Quick & easy cornbread pie topping

Pies first originated from ancient Greece? Really? Apparently so... and they called it "artocreas". But it was the ancient Romans that adapted the original Greek version to the pies we commonly see today. Boring or interesting fact? You decided for yourself... =P

Do you ever get the thought that making a meat pie is kind of straddling between baking and cooking? I often do, and I guess it might be because most meat pie recipes require the meat filling to be cooked prior to baking the pie in the oven. Further, with ready-made pastry so easily purchased from supermarkets, putting together a pie could actually involve more cooking than baking as one doesn't even need to work on the pie pastry from scratch.

Last week I stumbled on another shortcut to making meat pies - cornbread topping! No messy rolling or shaping of pastry required - just mix flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder together, then combine buttermilk and egg white and add to dry mixture. Simply stir everything together and spoon evenly over meat filling before baking in oven - its quick & easy! I tried it last week with a cottage pie recipe and it worked beautifully! : )