Cornmeal Cakes with Antique U.S. Presidents

We celebrated everything, with kids...

On George Washington's Birthday, or on Lincoln's Birthday, or on President's Day, we made cornmeal "hoecakes" or pancakes.

On Lincoln's birthday we played with, yup, Lincoln logs. We decorated with money, (pennies and dollar bills). Of course we read the books, early readers, Abe Lincoln's Hat, stories about George, about Martha. Age appropriate stories, and got to the meat of the stuff when they were a little older.

Here's a cornmeal pancake recipe. 

Equal parts cornmeal and flour; or all cornmeal (my preference)

An egg or two, or omit and use a little baking powder and a little baking soda (less than a tsp ea.)

a spoonful of sugar or honey, if desired

a pinch of salt, if desired

enough "sour milk" to mix lightly into a lumpy batter:

    use buttermilk if you have it, or add a squeeze of lemon to            milk; or substitute yogurt or sour cream

Fry like pancakes on a hot griddle. When bubbles show on top, it's time to flip. 

Serve with butter and honey. 

These are the all cornmeal version, no leavening other than eggs. The cornmeal is very tender and sweet.

(Or maple syrup: I read that Washington aspired to plant maples at Mt. Vernon, ever the entrepreneur, as people tried to convince him that maple sugar would one day be a successful product, see "founders archives" at this link: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-20-02-0101

But of course maples are New England trees, they don't like Virginia weather. I wonder if John Adams ate them with maple syrup?)