Little Red and the Grits Plant

[JohnHarrelson]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]Some folks like to take a potted plant with them in their RV when traveling. [/font][font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]I have seen everything from Orchids to Roses.. from herbs to pansies.. [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]What kind of plants do you travel with and does your pet get along with the plant ?[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]Being a true southerner, I love grits and eggs in the morning for breakfast. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]Therefore I always have a grits plant growing in a five gallon pot. It requires very little attention but does need lots of water. I give it about one quart of water each morning and evening. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]When the weather is nice, I place it outside in the sun. The only problem with having a grits plant in an RV is that it grows to seven or eight feet tall and you can't prune it back like other plants. [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]A couple of times I had to open a roof vent to allow it room to stand up straight, since the RV's ceiling is only six and a half feet. [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]Since fresh eggs are sometimes hard to find in the boondocks, I always carry "little Red" with me.. She loves to travel and will sit up on the dashboard and watch the cars go by. [/font][font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]I have a "nesting box" made out of a cardboard box filled with fresh grass and hay. [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]Every day she lays two eggs in her nest.. except on Saturday mornings when the cartoons are on TV and she gets excited and lays four or five eggs instead of only two.. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]When this happens I end up giving the extra eggs away.. Little Red likes to "roost" on the steering wheel at night so I have to remember to place a towel under the steering wheel before going to bed to avoid having a mess in the mornings. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]That's the only thing bad about having a chicken for a pet, they are hard to housebreak. [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans serif]God !! I love the RV lifestyle , Don't You ? John[/font]

 

[Moxadox]

And I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale....?

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[highdesertranger]

little advice, don't go to California. no more grits or little red. highdesertranger

 

[johnny b]

jeeez...now I've got a cravin!

Tomorrow's breakfast:
Eggs & Grits or Chicken & Waffles.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Dingfelder]

"Grits plant" -- LOL

 

[lenny flank]

Alas, I have never liked grits. Wallpaper paste. Blech.



In England the near equivalent is bangers and mash, and in South Africa it's pap and worse. Different wallpaper paste.

 

[Cammalu]

Put a little sugar on them Lenny


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[lenny flank]

I've tried sugar, gravy, cheese----it's still wallpaper paste to me.

 

[B and C]

^^^What Lenny said and I've been in Texas since I was six. Never could develop a taste for it but I do love me some fried okra.

 

[dragonfiregrill]

grits are great if made correctly, now oat meal, that is another story, wall paper paste indeed.

properly made grits, require extra liquid from the recipe and longer cooking times at lower temps, unless of course you want sand.

to make sweet grits use at least 50/50 ratio of milk to water if not a higher milk content all the way to 100%, brown sugar, maple syrup (real) or the sweetener of your delight, things such as currents, raisins, or dried cranberries can be added. butter and salt added for good measure, general consistency is that of cream of wheat if done correctly.

savory grits are a different beast though may be made similarly, milk may be used but is generally not. salt is definitely needed a little extra water and lower slower cooking are best. From this point you can go with the purist and just salt pepper and butter, but others like shrimp and grits but my favorite is garlic cheese grits souffle, basically you melt garlic cheese into the grits add egg yolks, whip up egg whites and fold into the grits and put it into a souffle dish and bake at 400 for about an hour. oh is that good.

additionally you can do anything you can do with polenta with grits and vice versa

please do not mistake that nasty commercial stuff for well made grits

jim

 

[Weight]

I am so sorry all you poor folks have never had grits cooked properly. And, John, you must not be a true southern boy if you don't know grits are kept in a gunny sack.

 

[Weight]

I 'most forgot. The chickens were left in to eat the bugs. Bet you got no bugs in your van.

 

[JohnHarrelson]

Like Jim said, grits must be cooked with lots and lots of water ..  

about +- 4 cups water to 3/4 cup grits.. and cooked on low heat, stirring constantly for 15 to 20 minutes or until the grits absorbs all the water.. when done correctly, the consistency of grits should be about the same consistency as a bowl of (gag, puke, choke) oatmeal..  
Oats are for horses, not people..

Being born and raised in the "DEEP SOUTH"  (eastern seaboard of both Carolina's) . Grits was standard fare for many meals, not just breakfast.. example.. supper could be grits covered with "Red Eye" gravy and served with things like pork chops, collard greens and cracklin bread.  yankees call it "crack LING' bread.

When eating grits properly, all you need is a dash salt, a dash of black pepper and a spoon of real butter. 

but if you're extra hungry, then stir in a couple of eggs and a small hunk of Tom Thumb (sausage) or some crispy bacon and some Rat Cheese.
(ain't nothing worse than limp bacon)  
"Rat Cheese" is a southern term for plain ol yellow cheese because it's what we use to bait mouse traps.

When I was in the Navy I saw some of them citified folks do such disgusting thing to grits that it gave me nightmares.. I saw them put milk and sugar in the bowl of grits and some even poured pancake syrup in it also.  GAG !!!

I would ask them if they put milk and sugar on a Corn on the Cob.. then I explained to them that grits is simply corn on the cob that has been shucked from the cob and ground up.. if they don't put sugar and milk on a corn on the cob, why in heaven's name would they put it on Grits? 

Yankees... harummmp, they ain't the smartest critters the good Lord ever made.

Down south there are two basic types of grits.. "New" grits and "Supper" grits.  New grits are fully cooked but thin and runny because the extra water left in them and "supper" grits are the regular thick and creamy kind.

I've always said that if there's anything better than a bowl of grits with sausage,bacon, cheese and eggs stirred in, the good Lord kept it for himself.. cause I ain't never seen it beat.

Gotta go for now cause I'm working on my latest invention... "Grits on a Stick"  .. 
I think it would be a real hit with folks who like camping out and cooking over a campfire.. watchall think of my idea ?

John

 

[Cammalu]

Hey John, guess then that you don’t put any sugar in your cornbread either?

 

[JohnHarrelson]

Hey John, guess then that you don’t put any sugar in your cornbread either?

Heck No..  That's Yankee corn "cake" with all that sugar, eggs and rising mixed in... 
I've eat it and it taste pretty good with ice cream (alamode) or canned fruit, but it's a desert cake, not for eating with the main meal.

I know some folks call it "Southern Cornbread" but trust me.. it's not..

True "Southern" cornbread is made with only 4 items.. medium ground yellow cornmeal, salt, pepper and only enough water to make a really thick mix that is hand pressed evenly into a heavily greased cast iron frying pan and baked in a 350 degree oven for about +- 30 minutes or until a super heavy thick crust forms around the edge.

and most important.. it must be bacon grease.. no other type of oil or grease can be used.. 

and to make it super special for Sunday supper when the preacher shows up, mix in some cracklins .. man-o-man ...  it's so good you'll have to chase that sky pilot off with a stick.

Another southern delight is "Johnny Cake".. which is the exact same recipe as the True Southern cornbread recipe except it is not as thick and it's fried in a cast iron frypan on top of the stove instead of in the oven..

These recipes date back to the Civil War. Yankee soldiers raided the southern farms and stole everything they could including all the corn they could carry with them. What little corn was left in the field was gleaned and used for the basis of many dishes still eaten today..

* Johnny Cake, 
* Pan Bread (like johnny cake but made with flour instead of cornmeal), 
* Cornmeal mush  (eaten with milk and sugar if the family were lucky enough to have some)
* Corn Dodgers, 
* Hush Puppies, 

and another southern delight that is often eaten with cornbread is "Barrel" or "Black Strap" molasses.. which is molasses that has not been through as many "processes" as the molasses you find in today's grocery stores like "Grandma's" brand which is excellent tasting.


John

 

[Cammalu]

I was raised south of the mason Dixon but like my grits with sugar and sugar in my WHITE corn bread too [emoji16]

 

[Van Mama Wannabe]

Homemade grits sound wonderful but you lost me at "stirring constantly for 15 to 20 minutes." The only thing I'm willing to stir constantly for that long is a cream pie (banana, coconut, chocolate, butterscotch...). But my mama always did tell me I wasn't the most patient person in the world.

 

[RowanFae]

I was raised south of the mason Dixon but like my grits with sugar and sugar in my WHITE corn bread too [emoji16]

Heresy!  Next thing you'll say, is you DON'T sweeten your tea.

 

[Cammalu]

I don’t like sweet tea! Unsweetened all the way!


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[Weight]

The only thing that should be in a tea cup is bourbon. But I'm as southern as they let me after the invasion. I make a mean stew with cream corn potatoes and any road kill found fresh enough.