Little corny pleasures in life

The newscasters were predicting rain for Friday, so we planned another brunch potluck at the office.  One of my co-workers was making chili, so I volunteered to make some cornbread.   Of course, we made this plan on Thursday afternoon to do for Friday, so I had to hit the market to get some ingredients AND it was already raining.  For those of you that do not live in Southern California, the rain is big deal here.  The streets flood to the point that entire lanes are gone, cars stall everywhere from trying to drive through the flooded streets snarling traffic for hours and people get swallowed by huge sink holes (no lie).     So, although this cornbread recipe may seem simple, heroic efforts went into its creation! 

I have always used the Jiffy Cornbread Mix in the past, but after checking out some recipes online, I realized making cornbread from scratch wasn't that difficult.    I picked up some Alber's Yellow Corn Meal and made the recipe on the back of the box.   It was good...next time I would like to experiment by adding some turkey sausage or jalapenos.   Also, I wonder how applesauce would have worked out instead of the oil.....

Alber's Corn Bread

1 cup Yellow Corn Meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk (I used organic fat free since that is all I ever have at home)

1/3 cup oil (although it called for vegetable oil, I used olive oil because I think it lends a lighter taste to recipes)

1 large egg, beaten

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees.  Grease 8 inch square baking pan (note: I doubled the recipe and used a 9x13 pan). 

Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder  and salt in medium bowl.  Combine milk, oil and egg in separate bowl and mix well.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir until just blended.  Pour into prepared pan.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Serve warm.