How does a trip that should have taken three hours turn into a seven hour adventure? You travel with us of course! Doc and I wanted to escape the cold and took a flight to Tampa, Florida. Our destination was Daytona Beach. Imagine staying in a swanky hotel and spending three glorious days in the sun looking at the ocean with palms swaying in a gentle breeze (sounds divine doesn’t it)? Our only problem was when we arrived in Daytona we encountered gale force winds and to make things worse, it was freezing.

I’m thinking the remodeled hotel room is going to make up for all this. Well the room had some new furniture but was still 70 years old. Some kids turned their music on in the room next door and I swear the walls were paper thin!  I looked pathetically at Doc and he said, “Lets go”! After some fast talking with the front desk, we headed to Orlando, the home of Mickey and Minnie and all things magical!

Just like Disney World, this cornbread is truly yummy! You can either use an eight inch cast iron skillet (if you like a crispy crust) or in a nine inch square pan if you like a tender crust.

Sweet Potato Cornbread

One 6 ounce package self-rising cornbread mix or 1 and 1/4 cups self-rising white cornmeal
2 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
One 15 ounce can yams, drained and mashed with a fork
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Choose one: Either spray a nine inch square pan with non-stick spray or heat an eight inch cast iron skillet containing 1 tablespoon canola oil while you are preheating the oven for 7 minutes. In a medium bowl, stir together cornmeal, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. Drain and mash yams with a fork. Set aside. In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs then add sour cream and melted butter, stirring to combine. Set aside.  To cornmeal mixture add egg mixture and yams. Stir to combine. Pour in either the 9 inch square pan or the heated cast iron skillet. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until done.  Yummy!

Published in The News and Neighbor on April 6, 2013