Valley Rewind: Fall harvest

This month the Swannanoa Valley Museum is celebrating the fall harvest and home-cooked meals by sharing local recipes collected by Mrs. Ruby Brown Begley. Mrs. Begley has been a resident of the Swannanoa Valley ever since she moved to Black Mountain with her husband Marcus Begley in 1945. In 2003, she published “Treasured Recipes of the Swannanoa Valley,” a collection of recipes contributed by dozens of Valley citizens. The book is available in the museum’s research library. Below is a corn bread recipe, contributed by Mark Elliott to Begley’s collection. If anyone tries out this recipe, let the museum know how it went by emailing svmvolunteer@gmail.com! The museum will post the results on its Facebook page (photos are a plus).

Corn Bread recipe: 2 cups self-rising corn meal, 1 cup self-rising flour, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp sugar, pinch of salt, 1 cup milk, ½ cup water, ¼ cup cooking oil.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Preheat cast-iron skillet with oil. Combine ingredients and add cooking oil. Pour into preheated pan and bake 30 minutes.