Cornbread Recipes

Last Thursday, our county's Farmers Federation Women's Committee held their annual cooking contest. This year, it was cornbread. I took pictures of each entry and snagged the recipes so I could share them!

 

 Tex Mex Cornbread

Non stick cooking spray

1 large egg

1 1/3 cups milk

1/4 cup oil

2 cups corn meal mix

1 tsp sugar

1/2 can whole kernel corn

1/2 can Rotel with green chilies

Whisk all ingredients together. Bake about 20 minutes in 450 degree oven.

 

Chunky Broccoli Cheese Cornbread 

1 stick butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (10oz) package frozen, chopped broccoli, thawed but not drained

2 (8.5oz) boxes corn muffin mix

1/2 cup whole milk

2 cloves minced garlic

1 (8oz) container cottage cheese

4 eggs

1 tbsp salt

1 cup & 2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in skillet or pan; saute onions and broccoli in butter until soft. Set aside 2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese. Combine all other ingredients, including vegetables to create batter. Place batter in greased skillet or pan. Sprinkle top with remaining grated cheddar cheese. Bake until golden (20-30 min).



 

 Broccoli Cornbread

1 stick margarine

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

4 eggs

Dash salt and pepper

1 (10 or 12oz) frozen broccoli chopped

1 small onion chopped

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup water

Spray 9x13 Pyrex dish with Pam. Steam broccoli and chopped onion 8 minutes in 1/4 cup water. Add margarine; add corn muffin mix, eggs, salt, mix well. Add broccoli, onion, cheese,stir into prepared dish. Bake @ 400 degrees for 25 min.



 

Sweet Cornbread

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9" round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. In large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal,sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, and vegetable oil until combined. Pour batter into pan. Cook for 25 minutes.

 

 Mexican Cornbread

3 cups self rising cornmeal

3 eggs

1 large onion (grated or chopped)

2 pods jalapeno peppers

1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 cup sweet milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 can cream corn

Combine all the above ingredients in large bowl. Mix well. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown.

 

A Good Stand of Corn

Today we went out and checked our corn fields. We started planting corn about 10 days ago. We only got around 100 acres planted before it set in to raining. We've gotten 9" in two weeks.

 With all that rain, we were worried about whether the corn seed had been washed away or drowned out.

 

 Thankfully, as you can see, we have a pretty good stand of corn. We do  have a few wet spots that didn't come up, and we'll have to replant a few rows up behind our house, but it could've been much worse!

 

 Here is our official corn spotter at work. "Where's it at Daddy?"

 

 "See the corn, Reed?"

 

 "There it is!"

 



And here's a dern armadillo hole also in one of our corn fields. Well, they're in every field. You don't want to hit one of those suckers with a tractor tire. Heck, I think we've lost an entire tractor in one before.

A Few Happenings Around the Farm...

Tis Spring around here...finally. This has been the Winter that won't go away. Activities here on the farm have been cranking up!

 

 We've had a few new calves born lately.

 We're starting a new shop building, right in our backyard. Yay.

 If it would ever stop raining, it would probably already be finished by now.

 We did get a small break in the rain to pour our concrete though.

 And we've finally managed to get some planting done. Not much, but some. 80 acres of corn to be exact. I think this time last year, we had already finished the corn and started peanuts and cotton.

Much to the delight of our neighbors, we've even spread a few loads of chicken litter and sprayed some wheat, but I was unprepared and don't have any pictures of that. I'm sorry. I'll do better next time.



Alabama Department of Archives and History

Our Photo Shoot

 

 

The Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery is in the process of building an exhibit called "Alabama Voices". It will open at the beginning of 2014. The exhibit will tell the story of Alabama history from 1700 to now. We were selected to be part of this exhibit by representing a "current" Alabama farmer. Our photograph will be in the section called "Inheriting Alabama", which will feature around 20 Alabamians from all walks of life. We are very excited to be part of this and can't wait to see it at the grand opening!

A Beach Tablescape

Yesterday, I attended a fundraiser for Lighthouse Family Retreat  at a local church. The retreat helps children with cancer enjoy a week at the beach with their family for free. One of our friends has a son who is now in remission with his cancer, but attended one of the retreats last year. She wanted a way to give back and this fundraiser was her idea.

To make a long story short, she "sold" tables to local businesses and individuals who could invite people to sit at their table. Miller Farms bought one of the tables. We had to decorate the table with a "tablescape", and "beach" was the theme.

Here are some pictures of my table:

 I swiped all of Reed's sand toys to make my tablescape. He didn't mind. Although, he did start looking for them after a while!

 Here is the place setting. They supplied the plastic ware. I added a green plate and cloth napkins for color. I used mason jars wrapped with twine and a blue straw for our glasses.

 I used three sand pails with shovels, and of course, since we farm, I added peanuts! I also added cotton to the back of the dump truck. You can see that in the first picture.

And here's Reed's comfy beach chair. Complete with straw hat, towel, sunglasses, and reading material (101 Uses for an Old John Deere, haha).

 

Ours was definitely the most fun tablescape there!



Tie Dye Cheesecake

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! This Easter, I made a cheesecake, a tie dyed cheesecake!

 I know, this picture does not look like a tie dyed cheesecake. This is the top. I covered it with a layer of Cool Whip and M&Ms. Why? Because my cheesecake had a big crack in it! But totally not my fault. The original recipe said to use a 9 " spring form pan. You should probably use a 10". It's not a good sign when you peek in your oven window and you see cheesecake towering about 2" above the sides of the pan, lol.  But, crisis averted and it's hidden under a layer of Cool Whip!

 

Here's what the tie dyed part looks like! Look at those purty Easter colors! The bottom "crust" is a red velvet cake. Anyways, on to the recipe!

 

 

Red Velvet Crust
1/2 stick butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp cocoa

 Red food coloring
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c buttermilk
1 c flour
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 10″ springform pan. Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs. Add all other ingredients and mix til blended. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan.

 

Cheesecake Filling:
24 oz. Cream Cheese
1 1/3 c Sugar
5 Large Eggs
16 oz. Sour Cream
1/4 c Flour
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Lemon Juice

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat cream cheese on low until fluffy.. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Divide batter into different bowls and color with food coloring. Drop by spoonfuls on top of red velvet cake to make tie dye effect. Bake 1 hr 15 min. Cool cake in oven with door oven. Refrigerate over night.

Wiggley Le Pew

 

Don't let those cute puppy dog eyes fool you. This is one stinky boy. Yep, he got skunked. Again. For like the 4,000th time. You'd think he'd learn. Nope. If the skunk doesn't spray him, he'll go find a nice, smelly one to go roll in. Those are the best.  So, if you have this problem as often as we do, here's a good recipe:

 

 

De-Skunkifier

 

1 cup vinegar

1 cup peroxide

1 cup dish soap

 

or

 

1 qt peroxide

1/4 cup baking soda

1 teaspoon dish soap

 

Mix up and bathe dog immediately. If it is too cold outside or if dog isn't a big fan of baths, you can also mix up in a spray bottle and spray/wipe down dog.

 

Here's to less smelly dogs!