Casserole Cornbread

Instructions

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   Preheat oven to 425F and lightly grease a round shallow ovenproof casserole, or small cast iron skillet. Mix all ingredients until batter has the consistency of cake batter. Pour into casserole and bake for 30 minutes or until puffy and a cake tester inserted into the center come out clean. Cut into wedges and serve with Herb Butter (for recipe, see index) See also: Olive Bread from Provence

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   Giving Thanks My all time favorite time of the year is the Autumn. There is no time that feels healthier or more invigorating to me. I love the feel of warm, sunny Fall days when the air is crisp and clean. The faint smell of leaves burning somewhere and the sight of squirrels hustling, bustling and burying frantically, reminds me that the cold Winter is coming and I should relish these last warm days. Walking through the woods, kicking multitudes of splendid-colored leaves, takes me back to a carefree childhood. It’s the best time of year to fall in love, walking hand in hand through the woods. Having already given up their bounty, the fruit trees are almost bare of leaves. The last few survivors rattle forlornly in the breeze blowing through the orchard but if you cross the orchard diagonally from the Inn you’ll come to a break in the stone wall where there’s a gate into the still leafy woods and meadow beyond. In the Fall, when the sun lies slantwise across the sky, the woods seem to glow with a special dappled light especially in the late afternoon. A half a mile up the path, if you stop at the lightning blasted old oak tree stump and look to your left, you can see the ruins of a tiny stone shack. I often wonder about the pioneer who made the one room shelter. Was he an early homesteader blazing the trail into an unknown countryside? Was he a lonely “mountain man”, or was there a woman and a family there keeping him company and enduring the hardships? I can imagine Thanksgiving must have been especially meaningful to them, giving thanks for an abundant harvest that would see them through a long Winter. When you return to the Inn, check out the quilt hanging in the dining room. It’s called Autumn Splendor and is a bargello pattern design in a riot of green, gold and rust colors to capture the look of the hills and the valley around the Inn. It hangs opposite the window wall, so that it reflects the colors outside like a mirror in fabric. In Autumn, colors, smells and food come together in a glorious patchwork of all the senses. Below the quilt we set a long narrow serving table decorated with rustic baskets full of orange and yellow gourds, along with juicy red apples and toasty brown nuts. A bottle of tawny Sherry and glasses stand warming by a crisp fire. Help yourself.

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   As the sun goes down, friends and family gather together and we serve our Thanksgiving feast at an antique rectory table that seats fourteen at a squeeze. Two hundred years later, we give thanks for our abundance and give thanks to the long gone pioneers who built the little one room stone cabin in the woods. Autumn is the time when I really enjoy making and eating soups. They make light meals yet are warm and hearty fillers after a long brisk walk. Soups usually “age” well and are even better the next day. Never worry about not having stock or broth to make a soup. Many soups taste just as good with water. You can make up for the richness that stock adds by slightly decreasing the amount of water called for, or by adding a splash of wine. I think country soups are best served in rustic crockery bowls. Always warm the soup bowls before serving so the soup does not cool off too fast, and you can take time to savor the flavor.