Two and a half acres of corn for a family of three was standard corn planting in the mountains; any more was for the hogs and chickens.

A standard pone recipe is: 1 tsp. salt 3/4 c. boiling water 1 tbsp. lard or fat

Combine the meal and salt and, while blending, gradually add water. Melt the fat in the baking pan. After pan is greased, pour surplus into the mixture and blend.

The mix should not be more than 1" thick in the baking pan to start with. It will rise very little. (To make it rise like cornbread, 2 teaspoons of baking powder would be needed.) The pone will develop a rich, brown, crunchy crust. In this modern day it would take 50 to 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

It was usually baked in a "step oven" on the wood stove or fried on a griddle where a stove lid was removed.