoned only with a little salt and butter as we had been taught by G'pa. Years later, after G'ma was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a series of strokes, my mother tried to write down the corn critter recipe. To be honest, I've never made them, partly because I don't have a wood-burning cast iron stove to cook them on, but mainly because I'm happy and deliciously content with the wonderful memories of The Best Breakfast I Ever Had.

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10 comments:

  1. Eating contests with cousins are the best! We did the same with my nana's pancakes (made in a cast iron skillet) I don't think I ever was the winner in the number eaten, but no one really ever felt like a loser. What a fantastic memory! This post is beautiful Bonny!

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  2. I can picture you all sitting there smiling and waiting for your G'ma to deliver the goods! They sound absolutely delicious!!

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  3. Love it. Tioga County is so beautiful! I've been to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania several times...

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  4. loved reading this and I went to the PA grand canyon when I was 11 yo and I think I was miserable just because I was an 11 yo girl....such a shame!!

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  5. What a wonderful memory! Me and my own silly cousins would have loved to join you for a corn-critter-eating-contest!

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  6. This is so great! And I have to admit that your description of the corn critters sounds yummy.

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  7. This is awesome! I love the way you grabbed us and pulled us into the story with that opening!

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  8. You made me want to be there eating corn critters that were cooked on your Gma's stove. What a fantastic memory!

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  9. Thank you, Bonny! your beautiful writing and so many warm memories made this a wonderful story!

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  10. Those corn critters are tempting my tummy! Great memory.

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