Used the slow morning (snow day) as an opportunity to try these. Yum Yum!! DH said, "Do not lose that recipe"! Mine look just like the picture above, and they are moist & flavorful. I had to hunt down my dk. corn syrup & powdered milk from the back of the cupboard, and messing up the food processor to puree the orange zest & raisins was more effort than I want to go through on a typical weekday morning. BUT the results of this recipe was more than worth the work. Wonderful with morning coffee, and I can't wait to have another with tea this afternoon after I'm done shoveling. Thanks, Sue, for sharing this one!

Cooksnsews, I have to agree with you. In fact, my Grandmother called her sweet yellow cornbread "Johnny Cake", not cornbread at all. If she poured it into a muffin tin, though, it because corn muffins. I think all cornmeal has a slightly bitter taste, at first I thought it was a result of it being "old", but it's not. The sugar takes off that edge so it's not as noticeable in the sweet stuff, but it's still there. Some of us kind of like that flavor, others don't. Especially kids, I think, who always like things sweeter. it's funny, what we like. I like sweets more in the morning than later, I like sweetener in my coffee but not in my tea at all. I love fresh tomatoes, don't care for cooked tomato sauces. I like cornbread but can't stand anything that resembles cornmeal mush. (grin) I think it has less to do with region than personal taste and family custom, many times. Annie

Well, I made some corn bread last night. 24 gem muffins and one mini-loaf. Kept mixing to an absolute minimum, there were plenty of lumps (like Mom always told me to leave alone) and the results were very tasty. Like I said before, good flavor and crumb, no tunnels. But still, I got the Sombrero look. Not as much as I have gotten with straight muffin recipes but there. The loaf had more of it than the gem muffins. The flour info is interesting. I knew different flours had different gluten levels (never could make a decent wheat loaf until I heard about adding a wee bit of gluten flour) but as I use the same flour from batch to batch, that in and of itself doesn't explain why this only happens sometimes! A couple of weeks ago, I made a pan of cornbread that looked beautiful...modestly and evenly domed. Sigh. Okay, promised Lemon Bread Recipe: Lemon Bread 1 c oil 2 c sugar 4 eggs 3 c flour 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1 c buttermilk 1 c chopped walnuts (see my notes) 2 T grated lemon peel Topping: 1 c sugar 1/2 c lemon juice Cream oil and sugar together; add eggs, slightly beaten. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat into mixture, alternately with buttermilk, until smooth. Stir in chopped nuts and lemon peel. Spoon into greased 9"x5" pans. Bake for 1 hour in a 350 F preheated oven. Cool Slightly. Remove from pans. Heat topping ingredients until sugar is melted. Place loaves on pieces of foil. Pour topping over bread. Cool, wrap and store in refrigerator or freezer. Makes 2 loaves. The above is the recipe as it appears in, "The Tastes Of California Wine Country Napa/Sonoma, written and compiled by Sonnie Imes. It is a cookbook I've had for years, featuring recipes from various Bed & Breakfasts in that area. The Lemon Bread recipe comes from a place called, "Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza" which, to my knowledge still exists, though whether they still serve this bread is anyone's guess. My Notes: This bread is fine made with your basic lemon. But I far prefer Meyer Lemons for their rich flavor. I do not add walnuts for two reasons,for one thing, I've never cared for nuts in quick breads. They lose any crispness, becoming mere chewy lumps as far as I'm concerned. For the second thing, walnuts give me mini blisters on my tongue. I sometimes do add dried cranberries, plumped slightly in some sort of fruit liqueur. Most often, I just let the lemon flavor stand alone. One can always serve the bread with a fruit puree on the side or a good, home made jam. The recipe calls for you to "pour topping over bread." I have found that direction to be inadequate. Place the loaf in a large baking dish or serving dish, something that has sides to catch the liquid topping and large enough for room to spoon it up as it pools so you can drizzle it back onto the loaf. The loaves should absorb every bit of the topping. Turn the loaves on their sides to soak up pooled topping as well. The top and sides of the loaf should be well inundated. Just before serving, I sprinkle the loaves with lemon flavored powdered sugar. I make this by whirring sugar, more lemon peel (I grate extra when I make the loaves and leave it out to dry a bit while they bake) and a few drops of lemon extract in a spice grinder. Plain powdered sugar would do, of course. This must be done just before serving because the sticky topping will soak into the sugar if given time to do so, leaving it icky looking. This is wonderful served as a "strawberry shortcake" in lieu of the shortcake.

The Blue bery muffins Ivamae post a while back are very good. Blueberry Muffins - makes 9 large ones. The batter is very thick 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg 1/3 cup milk ( approximately - see below) 1 cup fresh blueberries ( I used half of the pint container.) 1/2 cup white sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. ( I had it just a wee, wee bit less) 2. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. Combine first 4 ingredients. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup, add the egg and fill the rest of the cup with milk. Mix this with the flour mixture. I just stirred it in. I did not use the electric mixer as it is very stiff. Fold in the blueberries. It says to fill the muffin cups right to the top. I didn't fill them quite that much. Sprinkle with the crumb mixture. 3. To make the crumb topping: mix together the last 4 ingredients and mix with a fork ( I used my one hand to finish crumbling it.) Sprinkle over the muffins before baking. 4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes ( I found 22 was about right) in the preheated oven or until done. It is so very easy and they freeze well, too. Pic of the muffins and more Ideas here: Click it