I haven’t touched a blog in over a year, and haven’t regularly blogged in well over two. That’s not to say I’ve been lazy, just distracted (check out my portfolio page to see what I’ve been working on). But I think it’s time to start anew.

Black Eyed Peas for 2011

Like starting off the year with a steaming bowl of Hoppin’ John for good luck, I spent most of yesterday revamping this site, updating my portfolio, and toying with the design. (I only took a break to spend some quality time with my cast iron skillet collection, to put together the meal above). I figured it was about time to return to blogging and wanted to start the year out right.

In the kitchen, of course, starting the year out right meant a hefty dose of good ole’ southern fare–fried chicken and black eyed peas–plus, of course, my favorite flavor of all time: jalepeno cheese.

Cast Iron Jalepeno-Cheese Cornbread

Adapted from Baking Illustrated.

2/3 cup milk

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup stone-ground cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 jalepeno, diced

1 cup shredded Cabot cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a 10″ cast iron skillet with 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Melt the remaining butter in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice and 2/3 cup milk in a glass measuring cup. Let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add the eggs, butter, and both the soured milk and regular milk and stir to combine. Add the jalepeno and cheese and stir thoroughly. Pour into skillet and bake for 25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Carefully run a spatula around the edges of the bread to loosen, then lift from pan using two spatulas. Serve warm.

Jalepeno-Cheese Cornbread

I’m still plenty busy, so you won’t see blog posts here every day. What you will find are recipes, photos, and discoveries that don’t make it into my other projects. I’m looking forward to finally having a venue again to share all the delicious miscellany I come across.

Welcome to duffystar.com. I am Lauren Duffy Lastowka, a writer and editor based in San Diego, California, specializing in the areas of food, craft beer, nutrition, and preventive health. I serve as the managing editor for Edible San Diego, write consumer health content for American Specialty Health, and write a craft beer column for the San Diego Uptown News. When I have time I update this site with links to my recent work. (Although right now my most timely updates are on twitter.)