Tennessee Hushpuppies

So a few days ago, my friend Sarah, a super home style cook, made some awesome hushpuppies for me. Now, there is nothing wrong with southern style food in my book; any culture which encourages you deep fry your veggies is on to something! Anyways, after trying these bad boys, I asked her to share these on Vanilla Garlic, and luckilly she did. These are perfect for any picnic or function, and sure to please.

And now, Sarah's Tennessee Hushpuppies, verbatim:

Tennessee HushPuppies
serves 12

When hunters in the South were cooking their dinner over a campfire, the dogs would get all excited with the smell of the food. Some cornbread batter dropped into hot oil and cooked was then tossed to the dogs to make them be quiet. This recipe involves a 200-year-old (or so my Mom says) cornbread recipe that my Mom gave me. Mom and I have slightly altered the recipe to use vegetable oil instead of lard because, well, we like our arteries just the way they are. I use a cast-iron skillet on medium-low heat, but a deep-fryer works really well too if you've got that.

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, well beaten
1/4 cup veggie oil
1/4 cup white sugar (1/2 cup if you want to use brown sugar)
1 cup buttermilk
1 can whole kernel corn, well drained

Directions:
~mix first four ingredients in a bowl
~add the egg to the center of the bowl and mix well
~mix oil and sugar together
~add sugar/oil to bowl, mix well
~add buttermilk, mix well
~stir in corn
~drop the batter into hot oil one tablespoon at a time
~after a couple minutes, you can unstick them from the bottom using a spatula
~cook until brown (a little darker than golden)
~let cool on a couple layers of paper towel to drain the excess grease off.
~don't try to eat it too soon, or you'll burn your fingers
~I warned you, now go put your finger under cold water
~okay, now it's cool enough to eat