Monthly Archives: December 2023

Cornbread

This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories featuring food and recipes then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is ceceliadowdy.com/loving-luke. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.

Do you know of a cornbread recipe that tastes better than cornbread mix?

This blog post is about cornbread. Recently, I decided to make some cornbread from scratch. I normally use a mix, but since I didn’t have one on hand, I used the recipe on the back of the Indian Head Yellow Corn Meal. (The only reason I keep cornmeal on hand is because I use it to dust my pizza peel when making my homemade sourdough pizza.)

Anyhow, when I made the Indian Head recipe, I was highly disappointed. The cornbread was crumbly, not fluffy at all, and it was so bland!

Determined to make a good pan of cornbread from scratch, I decided to try a recipe from one of my cookbooks.

The cookbook recipe differed from the Indian Head recipe – the major difference was that flour was not used. Instead of a cup of flour & a cup of corn meal, this recipe called for 2 ¼ cups of cornmeal. I found the texture for this recipe to be crumbly, as well. It was also bland!

My experimenting with cornbread recipes caused me to think about my childhood. We ate cornbread quite often. Since we had cornbread so much, I never gave it much thought when I was a child. I do recall that we’d crumble up the leftover cornbread and eat it in cold milk – kind of like a cornbread cereal. As I think about it, it’s possible that the cornbread that I ate as a child may have been bland. Since we mostly ate it with chili, or with a pot of beans, the taste and texture may not have bothered me.

If my mom were still living, I’d ask her how she made our cornbread. I don’t recall watching her make it. I was thinking about it, and wondered if cornbread has somehow evolved into the moist, fluffy, sometimes sweet concoction that we enjoy today. In other words, I wonder if cornbread has changed over the years, just as muffins have changed.

Decades ago, my sister was visiting me for the weekend at my apartment. She had a taste for some blueberry muffins. We had some fresh blueberries on hand. So, she cracked open my Betty Crocker cookbook and made the muffins. She was so disappointed. We agreed that the muffins were bland, and they weren’t sweet at all. I looked at some other muffin recipes in old cookbooks. I noticed that long ago, muffins were not the sweet, fluffy concoctions that we enjoy nowadays. Muffins were a quickbread that you ate along with your eggs and bacon – sort of like a substitute for toast – so they weren’t overloaded with sugar. The muffins we enjoy nowadays are just a few steps away from being a cupcake, in my opinion. I’ve actually seen muffin recipes that use cake mix as a base, which emphasizes my point.

Regarding cornbread morphing into a dessert-like concoction – I remember eating at a café with my family about ten years ago while visiting a museum. One of my sisters mentioned that the café served cornbread that was sweet and that it had a glaze. I don’t recall trying this cornbread. I thought that the glazed cornbread sound too dessert-like to eat with my meal. I would have rather eaten it afterwards – as if it were a piece of cake!

Regarding cornbread mixes, this is one of my favorites.

I love this cornbread mix! It tastes so much better than the recipes mentioned earlier.

Coincidentally, my sister texted me about Dolly Parton’s Cornbread Mix the other day. I decided to purchase a box. I haven’t tried it yet – so I don’t know how it compares to Krusteaz’s mix.

I wonder if there’s a cornbread recipe that tastes better than cornbread mix?

If you know of such a recipe, be sure to let me know! I’d love to try it!

This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories featuring food and recipes then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is ceceliadowdy.com/loving-luke. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.

AMAZON PURCHASE LINK FOR LOVING LUKE by CECELIA DOWDY.

Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you had a glorious week!

I’m writing this from a hotel room in Durham North Carolina.

Do you have favorite Christmas shows that you watch each year?

I didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child, so, I embrace traditions as an adult. Some of these shows, I’ve been watching since I was a kid. Although Christmas was not celebrated, we were allowed to watch Christmas shows.

Here’s a list of a few of my favorite movies.

A Charlie Brown Christmas – I love this cute short Christmas show! I especially like it when Linus tells Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas! Plus, the music is wonderful. Charlie Brown has some nice jazzy tunes!

The Polar Express. I love this magical story. From the very beginning of my childhood, I was told that Santa didn’t exist. I’ve often wondered what it would’ve been like to believe in Santa. I believe this movie gives us a taste of what it’s like to believe in Santa as a child! This belief even grows into adulthood!

Home Alone 1 & 2. I love both of these because they are hilarious!

Here’s the rest of my list:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

The Nutcracker – The Ballet – NOT the Disney Movie. I watch several versions of this. One of my favorites was made in the seventies and features Mikhail Baryshnikov.

A Very Merry Mix-up – A cute. sweet Hallmark movie.

I Believe in Santa – this is one of the newer additions to my list – since it was just made in 2022. It’s about a grown man, a lawyer, who believes in Santa Claus!

This list includes some of my faves. There are others, too. However, those are at the top of my list.

So, what are your favorite Christmas shows? Email me & tell me about them!

Our son made it home for Christmas! How wonderful to have his company for a month!

Since I’m finished with graduate school, I can focus on getting him prepared to take his driving test to get his license. He got his learner’s permit over a year ago, but I was so focused on school and work, we never found the time to take him for his driving test!

Speaking of people coming home for Christmas – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has returned home for Christmas! He has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it!
As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.
Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.
Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.
When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.
Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.
Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.
Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!
Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!

Follow Your Dreams!

I hope all of you had a glorious week!

Have you ever had a dream that you wanted to pursue?

On Friday, December 15th, I officially graduated from The University of Maryland Global Campus!

As mentioned previously, my degree is a Master of Science in Accounting and Finance!

I want to encourage all of you to follow your dreams! It’s never too late.

I wanted to initially go to graduate school when I was in my twenties, but, the timing never seemed to be right.

I pursued my writing career, and it was joyous to see my books distributed in bookstores & megastores such as Walmart & Target, all over the world!

Although the writing somewhat pacified me, I always felt a gentle tug, internally, whenever someone mentioned graduate school. I always felt as if I never finished my education.

That gentle tug intensified sometime after my mom had her stroke. I realized that life is short, and if we want to pursue something, we just need to buckle down and do it, no matter what age we are!

I’m 57 and I’m finally receiving my degree! (They did not officially bestow our degrees yet – I’m supposed to receive my degree in the mail in January! I will post a pic when I receive it!)

What a glorious feeling to finally accomplish this!

So, have you ever had a dream that you wanted to pursue? Did you pursue your dream(s)? If you haven’t yet pursued your dream – do you plan to do so? Email me! I want to hear all about it!

Celebrating graduation with hubby & family! Later, hubby and I went to Blues Alley! We ate blackened catfish, beans, rice, & bread pudding & chocolate cake for dessert! I forgot to take pics of the food – so here’s my cleaned plate & hubby enjoying his drink!

Speaking of pursing dreams – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it!

As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!

Christmas Ice!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful week!

Have you ever seen a live ice sculpture?

I attended the ICE display at the Gaylord at the National Harbor. The theme was Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer! I love watching Rudolph each year. So nostalgic for me. We didn’t celebrate Christmas in my household, so I embraced my own Christmas fun by watching cute, Christmas-themed shows.

Rudolph really resonates with me because Hermey wanted to be a dentist, which went against the mold of being an elf! Being a romance writer doesn’t exactly fit within the mold of working a nine to five job. Although I’ve still had to work over the years, I really feel that writing is what I’m supposed to be doing – kind of like how Hermey feels that he should be a dentist.

All of the sculptures were made totally out of ice! It was so pretty!

At the end, there was a religious display of ice sculptures that included Mary, Joseph, Jesus, & an angel. The ending was so pretty and emotional. The religious sculptures didn’t contain color such as the other ones.

Have you ever seen a real ice sculpture? If so, where did you see it? Were you able to watch them create the sculpture live?

Here’s a few pics from yesterday’s excursion!

Me, when I first arrived at the Gaylord.

This is me touring the ice sculpture display! It was obviously FREEZING in there! They gave us a special parka to wear during the tour.

Speaking of Christmas – be sure to check out some of my Christmas novels for some fun, emotional holiday reading!

Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses returns home for the holidays. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!

Amnesia

I hope all of you have had a wonderful week!

Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

Speaking of Christmas, I watched a cute movie the other day on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It’s called Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas.

I blogged about the movie here.

The movie is about a young woman who has amnesia. Since she can’t remember her identity & has no ID, they call her Jane. Jane is troubled about not knowing about her past – I’m sure most would feel this way if they couldn’t remember their identity.

I’ve noticed amnesia is a popular trope used in romance novels and romance movies. Although it is often used, I seldom hear about such an illness in real life.

Have you, or someone you know, ever suffered from amnesia? How long did it take for the memories to come back – if such memories came back at all?

I’ve noticed in films and books that usually amnesia occurs because of some sort of accident, like a blow to the head, which rattles the brain.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing an amnesia story some day, so, thought I’d ask.

Here’s a few pics of our son playing in the band! He’ll be home for Christmas in a few weeks!

Speaking of Christmas homecomings – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses loves returns home for the holidays. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!