"cornbread" news and stories

• Mmmm insects. Some eat them outright, some ground them up into meals, and some grow their own for eating.
• For Northern Italian fare, try Vancouver's La Quercia.
• With the lunch meat crisis, what on earth is left to feed the kids in this no-peanut butter age?
• Go here for a list of wild foods that are currently in their prime.
• Recipes: Dave Seidler's Best Pancakes Ever, Sausage Topped Cornbread, and Julia Aitken's Braised Lamb and Lentils.
• Tasting wines, and the world of pricing.

It's no secret that I have all kinds of contempt for Sandra Lee. I won't go into my usual rant about how weird it is that her Chanel-quilted headband always matches her too-tight cashmere deep V-neck sweater, matches the drapes in her "kitchen," matches her potholders (oh wait, I just went into it!), because really, that just makes me sound like a jealous little you-know-what.

I will, however, say that as much as I am not fond of her, I do appreciate the philosophy of semi-homemade. Life moves pretty fast, and there are times when you just have to resort to using the $0.69 box of Jiffy cornbread mix because you don't have time to grow corn in your backyard, harvest the corn, shuck it, cut it, dry it, and do whatever else you're supposed to do to make cornmeal.

So I didn't actually even cheat. It wasn't like I was trying to make cornbread and had to use a mix out of convenience in the last minute. I actually have a recipe for this Sweet Corn Casserole/Cake/Bread/Souffle/Thing (I'm not quite sure what it is, and have no idea from where I copied the recipe a bazillion years ago) that specifically calls for the boxed mix as one of the ingredients. When I make it, I almost feel a little dirty.

But only until it cools and I eat it.

• You can do a lot with clementines and tangerines.
• Soup warms you up on a cold winter day.
• Sam Adams makes extreme beer.
• Chocolate snobbery is in.
• Who makes the best canned chicken soup? Progresso? Wolfgang Puck? Campbells?
• The $11,000 coffee maker.
• Restaurant reviews: Sugar Cane, Summer Winter, and Boston's By The Viaduct.
• This week's recipes: Cornbread, Cortido, and Lamb Osso Bucco.

I made this last year and everyone seemed to love it. I think it was slightly overcooked but it still tasted great.

I come from a family that makes a traditional Stouffer's stuffing, with lots of herbs and spices, and I love it, but I love cornbread too, and this Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Apples (seen on Sara's Secrets on Food Network a while back) is a great side dish. I used spicy sausage but you might want to try the mild stuff.

So here it is, the day after, and if you're like me, you ate way too much food yesterday.

I got to my sister's house around 11am or so, and started the day with a couple of cups of tea. Then we moved onto the meal, where I had turkey, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, carrots, cranberry sauce, and rolls. I also made a Cornbread with Apple and Sausage stuffing that seemed to go over well, though I think it was a little dry (if you make that recipe I would either cut the number of stuffing bags to 1 1/2 or up the liquid quite a bit). I had a couple of can of Diet Coke during the meal, so I think that made me feel better about the day.

Of course, I wasn't through yet. Later in the afternoon came all the desserts. I had a piece of my sister's Pumpkin and Cheese Cake Pie, then a slice of Boston Creme Pie. When I left for home around 7:30, I took a place with me that had two slices of banana bread, another slice of the Pumpkin and Cheese Cake Pie, another slice of Boston Creme Pie, and two brownies. All of which I ate when I got home, along with a turkey and stuffing sandwich from the stuff my roommate made earlier in the day. Wow. What did you have to eat yesterday?

(Oh, and I also started feeling rundown last night, and woke up this morning with a head cold, scratchy throat, tired feeling, etc. Am I being punished by the diet Gods?)