Cats, Colds and Cornbread Confusion

A not very scary scarecrow

All out war has been declared against the local cats who are using my veg patch as their public toilet. I have sprinkled smelly gel all over it and now I have brought out the big guns.  Well, a scarecrow and some windmills to be exact.  They are driving me mad, there are huge gaps in my planting where cats have dug them up.  Yesterday spurred on by the lovely weather I planted out the sweetcorn , courgettes, chard and squashes.  I'm really chuffed that I managed to grow them from seed so would be so upset if they were destroyed at this stage.  The sweetcorn have plastic milk botttles covering them while the others have a plastic tunnel placed over them until them are big enough to survive.  Any tips on keeping cats off the veg?

Growing milk bottles

The spinach and kale (and weeds) that have survived cat attack growing away nicely

I was tempted to make gluten free cornbread yesterday morning after seeing Dawns sausage and cornbread pie.  I am very confused by cornbread, it's called bread but it's nothing like a bread.  Is it savoury of sweet?

 I used this recipe found on Jamie Olivers website, but adapted it so that it was also dairy free using almond milk and soya margarine.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free cornmeal
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk (buttermilk, whole milk, or almond milk work great)
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter (or dairy free alternative)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Grease a medium-sized cast-iron skillet (or 8×8 baking dish) with bacon grease or butter, and place inside the oven while you prep the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined.

Melt the butter and let it cool slightly while you whisk together the eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Once the butter is cool, add it to the wet ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently together with a wooden spoon or spatula. Don’t over-mix, but let everything become incorporated.

Remove the heated skillet (or baking dish) from the oven and pour the batter in. Turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool slightly before slicing and serving. Serve with butter and honey for maximum comfort food feeling!

 The recipe is by Ariyele Ressler

Serving suggestions included eating it with chilli, I opted for the honey and I have to say it was nice as a sweet snack.

So can anyone, (especially any American readers), explain cornbread to me and how it is best served?  Savoury or sweet?

I am also still full of a cold.  It really doesn't feel right having a cold when the weather is glorious. In the winter you can snuggle up in a quilt with your lemon and honey, but it's too hot for that.  I came home from work this afternoon and just wanted to crawl in to bed instead of going down to the beach.   (or painting doors which I am meant to be getting on with) I must be really poorly!

Chickpea xx

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