A Sunday Kind of Love

It was finally warm enough to go outside and enjoy a family walk so that's what we did!

It Was A Very Good Year

I can't even believe it's been exactly one year since we moved to Illinois. This year our family resolution is to see more Midwest. I spent a lot of time last year flying back and forth to California. I am very glad I did but this year I really want to spend that time and money seeing things and places I have never seen before. We tried to get an early start on our resolution last month and took a trip to Springfield to see the capitol but everything was closed for the holidays. We had a good chuckle and stopped at Darcy's Pint to try their famous horseshoes. They were DELICIOUS!! We tried to go to Del's Popcorn for dessert but alas they were closed too. We'll try Springfield again in the spring. 

This weekend we headed over to Homer Lake Forest Preserve. It was snowing and I loved it. Harper had fun running around in her adorable red toddler vest that I got her from Goodwill. It was so wonderful to get out of the house and explore. We have so much to see! This is only the beginning.

Someone's in the Kitchen

We made cornbread! FROM SCRATCH!! Well Jim did most of the work but I stirred which I feel is a pretty crucial part. Jim taught me all about gleaning corn and told me tales of how he did it as a child. Step one: find a cornfield that has been harvested. Step two: hunt for any corn that has been left behind! That's gleaning corn!!

To make cornmeal just pull all the kernels off and toss them in a blender until finely ground.

Never mind the banana. It just happened to be on the counter.

There are many recipes you can find online for making cornbread. We used one that we found on seriouseats.com that we tweaked a little but you can view the original recipe here. We went for more of a Southern cornbread which is not sweet, obviously Jim's idea. The recipe called for 10 inch cast iron skillet and we have a 12 inch so our recipe went as follows

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups of cornmeal
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups (16 ounces) buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons shortening 

Procedures

1. 1
   Place 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven on middle rack and heat to 450°F. Meanwhile, whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl until evenly incorporated. In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs. Whisk in buttermilk.
2. 2
   As oven nears 450°F, remove skillet and add shortening. Return to oven for a few minutes, allowing shortening to heat until shimmering. Remove and swirl shortening to evenly coat the bottom.
3. 3
   Add eggs and buttermilk mixture plus any excess melted shortening from skillet to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Mixture will be lumpy. Pour batter into hot skillet and return to oven, bake until top is just golden and edges have browned and pulled away from the side of the pan, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve warm.

It was superb! Here are some other photos from our weekend adventures