I've never had Marie Callender's cornbread, but my experience with that brand's other stuff is you start with at least a cup of salt......and go from there. Joe, your recipe looks very good. I'm cutting and pasting. On the carrot thread, I posted a link to different kind of cornbread recipe, which was pretty good if you like it sweet. It was sort of cakey. Here's the recipe, which I got by doing a search for carrot cornbread. It comes from a poster to a website called Baking Bites. The poster's name is Nicole. Sweet Corn and Carrot Cornbread 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup buttermilk 1 large egg 1 large egg white 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp honey 1 cup grated carrot (I prefer a fine grate) 3/4-1 cup fresh sweet corn (1 medium cob) Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, egg white, honey and vegetable oil until smooth. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir until just combined, then add in the grated carrot and the sweet corn and stir to evenly distribute. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 28-32 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serves 9-12. Article printed from Baking Bites: http://bakingbites.com URL to article: http://bakingbites.com/2008/05/sweet-corn-and-carrot-cornbread/ Sally

MASTER RECIPE FOR Cooks SOUTHERN-STYLE CORNBREAD Makes one 8-inch skillet of bread Unlike its sweet, cakey Northern counterpart, Southern cornbread is thin, crusty, and decidedly savory. Though some styles of Southern cornbread are dry and crumbly, I favor this dense, moist, tender version. Cornmeal mush of just the right texture (see illustrations 1 to 3, "Getting the Batter Just right," below) is essential to this bread. Though I prefer to make cornbread in a preheated cast-iron skillet, a 9-inch round cake pan or 9-inch square baking pan, greased lightly with butter and not preheated, will also produce acceptable results if you double the recipe and bake the bread for 25 minutes. 4 teaspoons bacon drippings or 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground 2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/3 cup rapidly boiling water 3/4 cup buttermilk 1 large egg, beaten lightly 1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set 8-inch cast-iron skillet with bacon fat (or vegetable oil) in heating oven. 2. Measure 1/3 cup cornmeal into medium bowl. Mix remaining cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in small bowl; set aside. 3. Pour boiling water all at once into the 1/3 cup cornmeal; stir to make a stiff mush. Whisk in buttermilk gradually, breaking up lumps until smooth, then whisk in egg. When oven is preheated and skillet very hot, stir dry ingredients into mush mixture until just moistened. Carefully remove skillet from oven. Pour hot bacon fat (or melted butter) into batter and stir to incorporate, then quickly pour batter into heated skillet. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and instantly turn cornbread onto wire rack; cool for 5 minutes, then serve immediately. SOUTHERN-STYLE CORN STICKS OR MUFFINS Makes 12 corn sticks or 6 muffins Corn stick pans have anywhere from seven to 12 molds. If your pan has fewer than 12 molds, bake the sticks in two batches. If you wish, you can also follow these directions to make six muffins using a heavy-gauge 6-muffin mold tin (each mold measuring 1/2 cup). If making muffins, bake for 20 minutes. Follow Master Recipe for Southern-style Cornbread, heating heavy-gauge corn stick pan instead of cast-iron skillet. Omit fat from batter. When oven is heated, remove pan from oven and generously brush molds with 4 teaspoons bacon drippings or 4 teaspoons vegetable oil. Continue with recipe, filling molds almost to rim with batter. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes; turn corn sticks onto rack to cool. Wipe crumbs from molds, brush with more bacon fat or oil, and repeat baking process with remaining batter, if necessary.

Grandma never cut a biscuit either, she just pinched off a piece, shaped it a bit with her hands and dropped it onto her baking pan. She always made sure that the sides touched a bit so they didn't spread out too much. If she actually wanted something that looked "fancier" she patted the dough into a square and cut it with a knife into biscuit sized squares, then baked. Her biscuits were the best. My biscuits are good, but they ain't Grandma's that's for sure. I love hot biscuits with butter and honey, though, so I make them anyway and wish Grandma were here to show me how ONE MORE TIME. Sigh. At any rate, overhandling the dough is the biggest problem most people encounter. The fat must be very cold and I've never made a biscuit worth a tinker's dam* in the food processor. I use an old fashioned pastry cutter to cut in the fat, Grandma used two knives. I always use buttermilk, even if I have to buy it especially for biscuits. Sometimes I add cheese, sometimes not, and I've occasionally made and liked sweet potato biscuits and a spicy chipotle biscuit that Caliloo posted from Bon Appetit: CORNMEAL BISCUITS WITH CHEDDAR AND CHIPOTLE 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 3/4 cup (packed) chopped green onions 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 2 tablespoons sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 1/2 cups (packed) coarsely grated yellow extra-sharp cheddar cheese 1 large egg 3/4 cup (about) buttermilk 1 tablespoon finely minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo* 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon whipping cream (for glaze) Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°F. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and sauté 2 minutes to soften slightly. Remove from heat. Blend flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in processor. Add 1/2 cup chilled butter; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cheese; cut in using on/off turns. Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Whisk 1 egg in glass measuring cup. Add enough buttermilk to egg to measure 1 cup; stir in green-onion mixture and chipotles. Make well in center of dry ingredients. Pour buttermilk mixture into well; mix just until evenly moistened. Turn dough out onto generously floured surface. Knead gently just until dough holds together, about 10 turns. Pat out on generously floured surface to 3/4-inch-thick round. Using 3-inch round cutter, cut out biscuits. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps; pat out to 3/4-inch thickness and cut out additional biscuits. Brush biscuits with egg glaze. Bake biscuits until golden, tester inserted into center comes out clean, and biscuits feel firm, about 18 minutes. Cool on rack 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes about 10. Bon Appétit March 2006 Good luck. The only way you can ever make a good biscuit is with practice. Yummy, yummy practice. LOL Annie

Homemade yogurt and buttermilk always reside in my fridge, in a Kumbaya existence. Neither go to waste---or waist---except for Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream. Note: This is my adaptation of a recipe shared here. I substituted full-fat buttermilk for the whole milk. Plus, I added 2 cups of fresh blueberries. Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream 2 cups fresh blueberries 1 cup granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup full-fat buttermilk In a large saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until blueberries break down and sugar is dissolved. Allow blueberry mixture to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Purée mixture in a high-powered blender, or in a food processor, until smooth (if a FP is used, the mixture should be strained). Set aside to cool completely. Add heavy cream and buttermilk to cooled berry mixture (still in the blender), and whirl to combine. Transfer contents to a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacture's directions. Here is the original recipe Sol