But you ain't never had my cornbread; a little bit of heaven, and a little bit of uh uh...

'Been wanting badly to update this the past week, but it wasn't deliberate negligence; owe said silence to illness, tiredness, and busy-ness. Oh bother, that's a lot of "ness", and lest it come across as completely gloomy, I also celebrated my 23rd (at first, typo'ed that as "32" - haha, not quite ready to be there but sometimes I do feel like it ;)) birthday this past weekend; so, it was also full of unexpected pleasantries (more to come on that in an upcoming entry)!

After getting off work today, I came back to the house and balanced the chequebook, organised, and made yummy cornbread (recipe below) to accompany the hearty chili and fixings my sister cooked.  I've been cleaning like crazy ever since; this could be due to the fact that my mummy dearest is flying in this Saturday, or it may very well be that something is wrong with me.  (I have a singular tendency to take to all sorts of deep-cleaning and organising whenever all is not right with the world.  Apparently something is out of place...)

Now I'm winding down with a large mug full of Celestial Seasoning's Nutcracker Sweet tea.  No, it isn't Christmas, and the afternoon temps are currently in the EIGHTIES, but trust me when I say this is a seriously extraordinary cup of tea.  Do go and purchase a box (or five, or a year's supply) as soon as you can!

Here is the recipe mentioned above; I shall call it 'Classic Cornbread', since it's not only incredibly easy to make, but consistently scrumptious.

Classic Cornbread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Cornmeal
• 1 cup Flour (for all you GF'ers, substitute with your usual baking flour(s); I generally use an all-purpose GF flour like Bob's Red Mill's, and it works fabulously!)
• 1/4 tsp. Xanthan Gum (or unflavoured gelatin)
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 4 tsp. Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Oil

*Note on the flour: If you're baking gluten-free, then just be aware (as you may already be) that the flour(s) you use can affect the over all taste of your cornbread.

directions:

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.

NOTE: Instead of grabbing a spoon, I highly recommend using your own two hands.  (Yes, this means manual labour and getting all powdery, but it's actually quite therapeutic and entirely fixes the problem of bits of baking powder remaining unmixed.  Trust me, and just do it this way... Biting into a chunk of bitter BP in your otherwise delicious piece of cornbread just ruins it!)

2. Now, beat the wet ingredients together and mix them in with the dry ingredients.  Some people swear by a certain number of batter beatings (those two words combined together brings on the chuckles), but personally, I don't put much stock into that.  Once smooth, stir the mixture just until it feels right and most or all of the large lumps have disappeared.  You might want to enlist a handy spatula at this point (because I am a firm believer in not wasting any batter).

3. Pour the batter into a greased 9x9" square pan (or, if you're a sucker for cornbread, leftovers and/or are feeding a crowd like me, make a 9x13!).  Bake for 18-20 minutes (I usually check at around 15-16, as I prefer mine on the softer, gooier side).

My favourite way to serve this "cohhhn-bread" is with butter (or Earth Balance's Soy-Free buttery spread ;)) and honey, but it is also just plain delish by its crumbly, sweet-and-salty self.  'Hits the spot every single time!