What a shame

Are there certain things that you always keep on hand in your pantry? Things that you just take for granted will be there when you go to reach for them? Usually that's me with cornmeal. So when I saw the ingredients for the following recipe were butter, cornmeal, and salt I thought I was pretty much set.

And then I reached for the cornmeal. No cornmeal. Really? I began searching the baking shelf (everyone has a baking shelf right?) and pretty much emptied and reassembled it, but not cornmeal. So I pulled out the next big thing. Polenta. What kind of person has polenta but not cornmeal? This kind of person.

It worked alright as a substitute, but these corn crisps didn't get especially crispy. They were good and corny. I liked the grainier texture of the polenta, but I bet it would be nice to have a little crunch from the cornmeal. They were kinda crisp on the outside, but with a softer fluffier inside - kinda like a little corn tater tot! It's the classic case of not being able to really judge a recipe because of a substitution.

So one of these days I'll make these again. With cornmeal. Which I now have.

Corn Crisps (From The Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 425. Butter a cookie sheet. Bring 3/4 cup water and the butter to a boil in a small pan.
2. Quickly stir in the coernmeal and salt and mix well.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.