This recipe is out of my great-grandmother Bertha Iva Steinbeck's recipe box. She really was John Steinbeck's aunt. She lived in Hollister, California, and died in the '30s. I've been making this since I was about 5 years old when my grandmother, Agnes Steinbeck Bowman decided I was old enough to learn to cook. It was actually the second thing I learned to cook...she wanted to see how I handled scrambled eggs before she introduced me to something that demanded some technique! I've never tasted better cornbread in my 47 years.