I seem to have the eastern US covered pretty well. 
visited 32 states (64%)
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Looks like I have a lot more places left to visit!!
visited 13 states (5.77%)
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Yeah, so my friend Carolyn tells me I’m not blogging enough to suit her. I’ve written a lot of posts in my head. None have made it onto paper or the computer. It seems like there would be a lot to say, and yet there is so much of it for which there are few words. Be it the sudden and unexpected deaths of friends of friends, the few weeks that another family had to absorb the fact of an aggressive brain tumor in their wife and mother before she was gone, or the election and the implications of that, to just living with the consequences of a fallen world.
There are bright spots too, a weekend of sharing with friends, a delightful weekend camping with my church family, the births of two beautiful babies to families in my church, a wiener roast around the fire with my family, the pleasant change of weather which is so different from the previous 6 months of summer, and I know I’m forgetting some things.
So here are a few pictures for you to enjoy despite the very brief post.
Sunrise on St. Simons Island
A dream vacation home, eh?
I was at the Shrimp and Grits Festival on Jekyll Island in September and came across a booth where they were selling orchids in old pots. “Beautiful”, I said, “but the shuttle makes it difficult to to take one back with me.” I also said, “I bought an orchid a few weeks ago and promptly killed it.” I heard a snort behind me. “Do you have any tips on taking care of orchids.” The proprietor said the most common problem was over-watering. The just don’t need much water. The instructions say to water when the moss feels dry. Well, goodness! The little pot is so small and moss DID feel dry!!!
Well, I bought another orchid from the same place. It was blooming beautifully and I thought I’d better take pictures while it was looking robust.
Yeah, and it’s a good thing I did, because within a few weeks the blooms all fell off.
But I think it will be okay, because the leaves still look fine. They did not turn yellow and fall off like the first one did.
They’re just super-sensitive to light changes and all that good stuff.
Oh, and while fall is the season for pumpkin and such like, we had corn in October. The 13th to be precise. Fresh. Local. Delicious. I’m so sorry you didn’t have some too.
And there are many different versions out there. Some have cooked grits placed in a bowl, but this one is made with a little extra work: grits patties. I think grits patties would be an excellent side dish to breakfast lunch or supper!! I was at the Shrimp and Grits Festival on Jekyll Island recently and the booths that sold it, used a freshly ground yellow grits from a company in north Georgia, Logan Turnpike Mill. They gave all of the vendors a choice between yellow or white grits. They all chose yellow. They said white is typically used for breakfast, and yellow for other meals. Their grits is “unbolted”, meaning it still has the germ, meaning you need to store it in the fridge or freezer so it doesn’t spoil/get rancid.
We ate at a restaurant on St. Simons Island a year or so ago (Crabdaddy’s Seafood Grill, to be exact) and Lois got their shrimp and grits entree, which was delicious. A disclaimer here: this recipe is not professing to be in the same caliber as theirs or even close to what they serve. Just inspired by it’s deliciousness. They have other delicious food as well!!
Shrimp & Grits (Marylou’s Version)
1 1/2 cups quick grits
5 cups water
2 T. butter
salt & pepper (to taste)
4 T. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup oil
1 cup flour
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
In one quart sauce pot bring water to rolling boil. Add butter and salt. Fold in grits and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until grits are tender stirring occasionally. When cooked remove from heat and stir in cheese. Pour hot grits into wide mouth canning jars. Cool overnight in refrigerator. Grits will be a solid mass. Dump out of jar(s) onto a cutting board. Cut into 1/2″ pieces. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Prepare egg wash: Beat egg and milk together. Dip patties into egg wash, then flour, then egg wash, then bread crumbs. Pan fry in oil until golden.
Other options for grits patties:
Add red pepper flakes for a little flavor kick.
For creamier grits, replace 1/4 of the water with milk.
For richer grits, replace 1/2 of the water with chicken broth.
Or use your favorite grits recipe and make it thicker than usual.
For the sauce (this is the same sauce as used in the Penne Rustica recipe)
2 T. butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pint half & half
1 pint chicken broth
1/2 c. milk
4 oz. tomato sauce
2 tsp. dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste
fresh thyme & rosemary, finely chopped
1 1/2 T. flour
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 c. mixed Italian cheeses
Saute garlic in butter. Add half & half, chicken broth, milk, tomato juice, mustard, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil. Mix flour with 1/3 c. chicken broth or milk. Add to hot mixture and cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Add mixed Italian cheese and grated Parmesan cheese and herbs. Remove from heat.
The Shrimp & Sausage
1/2 lb. peeled shrimp
1/2 lb. Andouille or other casing sausage
1 c. sliced mushrooms (optional)
salt & pepper
1 T. butter
1 tsp. The Pampered Chef Sun-Dried Tomato & Herb Oil Dipping Seasoning
OR
1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
Saute the mushrooms in butter. Slice sausage into small quarter-inch slices. Add sausage and shrimp to mushrooms. Add seasonings and cook until shrimp is cooked.
To serve: Place 2 warm grits patties in single-serving bowl. Place shrimp and sausage over patties. Pour sauce over patties. Repeat for each serving. Serves 6-8. (If you REALLY like shrimp, you made want to use 1 lb. instead of 1/2 lb. for this recipe.
Now for the pictures:
The grits look a little funny on top. The were just a little dried out because I left them a day or 2 in the fridge uncovered. If you neglect your grits like I did (not recommended, btw), just slice it off and toss it.
Yes, I admit they look just a little slippery/slimy. But you will soon forget all of that.
Slice it into 1/2 inch slices. For those of you who grew up eating fried mush, this is a double-first cousin Generation Xer. Mush is made with cornmeal, which is much finer than grits. (As far as I know, fried mush was never considered gourmet. Shrimp and grits, on the other hand, is all the rage.) And this is just fried enough to make the outside a bit crunchy. The inside stays soft. Oh, and I should mention that HERE is where I got the recipe for the grits patties.
Breading these things is serious business. You’re going to go back and forth between the egg wash, flour and bread crumbs like you’re as indecisive as me trying to decide on a new purse.
But in the end it’s worth it.
This is a lot of last minute work. The sauce can probably stay hot the longest so if you want to make that first, be my guest. Except, why would you be my guest if you’re making the food?? Too late at night to figure that one out.
Melt some butter and throw in some garlic. Butter and garlic. Elephant Garlic. Elephant & Castle. Train stations in London. That was a wild bunny trail but it is a funny story, at least it was at the time. Oh, that’s right. I haven’t talked much about our Europe trip yet. Except for the sheep. There were no sheep in London. Just train stations called Elephant and Castle.
And chicken broth.
And a bunch of other good stuff. I’m detailed like that.
Thicken it.
Aren’t you glad this isn’t a long drawn out recipe???
Saute it.
Try to ignore the fact that I did not have sausage the night I made it and photographed it. Trust me, the sausage adds a nice delicious touch.
Stack it.
And eat it!!!
If you really don’t like soupy, thicken the sauce even more, and use less sauce. More like a thick drizzle than a pour.
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If you use my recipes, I would love to have feedback. Is there something you did or didn’t like? Is there a suggestion you would make? Did turn out or not turn out? I’d like to know if the recipe needs some tweaking. Some things are a matter of taste. But not all.
Happy cooking!
There’s a new sauce in the house.
My sister Laura and her family have this deli. And a couple of weeks ago when they were here over Labor Day they brought meats, and cheeses and other delicious toppings for sandwiches for a family supper. We ate sandwiches that were delish! And I discovered how much I like Chipotle Sauce. I’ve tried it a time or two at Subway but just didn’t really fully appreciate it.
So I set out on a search for a recipe. And found one. Here is what you need:
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream (you can substitute Greek yogurt or cottage cheese if you want)
1 T. lime juice
2 Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 garlic clove (optional)
I found the peppers to be rather “gloopy” so it was hard to pick out 2 peppers. So maybe scoop out a good tablespoon. If you want it more spicy, add more peppers.
Yum!! So delicious looking!
Not.
Blenderize everything until it is pretty much smooth. There will still be a few small bits and pieces.
Put it in a dispenser and eat it on paninis, cold cut sandwiches, southwestern salads, chicken fingers, fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp scampi … oops! Got sidetracked.
Put it on anything you want it on, let’s put it that way. I’m ambiguous that way!
was clear one day and cloudy the next.
Some of my family was here over the weekend so we took the opportunity to climb the lighthouse on St. Simons. As often as we have been to the island, some of my family doesn’t remember having been there before. Shame, shame. I guess we have been so often we kind of assume our frequent guests/family have seen it. We certainly didn’t allow enough time to see much, Saturday being the first day of a long weekend and we were too busy relaxing to make plans very quickly.
The lighthouse is pretty much like any other you can climb. It has a spiral staircase that will leave you (some of us, anyway) feeling just a little funny by the time you get to the top. Then you step out into the sunshine and see life 100 feet behind you and you don’t feel any better for a few minutes. Interestingly enough, putting the camera to my eye and seeing only a small amount of the view brings things back in to focus (pun intended) and the swirling brain calms down.
The gentleman who came up a few minutes behind us had a harder time. He didn’t have a camera to block out the view and he had a death grip on the rails as he made his way around. He was a good sport and we got to chatting with him about it all. We offered to take his photo as proof that he made it. I told him about one of my friends who had fainted as we were about to descend on another excursion I had made to the lighthouse. He was sure his wife (who was waiting for him at the bottom) would have done so.
My mom who had been waving at us from below:
There are often weddings going on here and this day was not exception.
On Labor Day, my nephew who got his pilot’s license this past summer took us up for rides around the area. It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve been up over my home area. It is fun to see everything from this angle.
As you can tell, there was great delight and excitement at going up!
Goodness, we were just playing tag and kickball with all these kiddos not many years ago and here they are flying away into the sky!!
Finally it was my turn to go up, along with my mom. I love this next picture! Derrick was the only niece/nephew who grew up around here, and my mom would take him out on excursions when he was young. I believe she took him to Savannah so he could see the “hareplanes” as he called them, “yittle” ones and big ones. Of course, this was before 911 so they could go out to the concourses. I think they were able to board a plane so he could see what the inside looked like.
Now here he is a pilot.
Our house in hidden in the trees.
Getting out to the area where our church is.
For the locals, you can figure out the rest.
The lake where I often go to take pictures. It’s amazingly swampy at this end. The other end has a fair amount of boaters on it when the water is high enough.
The business where I work:
And back again all in one day. Or less.
As we were waiting for the last ride to come back in, a big bird came in.
And the family from out-of-town returned to their homes and we had a quiet evening, thinking we should catch up on some sleep! I love nice, long, holiday weekends, especially when family comes to visit!