Barbara McClellan

Have you heard of intermittent fasting? I think it has been around for a while, but I just recently heard about it. Usually I keep up with weight-loss diets since I have been on every one that was ever created.

I was at a meeting a few months ago and of course, goodies were offered. How do you have any sort of meeting and expect anyone to appear without offering food and drink. Someone at the meeting said, “Oh, my eating window just closed.”

My food window does not have closing hours if any food that I like is available. I never like to be totally clueless in group discussions, so I started inquiring about this plan. I am certainly not advocating it since I know almost less than nothing about it even though when thinking about it, I think I have been doing this for a while.

I eat breakfast (usually a hearty one), then I will not think about or get around to eating again until late afternoon or evening. By then, though, I am so hungry I fling wide that “eating window.” One evening I needed to spend more time than usual at Hawkins Creek, a wonderful assisted-living facility. Someone brought me a delicious plate lunch of real country foods. I thought about it and began to form a plan for having hot cornbread with it. I knew I would not wait long enough for cornbread to bake so I whipped up a very simple batch of hot water cornbread.

It has three ingredients and this experiment made enough for four pones.

Late Night Hot Water Corn Bread

Ingredients

1 cup cornmeal (I used yellow)

1 scant teaspoon salt

Approximately 3/4 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Steps

Mix cornmeal and salt. Pour in hot water and stir well. Pat about 1/4 cup of mixture into thin round or oblong patties. Fry in oil, which has been heated in skillet to bubbling stage. Brown for about 4 minutes and turn to other side.

Warning: the mixture will be very hot, so wear protective gloves or let cool slightly.

You know fresh vegetables are available now so stir up a batch of this in a hurry to serve with those fresh peas, squash or okra gumbo.

The next is so simple I hesitate to call it a recipe. It is great for breakfast, a light lunch or supper.

Mediterranean Breakfast (for 1)

1 cup unflavored, plain Greek yogurt

About 3 tablespoons walnut halves or pieces

Drizzle with honey (I usually use about 1 tablespoon).

If you have a hard, long day ahead, you might want to eat a piece of toast or something else with this. I very often have bacon fried very crisply and might crumble that on a piece of multigrain bread slathered with jam, jelly or preserves.

Speaking of bacon, when I cook bacon, I usually cook a large amount, use what I need at that time and refrigerate the other to pull out, microwave and enjoy without having to cook a whole new batch. This means that I can make a BLT in no time flat.

Oh, did I tell you that I cook bacon in the oven at 435 degrees until it is very crisp. By “very crisp” I mean “burned bacon.” I use a large pan with a rack that I heard about from my friend Andrew Smith who, in my opinion, is one of Longview’s finest cooks. If you are lucky enough to get to taste any of the many gravies he makes, you will know what I mean.