I found this in a souvenir cookbook from the Land of Lincoln... foods that Lincoln is said to have liked. I haven't made these.

HOE CAKES

2 cups corn meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups cold water
2 tbsp. bacon drippings

Mix corn meal with salt; pour on hot water, then add enough cold water to thin the mush so it pours slowly out of the bowl.

Add fat and drop mush by spoonfuls onto a hot griddle or skillet. Turn on both sides till brown.

Hoe cakes were originally cooked in the fireplace, on hot coals, or on a hot shovel in the fireplace.