Sure fancy people may call it "polenta," but to me it will always just be delicious mush. Cue my dad yelling at the food network whenever they talk about polenta, "Oooo, polenta. It's corn meal mush!"Corn meal mush can be eaten as a hot cereal like oatmeal, topped with a little honey and milk, but you can also chill it, slice it or cut it into shapes, and then fry it up in a pan. This is known as fried mush.
The ratio for corn meal mush is 1-1-2. One part corn meal and one part water added to two parts boiling salted water. I usually use 1/4 to 1/3 a cup cornmeal when making a bowl for myself. Since I was cooking for more on Valentine's day I upped it to a full cup.
Fried Cornmeal Mush
Directions:
In a bowl, add 1 part corn meal to 1 part water. Bring 2 parts salted water to a boil. Add in corn meal/water mixture and stir together. Lower the heat and put the lid on the pot and cook for a few minutes until thick.
Pour and spread the mush into a baking dish and then let it chill in the fridge until it gets firm. You can then cut into squares or use a cookie cutter to make fun shapes, (like hearts for Valentine's day!).
Put oil or butter in pan and cook the mush until it is golden brown and crispy on both sides.
Serve with honey or syrup and other breakfast items like eggs and sausage. I hear that this also works well in savory applications, but I've never tried it that way.
As for the preschool Valentines, since Sam goes to a Catholic preschool I like to incorporate the saints and the faith into his school treats when I can. I included a poem about the trinity when passing out candy corn for Halloween, and we made these saint themed valentines last year.
We had some fun selecting a maze toy made out of chocolate, since there are only 6 kids in his class and we could splurge on something a little bigger then normal. Then all we did was glue the Happy Saints St. Valentine prayer card to the inside, and there you have it, a super simple way to help remind everyone that Valentine's day is a saint's feast day and the importance of showing others God's love.
