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as thick as honey. As the juice cooks down, transfer it to a smaller pot, because it will grow more and more concentrated, decreasing dramatically in volume.
V ARIATION :
Q UASI -C OLONIAL C ORNBREAD WITH A PPLES
    Substitute 1 cup apples (peeled, cored, and grated—not chopped) for the corn.

    ·M·E·N·U·
    F ALL F ARM -S TAND O RCHARD I DYLL
    Salad of Mixed Greens, Red Cabbage Slivers, Scallions, Apples, Maytag Blue Cheese, and Toasted Walnuts, with Apple Cider Syrup Vinaigrette
    *
    Chicken or Vegetable Soup with Fresh Corn and Tomatoes
    *
    Quasi-Colonial Cornbread with Butter and Apple Butter
    *
    Buttermilk Cornbread Pudding with Apricots and Lemon

C ARROLL ’ S E XTRA -M OIST C ORNBREAD
    M AKES 9 SQUARES
    This recipe is from my down-one-hill-and-up-the-side-of-another Vermont neighbor, Carroll Metrick. Carroll says, “The fewer pans, the fewer bowls and spoons, the better. That’s how I cook.” She discovered the prototype for this recipe in The New York Times , but she found that version a little too wet for her taste. I tweaked it slightly both method- and ingredients-wise, and now it meets with her approval, retaining its signature rich delicacy, still plenty moist, but less so than the original.
    Carroll likes this cornbread split and toasted, with butter and maple syrup; but then, what cornbread wouldn’t be good that way? Myself, the day I came up with the final version, I happened to have some sweet potato and lima bean soup going, and it was terrific with that.
    Vegetable oil cooking spray
    1 cup reduced-fat sour cream (or full-fat, if you prefer)
    ½ teaspoon baking soda
    ¼ cup mild vegetable oil
    1 cup canned creamed corn (see Pantry, page 351 )
    2 eggs
    1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
    1 tablespoon cornstarch
    1½ teaspoons baking powder
    ¾ teaspoon salt
    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with oil.
    2. Place the sour cream in a large bowl and whisk in the baking soda to activate it. Then whisk in the remaining wet ingredients: the oil, creamed corn, and eggs. When thoroughly combined, sprinkle the cornmeal over the top.
    3. Combine the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a small dish, and sift over the cornmeal. Stir the whole thing together with as few strokes as possible, to just combine the wet and dry.
    4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, then pop it in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

S WEET C REAM AND H ONEY C ORNBREAD
    M AKES 9 SQUARES
    Ultrarich, quite sweet (due to both honey and sugar), this is a truly yummy Yankee–style indulgence of a cornbread. Heavy cream is backed up by two eggs and plenty of butter; light it certainly isn’t, but wonderful it is. The honey is warmed so it will combine with the other wet ingredients more readily; just run very hot tap water over the honey jar to liquefy the honey. If you’re used to stripped-down cornbreads, this might be almost too rich for you.
    Vegetable oil cooking spray
    1 cup unbleached white flour
    1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    ½ teaspoon salt
    ¼ cup sugar, preferably unrefined (see Pantry, page 356 )
    ½ cup whipping cream
    ½ cup milk
    4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, at room temperature
    ¼ cup honey, warmed
    2 eggs, lightly beaten
    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 9-inch square pan with oil.
    2. Combine the flour and cornmeal in a large bowl, then sift in the baking powder and salt.
    3. Beat together the sugar, cream, milk, softened butter, and warmed honey in a smaller bowl. When well mixed, beat in the eggs.
    4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and intoxicatingly fragrant, 20 to 25 minutes.
    “I lay five kernels of dried corn on every place setting at Thanksgiving dinner to remember the starvation the Pilgrims endured in 1621. That was their daily ration before the first crops