Plans, Renewal, and a Cornbread Debate in {The Vintage Cook}!

Wow!  I got a new leash on life this weekend, did some planning, and now I know the direction (for sure) that I am going...for lots of little things. It was so great to have my Mr. Miata with me all weekend, totally involved in my day job (teaching kids and working to sculpt leaders) as we traveled to Austin for a PALs convention.  Nothing like a leadership conference to jump start your motor in ALL that you do, no?  

So, before I come back with tons of posts and pictures, here's a recipe to get you going.  This recipe made me giggle...we fuss over sweet vs. not sweet cornbread at my parents' house all the time.  Dad says it's cake if it has sugar in it.  We like it sweet.  :)  Here's what My 3 Little Birds has 

to say about that.

 The Great Cornbread Debate

I live in a part of the country that is sharply divided along cornbread lines. Sweet and cakey and baked in a casserole dish? Or savory and crispy on the bottom, made in a cast-iron skillet? 

I make no apologies for pledging allegiance to the cast-iron skillet.

I can't tell you the number of times I've been at a restaurant and ordered cornbread and have instead  been presented with was essentially yellow cake. Sure, it tastes good, but it's not cornbread.  

We had cornbread a lot growing up. When I was a little girl I waited anxiously for the cornbread to come out of the oven, then I'd cut a triangle of it horizontally, slather on some butter and I'd always, always bite into the crispy bottom half first. Most often we had regular cornbread but today I want to share a variation on this recipe: TexMex Cornbread. Are you in?

TexMex Cornbread

Ingredients

3/4 cup corn, frozen or canned

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped red pepper

1/4 cup crisco, plus l-2 TBSP

1/2 cup cornmeal, yellow or white (I prefer yellow)

1/2 cup flour

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp salt

an egg

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450. Combine corn meal, flour and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, milk and egg. Add baking powder and baking soda and stir, then add to the corn meal mixture. In cast iron skillet, melt crisco over high heat, and melt the additional crisco in a small bowl in the microwave. Add the chopped vegetables and stir. Next, pour in the microwaved crisco and stirring constantly, pour into the skillet. Allow it to cook on the stovetop for 30 seconds or so, then place in the oven. Bake appx 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Who wants a bite?

So, what do you say, Dad? 

Will you try this one? *wink* Yum!

And, just for grins, here is my favorite sweet cornbread recipe.  It's naughty.

See you this afternoon!