04/01/2026
History of Plain City:
As the Plain City Historical Society gears up for this year’s Corn Carnival, they’re cooking up something extra fun — a community cookbook filled with recipes that use corn in all its forms: cornmeal, grits, hominy, popcorn… and apparently even ice cream!
They’re inviting locals to share their favorites (just maybe not corn pudding — they’ve already got plenty of those).
While digging through history for inspiration, the Society consulted a reprint of American Cookery, published in 1796 by Amelia Simmons and often called the first cookbook written specifically for American kitchens.
Aside from classics like Johnny Cake (Hoe Cake) and others, corn barely made an appearance. It’s funny to think that an ingredient we associate so strongly with American farms and fairs wasn’t yet the star of the table.
By the late 1800s, though, corn had clearly found its place. Cookbooks featured sweet corn, hominy, succotash, cornbread, griddle cakes, and even hearty cornmeal dishes that feel like early cousins to today’s comfort foods like grits.
One of the recipes already submitted for the new cookbook blends sweet summer corn into a creamy frozen treat. It sounds unusual, but if you’ve ever delighted in corn’s natural sweetness, it kind of makes sense.
Got a favorite corn recipe to share? Send it along and be part of the tradition:
Plain City Historical Society
Box 82
111 W. Main St.
Plain City, OH 43064
History tastes better when everyone brings something to the table.
Presented by Rosemary Anderson, Plain City Historical Society
