listening after dark

Best cornbread ever

For Christmas Eve dinner, I decided to make a warm, easy dinner: ham and potato soup with cornbread. But I got a little fancy with the cornbread. I'm never making it any other way!

Corn Bread with Onion, Green Chiles, Whole Corn and Cheddar

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn
1/4 cup green chiles, chopped
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, if desired
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil

Saute onion with a little butter. When soft, add corn and green chiles just to heat. Meanwhile, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the middle and add milk, egg and oil. Beat until fairly smooth, about 1 minute. Mix in onion, corn and green chiles. Stir in cheddar. Bake in a greased 8-inch square baking pan in a preheated oven at 425º for 20 to 25 minutes.

If you want your home to smell fantastic, bake this cake

This is actually a donut recipe from my 1977 Hamilton Beach Donut Maker recipe booklet. When I made these donuts a couple of months ago, Wes thought it would be a good recipe for cake. I tried it yesterday, and he was right. So here you go.

Molasses Cake with Lemon Glaze

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon each cloves, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg (or any combination of your choice)
1 egg
1/8 cup molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat egg slightly, add sugar and beat until mixture is lemon colored and well blended. Stir in molasses. Add milk, oil and dry ingredients alternately to egg-sugar mixture. Beat well after each addition. Pour into a greased 8x8 cake pan (or double recipe for a 9x13 cake or two 8x8 layers). Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake center comes out clean. While still warm, prick holes all over top of cake and pour on the lemon glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice (or amount needed for desired consistency)