Cornbread from scratch??!!

Yes, for all of you that thought that cornbread originated in the blue and white Jiffy box, this may come as quite a shock! Myself included. Here I thought I was making wicked cornbread because I could doctor the stuff in the box. Now there's nothing wrong with making cornbread this way, and you can do it like this forever. I mean who cares as long as it taste good right? Right. So why even bring it up.
Well..one day I went to a southern style restaurant with my dear husband. They brought us out a plate of biscuits and cornbread while we waited..because they know adults can't go long with out eating! Well the biscuits were ok, but the cornbread was wonderful! I kept trying to figure out how they made it. Why was this so wonderful and more importantly why did I care? It wasn't particularly sweet. But that is just a matter of preference. It was  crunchy on the bottom and not too sweet but well balanced. Not cakey or dry, just perfect. In other words it didn't taste like MINE. That began my quest. Since I'm all about the making the basic recipes well, and I obviously don't have much else to do (Not!). I asked the waitress,in my most innocent voice "ahem..these corn muffins are positively yummy however do you make them?" and she told me about how they make them from their own mix that they sold in the lobby. "oh thank you" I said.  I knew full well what my next move was and so did my dear husband  "Um I'm just going to run to the restroom hon," Eyebrows raised he said "ok, don't be too long" After 21 years the man knows me. hahaha So I go and check my make-up just so I was honest and made a bee line for the packaged goods. I quickly found it, and read the back of the box, hmm.. flour, corn meal ,sugar, salt, blah blahh blah. In other words nothing special. I figured I'd better get back to the table before my favorite vegan sends out a search party for me. "Well did you find it? " "Oh yeah, and I KNOW I can make this" Girls I married the right guy, because he engaged me while I tried to figure out exactly how they made this cornbread. I kept taking another bite and closing my eyes as if the process were written on the inside of my eyelids or something. Bless him, he let me.
So what does this have to do with world peace? Uh absolutely nothing! This is an exercise in sheer frivolity. I mean it makes a difference to me, but to no one else. But just in case there are few out there who share my madness here is a recipe from a food magazine I found in my stash. I adapted to fit my limited memory.

So here it is.. a not Jiffy cornbread

What you need:


-A  9x13 pyrex pan. If you don't have one..um yeah you need one.
Half a stick of butter to melt in the pan.
put your oven on 400 and put the butter in and pop it in the oven. You want the butter to brown..not burn. If you don't trust yourself do this before you start making the cornbread.

Ok now to the cornbread..
-1 cup butter softened
(not liquid...once it's liquified it's good for crab legs and corn, and little else. It should still look like a stick of butter, just soft)
-Sugar- I like it sweet so I use more than a 1 cup of sugar, and believe it or not it does not taste like cake. This is a matter of preference. the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar, which is like what I use in my coffee, so whatever suits your taste.
-1 cup of milk.
-3 eggs (beaten)
Mix milk and eggs together after you beat the eggs
-4 cups cornmeal mix (Whoa what?!ok I know. This is sold in the flour section) Quaker makes it in yellow or white cornmeal. There are a few different brands besides Quaker but the basic idea is the same. I have never been able to tell the difference in flavor between white and yellow although I find myself gravitating toward the yellow for some reason.
Cornmeal mix has all the baking powder and salt mixed in with flour so all you do is add your stuff to it. Isn't that amazing! Now truth be told the recipe calls for flour and baking powder and salt to be measured separately but why make it harder on yourself?

Ok what's next?
-Cream your butter and sugar together and use a hand mixer. If you don't have one, get it at Shop Rite for like 18 bucks. It is seriously worth it. Nope..no excuses just buy it. You will thank me the next time you want to be all Betty Crocker and whatnot! (for you guys..pick someone.. um Bobby Flay!..yeah)
Here we go!
-1/2 your milk/egg into butter sugar, mix on low for like a minute, then add 1/2 your cornmeal stuff, mix on low.
- Now rest of your milk/egg (if you need more liquid add a splash more milk)Use a big spoon here..too much mixing makes tough cornbread.
- And finish with the rest of your flour. Stir until just mixed. Two or three big stirs and you should have all of the milk/egg incorporated. You are not trying to stir cake batter here You are going for just stirred so you might have some flour showing but that's ok.
Now pour the goop into your buttered 9x13 pan and bake at 400 for about 25 minutes.
Now in my oven 25 -30 minutes is good. I don't know how hot your oven is so you might have to eyeball it. It looks done when it's done, no guesswork, you can tell. So after 25 minutes open your very hot oven and pull out your cornbread and press down on the center. It should spring back. If not pop it back it for 5-10 minutes.
Take it out and behold the beauty! Take a bow you did it! Scratch cornbread! Yay! You are incredible!