#MEwx Sunny, windy and cold with Hoe Cakes for breakfast

Good Morning Augusta

This morning we have mostly cloudy skies with highs in the lower 20s. Winds are northwest 10 to 15 mph gusting to 30 mph. Wind chill values can be as low as -2°F.

Tonight we'll have partly cloudy conditions during evening hours, then clearing. Lows around 7°F. Northwest winds around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph in the evening, becoming light and variable. Wind chill values as low as -4°F.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Our outdoor temperature is 14.9°F, the humidity is 31%, the Dew point is -10.3°F with a wind chill of 4.5°F.

The wind direction is northwest between 10.9 MPH and 15.4 MPH.

The Relative pressure is 29.54, the Absolute pressure is 29.34 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun and clouds.

If you want to see real-time instrument readings from my personal weather station in my North field click Here. That will take you directly to my weather station.

Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers with sun and a few clouds.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, The moon is  56.4% illuminated, the moon phase is in its 3^rd quarter, Sunrise is 6:08 am↑ 97° East, sunset is 5:32 pm↑ 263° West, Moonrise is 12:18 am↑ 119° Southeast, Moonset is 9:45 am↑ 239° Southwest and we'll have 11 ours 24 minutes of daylight today.

We didn't receive any rain, snow or melting here over the past 24 hours.

Here is a slightly different breakfast meal for you, and it's one I love.

Hoe Cakes

From Paula H. Deen's cookbook "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook"

1998

 

Ingredients

            1 Cup self-rising flour (or 1 cup flour + 1¼ tsp baking powder)

            1 Cup self-rising cornmeal (or 1 cup cornmeal + 1¼ tsp baking

powder)

            2 Eggs

            1 Tablespoon sugar

            3/4 Cup buttermilk

            1/3 Cup plus 1 tablespoon water

            1/4 Cup vegetable oil or bacon grease

            Oil or clarified margarine or butter for frying

Directions

Mix all ingredients well except for frying oil.

 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Drop mixture by tablespoonfuls into

hot skillet. Use approximately 2 tablespoons batter per hoecake. Brown until

crisp; turn and brown on other side. Drain on paper towels.

 

Leftover batter will keep in refrigerator for up to 2 days.

NOTE: Served with apple sauce and sausage links makes for a very tasty meal.

 

Recipe Yields approximately 17 cakes

 

One of the many stories out there about how these small cakes came to have their name dates back to America's pre-civil war days when plantation workers were expected  to stay in the fields working until it became too dark to work any more.

To this end, the workers would carry the dry meal necessary to make the hoe cakes in a sack with them when they went  to work in the mornings.

When meal time came around a fire would be built and some batter would be made with some water and the dry meal. The cakes would be cooked on the blade of the hoes used by the workers, hence the name "Hoe Cakes."

Another food name that derives from the foregoing is "Hush Puppies."

It was very common for dogs to accompany the workers back then, and when they'd make their hoe cakes at meal time the dogs would bark and yelp, begging for food. According to the story, the workers would break off pieces of Hoe cakes and toss them to the dogs saying: "Hush puppy, hush."

Is any of the foregoing true? Beats me. But it may have a lot of truth in it because it makes so much logical sense for the time.