In a message dated 12/30/03 3:30:21 PM Pacific Standard Time, omega84@ev1.net writes: I've always crumbled my cornbread onto my plate or into a shallow bowl, then spooned on a heap of beans and some hunks of ham hock meat. Then I top it off with chopped onion. My dad grew up in Swords Creek, Russell Co, Va, and that's how he grew up eating it too. I always did everything like my dad!! >> Well, my Grandmother lived near Sword's (Soard's) Creek and I still eat the beans and cornbread that way. My father would always get a little of the fat from the hock and eat it. I never was comfortable watching that. The onions are a must. I became a great gravy maker by helping my mother with Sunday dinner. -eddie