I love entertaining: I love cooking for anyone who will let me feed them. On Friday, I got to cook for Sam, one of Nick’s old friends from the Academy. I decided to make chili and cornbread. Both recipes are new- Nick and Sam were my recipe guinea pigs.

The cornbread recipe is actually from Ina Garten. I’m not usually a fan of the Barefoot Contessa, but I found her recipe in a Tastespotting post by Culinary Cory. The recipe boasted moist cornbread, which is essential for me- I’m not a fan of the dry stuff. It’s also got cheese (and jalepenos, but I didn’t have any- don’t tell), and I can’t argue with that!

What’s interesting about this batter is that you have to let it rest for about 20 minutes. That rest allows the baking powder to activate so the cornbread will rise… and it definitely did! I only made half of the recipe, which ended up making 8 puffy little loaves. The cornbread was great with butter, and tasty the next morning- I’ll be posting my cornbread breakfast sandwiches soon!

The chili recipe was Martha’s. I’m a big fan of cocoa powder in chili- I think it gives chili a lot of depth and richness. To richen the flavor even more, I added some cumin and cinnamon as well. The boys seemed to like it, and I think you will, too!