A Note From The Porch
It was a typical busy late afternoon. Carl and Scott were home from work, and I was in the process of starting dinner.
I gathered the ingredients together, which included a forage into the garage where our overflow pantry and freezers are located.
I came back to the kitchen and started assembling dinner.
Mom always made sure there were at least three different things for dinner, followed up by a dessert of some kind.
Since she is the one who taught me to cook, I did the same. It worked equally well when there were six of us for dinner as well as just for the three of us after our other three children moved out and established their own homes.
One of the dishes we were having that night was a corn casserole, a recipe Mom had given me many years before.
After I assembled the casserole and put it in the oven, I put together the rest of the meal and began tidying up the kitchen.
The corn casserole calls for a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. I picked up the empty box to throw it away and froze.
Emblazoned across the front of the box it clearly said Jiffy Yellow Cake mix.
I froze, horrified by the discovery. I had just ruined dinner!
Trying to decide what I was going to feed the guys, I decided the best thing to do was to make a new corn casserole, this time with Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. It would only delay dinner by a few minutes, since it was very quick to put together. I had enough ingredients on hand.
Less than 15 minutes later, I slid a new casserole into the oven satisfied that I had saved dinner.
I had every intention of throwing the accidental casserole out. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to eat a cake with creamed corn, cheddar cheese and green chiles in it.
Except… Carl and Scott both said they wanted to taste it.
I thought they were teasing me at first but quickly found out they were serious.
So I gave them each a serving, fully expecting them to take one bite and push it away.
They didn’t.
They liked it.
So, now I was curious and tasted it, too.
I was shocked to find out it was actually good.
We have always liked a little bit of sugar in our cornbread, so I suppose it wasn’t such a stretch to think they might like the sweetness of the cake in it.
Fifteen minutes later, when the actual corn casserole came out of the oven, they weren’t interested in it. They had polished off the accidental casserole, so I saved the right one for dinner the next night.
We have talked about the incident at different times over the years. The horror of what I had done soon wore off, and now I find it funny, too.
But I never made another one with a cake mix.
I learned several things from the incident.
- Mistakes are not always failures.
- Sometimes the “ruined” thing becomes the memorable thing.
- Family stories often come from ordinary kitchen accidents.
- Perfection is overrated when people are laughing and eating.
- Always read the label. Jiffy Cake Mix and Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix look remarkably alike, and you may end up with an accidental casserole of your own.
In case you are curious, I have listed the original recipe below. And if you decide to substitute a cake mix for the corn muffin mix? I won’t tell anyone.
Corn Casserole
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45-60 minutes | Total Time: 55-70 minutes | Servings: 4-6
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 cans creamed corn
- 4 oz. can of chopped green chiles
- 8 oz Jiffy corn bread mix
- ¾ – 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (for topping)
Ingredients:
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Combine all ingredients, except cheddar cheese, in bowl, beating eggs before adding the rest.
- Pour into a casserole dish. Top with cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the center is set.
NOTE: If you like a little spice, add a few jarred jalapeno pepper slices and a tablespoon or two of the liquid.
Through My Eyes, Gently 