Okay let me get this straight: cafe con leche is espresso and steamed milk, not put together, not somehow a cappucinno; cafe au lait is coffee (strong granted, but not espresso, ideally coffee and chicory actually) and warm (not steamed) milk. They have in common that the milk to coffee ratio is high. I will add (sorry Nicolel, that Starbucks versions of both are not authentic).

Miss Lucy's Cornbread

preheat oven to 375 degrees

start with:

one half stick sweet butter

(place on low heat to melt, do not allow to simmer or burn, set aside -- my mother (Miss Lucy) uses bacon greese (4-5 tbsp) for this, but I don't)

1 cup flour

(white, siffted)

2 tsp baking powder

(fresh, if you haven't used your in years, chuck it)

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp brown sugar

gratted nutmeg

(you must grate this nutmeg yourself, gratted nutmeg in a tin tastes like crap to me)

cinnamon

(not to much cinnamon, let the nutmeg do the work)

1 cup yellow corn meal

(actually sift all dry ingredients together)

2 eggs

(separate whites and yokes, add yokes to the dry ingredients, in a separate bowl whisk the whites (don't go crazy you're not making merriange) set whites aside)

1 cup whole milk

start to combine, don't use a mixer, fold really, lumps (not giant lumps) in cornbread batter are not only okay, but desireable. Fold in the egg whites. Add about half of your melted butter.

I use a large cast iron skillet (an enameled on actually, I'm not from the school of "seasoned" pans), but you can use a pyrex pan, muffin tin or whatever.

Use remaining butter to grease pan or tin, dust with a cinammon and white sugar combo if you want, but don't go nuts on the cinammon.

bake 25-30 minutes

Any portions that are not to be eaten immediately should be wrapped in foil. If it seems hard when you re-heat top with butter and sprinkle with a little water when reheating (wrapped back up).

Yumm, thanks Mommy!