Bena Mae’s Kitchen: A Memory

I’m a WWII junkie. Partly because it was such a defining era in our history and also because many of the battle scenes in Europe were fought by my late husband’s unit. He was a part of General George Patton’s Third Army Command and was always an admirer of the general.
Although I spent the war in the safety of the Tennessee mountains, the carnage taking place in Europe and the Pacific was never far from our thoughts, our daily lives. Living near Oak Ridge, TN, the home that was then a Secret Project aimed toward winning the war, we knew we were vulnerable to outside danger of being a target of the enemy. So we were never far away from the awareness that it might, could happen.
We had air raid drills, air raid wardens and kept the curtains drawn at night when we had to turn the lights on. We treated the warnings seriously and never took for granted that it couldn’t happen to us. But one tragic night, we experienced the fear that the enemy had found us.
Let me give you a little background here. Our home was just across the street from the town’s knitting mill. It blew a whistle every day for the people going to and getting off work. It was always the town’s air raid whistle, but never blew for very long. But one night it blew all night long.
The incessant blare of the whistle filled our heads and our ears until we couldn’t hear a thing. After the interminable sound of the whistle that just wouldn’t stop, we knew something was wrong. But we couldn’t stick our head out the door to find out what it was. You couldn’t do that during a blackout.
Soon we started hearing the sirens of ambulances and police cars screaming through town. This went on all through the night and not knowing what was going on, we were terrified. The mill whistle never stopped blowing and being in such close proximity to it, it was driving us crazy. Back then, we didn’t have instant communication like we have today, so we just had to wait and wonder.
The next day we found out that a troop train had wrecked near Jellico, TN killing 15 soldiers and 2 civilians. According to the newspapers there were many casualties, saved by other soldiers and many local people who pitched in to save them.
It was a terrible, terrible night and just a taste of the horrors of war.

Cheesy Cornbread Casserole

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, finely chopped
1 can (15 oz.) enchilada sauce
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 pkg. (8.5 oz.) corn muffin mix
1 pkg. KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided

HEAT oven to 350ºF.
BROWN meat with onions and peppers in large skillet. Stir in next 4 ingredients; cook and stir 3 min. or until heated through. Spoon into 13×9-inch baking dish.
PREPARE muffin batter as directed on package; stir in cheese. Spread over meat mixture.
BAKE 20 min. or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread topping comes out clean. Cool slightly.