At Least I Tried

After hearing about Martha White's flours and mixes I was excited about trying out this corn meal mix I happened upon at my local 99 cent store. Yes folks, the 99 cent store! For those of you who aren't familiar with this brand, Martha White originates from the South, Tennessee to be specific, and is rarely found here in the West Coast. So naturally, when I saw this product on the store shelf selling for less than one dollar, I quickly snatched it up. Well, I finally gave the mix a try last night. I decided to use the "Southern Style" cornbread recipe which was on the back of the package. All I had to do was add buttermilk, an egg, and some melted shortening to two cups of the cornmeal mix, stir it up, pop it in the oven for about 25 minutes, and out came the cornbread. From the picture you can see it was a beautiful shade of light yellow, a little crisp on the edges with what looked like a very nice texture. Unfortunately, looks can be a little deceiving. The bread was surprisingly dry, and really had no taste to it. I think I was expecting some hint of sweetness or corniness even, but no, nothing like that. I wondered if maybe I did something wrong to make such a tasteless and unexciting bread. Did I miss an ingredient or a crucial step perhaps? Was the package of cornmeal mix expired? No to both of my questions. Is this the reason why I found the mix at the the 99 cent store in the first place? Maybe. Despite the disappointing cornbread outcome, I'm willing to try some of the other Martha White flour products.
What are your experiences with Martha White? I would love to hear about them.