Not prepared for winter

After its too late we always decide we are not prepared for winter as we would like to be. On Friday night we started getting rain and snow, then it turned to all snow and ended with about 4 inches here at our place. The temperature was not too bad at about 35 or so. It was the wet heavy snow that takes down power lines and trees, which is exactly what happened. That stuff was treacherous to drive in as well. Our son Rob was graduating from college on Saturday morning and I suggested to hubby that we go stay in the town where he was graduating, but we didn't. On Friday night we lost power and got the predicted amount of snow. When state road crews are getting trucks off the road with chains on them its not a good idea to try to travel. So we missed Robs graduation ceremony. I so wanted to be there for him, he has worked hard for this day. They did take lots of pictures for us and Josh video taped it for us to have, and Jason called and put his cell phone on speaker so we could hear them call Robs name in real time. We really appreciate them all going to the trouble for us. But later in the day when the roads cleared a bit we did make it out to Lexington to have dinner with them. That was really nice and we had a good time. Got back home last evening and still didn't have power here. So we started a fire and kinda went to bed early. The power finally came back on about 8 this morning. I could survive without electric but dang it sure is nice to have. Now to decided what is for lunch...................
Maybe a stew would be nice with some cornbread. And at the request of one of my readers here is my recipe for cornbread made with homegrown cornmeal.

CORNBREAD

2 1/2 cups corn meal(preferably home ground)
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda (only if you use real buttermilk)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water + 2 tablespoons buttermilk powder
OR
2 cups whole milk or buttermilk
2 whole eggs
1- 10 inch cast iron skillet
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In cast iron skillet put about 4 tablespoons butter and about 6 tablespoons olive oil, or you are best to use about 1/2 inch of bacon grease in skillet or any combination of the above to equal 1/2inch. Heat skillet in oven till hot.
Mix bread ingredients well, it should be the consistency of cake batter. You can adjust the milk to the right consistency. Pour batter into hot skillet, the melted grease should come up over the sides and and run into the top of the batter. This makes the crust crispy. If ya want a more tender less crispy cornbread use less grease or oil in skillet. Bake about 30 to 40 minutes till nice an brown and the top springs back when pressed. Cut in wedges or squares to serve, with more butter.
*I like the crisp outer edges of the cornbread and everyone else like the tender middle part, so we have the best of both worlds here. Also, even tho I add sugar to my cornbread, it is not sweet. The tiny bit of sugar just adds something extra to the taste as salt does any other dish.

Enjoy! Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella