Adapted from Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, Ore.
Time: 1 hour
Butter for greasing pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, more for dusting pan
3 slices bacon, diced small
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) thinly sliced dried apricots
Maple ice cream (see recipe).
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch-square baking pan; set aside. In a large skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels; reserve.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk to blend, then mound and make a well in the center. Pour in eggs, buttermilk and milk; stir with a fork until lightly combined.
3. Add honey, molasses, apricots and bacon bits. Mix again until evenly combined. Pour into pan and bake until it has risen and center is firm and dry when a toothpick is inserted, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool, then cut into small squares and serve with a dollop of maple ice cream on top.
Yield: One 8-inch square cake (12 servings).
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Another signature dish:
125g Plain Flour,
3 eggs,
half pint of milk,
salt and pepper.
mix really well and pour into bubbly oil in muffin tray,
put in oven and leave for 45 minutes.
If not our word, then what do we have?
I suspect we have nothing but the hollow, wishy-washy frame of character that we may unadmittedly and unintentionally construct and hide behind, a tactlessly superficial conundrum of self that we’ve allowed to take root more permanently in us, as us. To such a question, most of me wants to quickly reply, “Without our word, we have nothing!” … for the bond of trust between two parties is often irreparably damaged when one’s word is rarely fulfilled or rarely trusted. All it takes is one instance of a “failed word” for the doubt between persons to intensify like an epidemic, and to spread unpredictably from one person to another, continuing ad infinitum throughout all the degrees of social separation that divide us. I can picture it now, “Oh, so-and-so can never be trusted… She’s ALWAYS late!” or, “Not such-and-such! That group is only in it for themselves; you can tell they aim to manipulate!” In this way, people’s reputations are ruined forever, their characters condemned by others to be something that can never change for the better. So, I get to thinking…
What is it about our word that is so important? How do we recover from our mistakes? How to we (re-)gain credibility? How to we keep from arousing in others a worry or fear for suspicious intent?
And so, a second part of me re-considers, and suggests that beyond our word, perhaps we have our “intention.” Without Intention behind our motives, why else would we give our word in the first place?… Quite naturally, I am reminded of a cumbersome bit of advice from my grad school advisor, who once said, “You may intend to lift a thousand pounds, but that doesn’t guarantee us a thing.” After a laugh, I understood exactly what he meant. One may give his word because of his good intention, but good intention alone will not instill in others a trust that you will be successful. And good intention alone will not reconcile the consequences of failing to live up to your commitment—as in the case of the weight lifter who drops a thousand pound bar on his chest! … There is something to be said for the two working together—our word and our intention—and the force of the two at work within our character. Without one in service of the other, we are sure to disappoint.
The difficulty is that it takes effort for trust to happen between two people. When one person meets another person, automatically there is a judgment made in the first moment. Can this person be trusted? Oddly, everyone brings their own set of criteria to this process, as to what qualities must be immediately present for me to even consider this other individual as an acceptable and honest fellow. And if each person should pass this first test, the two may spend an entire lifetime affirming and reaffirming to each other their credibility. And so, here I am—recognizing my own history, my own relationship to my “word.”
Admittedly, it’s not always easy to match one’s intentions with one’s actions. But striving to improve our intentions, that is, setting it as our goal to make the additional considerations FOR others that we may otherwise forget to consider, is a good first step to bettering our actions, to affirming our credibility. It’s not in action that we affirm credibility but in the way intention and action are bound by our “word.” How better to hold ourselves accountable than through our relations with others near and dear? And yes, intention is not synonymous for action, but if we are focused on making good intentions, I believe that we can begin to better see the value of binding the two together with our word.
Too often we throw our word around without follow through, leaving something to be missed in either our intent or in action. Maybe we said that we would call at 7pm, and then think nothing of it when we make the call at 7:15pm. In this case, for example, either our intent simply doesn’t included consideration for others who may depend on our word, or our actions are incredulously separate from our intent. Both hurt our ability to be true to others. Let us then focus on the bridge—reaffirming our credibility by focusing our intent on the way we use our word. The focus then for me will be treasuring the language of commitment.
When I use my word, I have become two people. Myself, the one with intention. And the other person(s) involved, the one(s) with expectation. My goal will be to recognize each time where I am deciding to give my word, and in those moments, I must consider how specific I can be in my commitment. The goal will be to say only what I mean. That is, to agree out-loud to that intent which I most believe I can meet with action. Whether I say I will call you at 7pm, or whether I say I will call you after 7pm, may just be the difference. I recognize there are times when I must be more loose with my language, versus those times when i must be most specific. Either way, the commitment is the same. To be true to my word. To be bound to others by intent, expectation and action.