G is for Grits, Cheese Ones

and Glen Goose a Babysitter is on the Loose

Who doesn’t love a good bowl of grits?

It’s probably my favorite breakfast food, without a doubt.

But the problem for me is that my husband and I have conflicting ways we eat grits, and that has very much affected the way we raise our children.

It’s true.

I was raised on a big bowl of piping hot grits, seasoned perfectly with sugar.

For you non-sugar grit lovers, this would be the place you would raise your eyebrows.

But if you are a lot like Scott, you take your grits with a little salt, pepper and butter.

This has for years been a source of contention at our house and was almost a deal breaker for whether we should get married.

Or not.

“To be” a sugar in your grits lover or “not to be” a sugar in your grits lover, that is the question.

So, how do you take your grits?

If you say non-sugar, I’m not sure we can be friends.

That’s not true, we will just need to have a grit retreat so I can teach you the proper way to season your grits because you have clearly not been doing it right over the course of your entire life.

If by chance, you are reading my blog and you live outside the southern hemisphere down here where grits are a table staple (I love rhyming, you know I do), and you have absolutely no idea what a grit is and how to eat it, then you need to keep reading so you can enhance your grit education.

Hopefully you will agree that sugar is the only way.

We had a babysitter one time who thought putting sugar in your grits was a sin.

I’m telling you, I’ve read the 10 Commandments and there is no mention AT ALL that putting sugar in your grits is sinful.

Wait.

This would be a good time to connect the dots with today’s post to grits and a babysitter.

Ya’ll still with me?

I actually wrote Glen Goose, A Babysitter is On the Loose because my parents, who rarely left us with anyone other than our grandparents, actually hired a babysitter one time who scared the grits out of me and my siblings.

It’s true.

She yelled at us and told us to get in our rooms while she watched Gunsmoke.

We didn’t just go to our rooms, we hid under our bed.

That’s not really true, but it makes a good visual when you think about three little girls hiding under their bed from the babysitter.

And then there was the babysitting issues I had with my oldest son.

As you could probably guess…he loves it when I talk about him in my blog posts.

In my defense, he shouldn’t have given me so much ammunition if he didn’t want me to write about him.

Right?

Back to the story. My son did not like staying with any babysitter in the world of the universe except his Brandi.

It’s true…and you know why?

Because BranBran put sugar in his grits.

Oh…and played 1 million hours of pitch with him.

Moral of the story: get a babysitter that puts sugar in your kid’s grits.

Moral of the story for Glen Goose: get a fun babysitter like Glen (and Brandi) for your kids.

Moral of today’s blog post: we are making cheese grits with no sugar.

Wait.

It’s true…I also love me some cheese grits and it’s such a versatile dish.

How so?

You can serve them up for breakfast or they make a really good side dish with grilled pork chops or chicken.

And the great thing about this recipe is it takes about 15 minutes!

Who’s ready?

Let’s start by boiling 4 cups of water and add 1 ½ teaspoon of salt.

I know it looks elementary to actually post a picture of boiling water, but there are people out there, no names mentioned, Melissa K (to protect her identity I’ll refrain from using her last name, even though she doesn’t read my column, but her last name rhymes with piper), who may or may not know how to boil water.

So, if you are like Melissa K, who rhymes with Piper, you’re welcome.

Melissa K, maybe if you would read my column you could boil water…just saying.

Next, add 1 cup of quick cooking grits and turn your heat down to really low.

Be sure to whisk these really well after you pour them in so there are no lumps or clots of grits.

Sick.

Anyway, cook the grits for 5-10 minutes, stirring often.

In other words, don’t put the grits in and decide to watch an episode of Friends and forget about them.

In fact, I’ll give you something to do while they are cooking, grate a cup of cheddar cheese!

Listen, you can use the pre-shredded kind, no doubt, but the flavor is so much better with the block cheese, so spend the extra nanosecond grating so you get a richer flavor in your grits.

After the grits are done, add the 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of whipping cream, 2 tablespoons of butter and the shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Serve for breakfast with biscuits slathered in honey butter (tomorrow’s recipe) or as a side dish for dinner.

If you like a little kick, dice you a few jalapenos and add with the cheeses. We pepper everything, so if you do too, season yours the same!

And if you are worried you will be judged for trying sugar in your grits…no worries, Scott has judged me for years and we have somehow managed to stay married.

But, I’ll let you guess who won the battle with our kids on how they eat their grits.