Piping Hot Hush Puppies

We ate a lot of cornmeal based foods when I was
growing up because corn meal was cheap. In fact,
we could even take grain to the local mill and
have it ground into flour, meal, livestock feed,
etc. Cornbread or biscuits were almost always
served at any meal I attended at many houses in
the neighborhood. They were usually pretty good
too, although I preferred the lighter tasting
hush puppies. Eaten fresh out of the fryer, they
practically melted in your mouth. Here is my
recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup plain flour (flour is what gave it the
lighter taste and you can experiment with the
amount you use if you want)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (you can also use plain milk in
a pinch, but nothing compares to buttermilk)
3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt. I use Lowreys but just
about any brand will work as you are just looking
for something to spice things up a little
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper blend (again, the idea
is to spice things up a little).
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup bacon grease. This is another big key to
the flavor. In a pinch you can use other types
of cooking oil, but bacon is my favorite.

You also need some type of cooking oil to deep fry
these in. I usually use Crisco oil although peanut oil
and some of the lower fat oils work well too.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add your
eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Stir it all up until
the flavors are thoroughly blended.

Turn your cooker on medium-high heat. When it's
hot you can drop your hush puppies in using a
table spoon. Allow them to brown on all sides.
They should begin floating when done, but if they
don't, don't overcook them.

Serve as a side dish with just about any meal. I
loved eating them with fried catfish or fresh
chopped or pulled pork barbecue. Most of the local
resturants added them as a standard feature when you
bought plate meals.

After getting to Alaska, I visited a restaurant that
also added yellow corn to their hush puppies and a
touch of sugar. If you want to give this a try,
precook the corn, but don't overcook it. Use 3/4 cups
in the recipe above. On top of that add 2 table spoons
of white sugar. The recipe at the restaurant in
Alaska was so popular that customers often ordered
side orders to take home. I always though that it
tasted pretty good.

You can also store this mixture in the refrigerator
for a day or so if you are only cooking for a smaller
group. Before cooking let it reach near room
temperature.