KAUAI CORNBREAD

MOIST, BUTTERY, AND SLIGHTLY SWEET!

By John Grossi

“I love seeing people’s reaction the first time they try my cornbread,” laughs Janell Gibson. “They usually ask me if it’s a dessert or normal cornbread.”

Moist and buttery with a delightful hint of sweetness, Janell’s dry-mix Kauai Cornbread makes a great gift to literally anyone—bakers and non-bakers alike. Just add eggs, butter, and milk and put it in the oven!

Janell took the leap to officially start her small food-goods business, labeled “Kauai Cornbread,” after years of friends, family, and acquaintances asking for “more” when they tried her cornbread and cornbread wafers.

Island-Style

Janell grew up learning recipes and cooking methods from her parents who were born and raised on the Hawaiian Islands. Embracing their culture and food was always important to Janell. When she was seriously thinking about turning her recipes into a home business, she traveled to Kauai where an old friend, a manager of a grocery store, let her set up outside a few days before the holidays to sell her cornbread dry-mix products.

She couldn’t make enough product to keep up with the demand. This experience motivated her to give the business idea a try. She named it after Kauai to honor the people and community who encouraged her. Maybe she would be able to not only spread the island-style flavors but also encourage the island-style sense of community through her new business.

“It’s so different there than it is here on the mainland. In Kauai, supporting small local businesses is their way of life. People buy everything they can from local vendors,” says Janell.

Simple And Perfect For The Holidays

Janell’s website selection is simple and so are the baking instructions. Her signature cornbread dry mix comes in small, medium, or large bags that cost $7, $10, or $12 respectively (plus shipping) - shipping is free on U.S. orders over $40.

Her cornbread wafer dry mix also sells for $7. The cornbread wafers are a crisp, thin treat that customers describe as a “wonderfully addicting snack or dessert that should be illegal!”

In-Person Pickup

Janell officially makes her Kauai Cornbread products and dry mixes in a ghost kitchen at Partake Collective in downtown Long Beach located at 456 Elm Ave, 90802. Her dry mixes are available for purchase in Partake Collective’s retail store open daily from 11am-10pm, and you can also arrange to pick up pre-made treats that Janell has already baked by special appointment (contact her at janell@kauaicornbread.com).

Janell loves to set-up her tent and table at various events around town, where in addition to offering samples and selling her dry mix, she also sells her already baked treats including her cornbread, cornbread wafers, cornbread muffins, cornbread strawberry trifle, crisp wafer s’mores bars, and other delights she concocts with her base recipe from time to time.

Follow her Instagram @cravincornbread for pop-up opportunities to buy in-person during the holidays.

https://www.instagram.com/kauaicornbread/?locale=ru&hl=am-et