I think biscuits are the Southern equivalent of rice in Hawaii. They really go with anything. Plain with butter, hot with fruit preserves, underneath a swath of sausage gravy and my personal favorite - with fried buttermilk chicken.
I decided to cook a few things off the soon to be menu for Kiss My Grits today in preparation for a little photo shoot tomorrow. I ended up making cole slaw, cold oven pound cake, biscuits, sausage gravy, banana pudding, pimento cheese and bbq, of course. Long story short, I spent the entire day cooking.
How do you like your biscuits? Thin and crispy? Fluffy and flaky? There's really no bad way to eat them.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
BBQ overload
So, it's pretty likely that I'm going to gain 100 pounds taste testing the new recipes for the Kiss My Grits venture. But I guess it's the price I've got to pay to bring the good stuff to the masses. My good friend Joyce asked me tonight, "Why do you call it bbq? Isn't it called pulled pork?"
I reminded her that in the South, bbq is a noun, not a verb. I never even heard the term "pulled pork" until I came to Hawaii. And just to be clear, Carolina bbq is chopped, not pulled. What has recently rocked my world is that I decided to try a couple of different types of sauce. Let me back up for those of you not from the South.
There are many types of bbq. Hell, in North Carolina, there are at least 3 different sauces alone. I've always been partial to Eastern North Carolina style, well, because that's where I'm from. It's a vinegar based sauce with red pepper flakes and hot sauce. But there's Western NC style, which is more like Memphis style (ketchup, brown sugar, etc). Then there's South Carolina style, which is mustard and vinegar, with sugar and spices.
Since we're not in NC, we decided that we needed to give people an option of sauces for their bbq enjoyment. To that end, I experimented with the various sauces and commenced the taste testing. I was certain that my loyalties would lie with the Eastern style I grew up on.
That's where the world rocking ensued. Not being a big fan of mustard, I almost didn't even bother trying the SC style...well, that goes to show you that you truly never know. Of the three taste testers last night, all three of us had a different favorite and mine was the spicy mustard based SC style bbq. Wow!
I had it for dinner last night, breakfast this morning and at lunch today. Next to the buttermilk cole slaw, it was nearly heaven. I ate so much that I'm skipping dinner.
I reminded her that in the South, bbq is a noun, not a verb. I never even heard the term "pulled pork" until I came to Hawaii. And just to be clear, Carolina bbq is chopped, not pulled. What has recently rocked my world is that I decided to try a couple of different types of sauce. Let me back up for those of you not from the South.
There are many types of bbq. Hell, in North Carolina, there are at least 3 different sauces alone. I've always been partial to Eastern North Carolina style, well, because that's where I'm from. It's a vinegar based sauce with red pepper flakes and hot sauce. But there's Western NC style, which is more like Memphis style (ketchup, brown sugar, etc). Then there's South Carolina style, which is mustard and vinegar, with sugar and spices.
Since we're not in NC, we decided that we needed to give people an option of sauces for their bbq enjoyment. To that end, I experimented with the various sauces and commenced the taste testing. I was certain that my loyalties would lie with the Eastern style I grew up on.
That's where the world rocking ensued. Not being a big fan of mustard, I almost didn't even bother trying the SC style...well, that goes to show you that you truly never know. Of the three taste testers last night, all three of us had a different favorite and mine was the spicy mustard based SC style bbq. Wow!
I had it for dinner last night, breakfast this morning and at lunch today. Next to the buttermilk cole slaw, it was nearly heaven. I ate so much that I'm skipping dinner.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Kiss My Grits the reality
So, Kiss My Grits isn't just a blog...it's a dream I've had for a long time but was just too chicken to do anything about it. Well...that is all about to change. For those of you who know me, which is pretty much anyone who's reading this, as I don't have any followers who aren't friends, you may know that I love to cook. Here's a true confession - the only books I read are cookbooks. I'm not a chef and would never pretend to be such. I am a cook. I love to make evil, crazy, kicked up comfort food - all with ties to the South of course. I've wanted to open my own place for just about forever. Recently, my good friend Camille, left the entertainment industry to run her own lunch wagon. I was jealous for a few minutes, then in awe, then just absolutely her biggest fan ever. How brave to just walk away from the thing that has provided her a very comfortable life for so long and do something that feeds her passion.
I asked to volunteer at an event where she was serving. I was sweaty and achy and really tired at the end of the night, but you know what? I was thrilled. I was happy. I haven't felt that good in I don't know how long. That was my ah-ha moment, as the big O would say.
What the "h" am I doing this for? Staying in a job that makes me miserable? What for? All the glamor and glory? All the infinite money? Ha! I'm killing myself for no joy.
That's it. I'm making Kiss My Grits a reality. Stay tuned friends. In the next few weeks, the Kiss My Grits mobile unit will deploy. Biscuits and bbq (a noun not a verb), deviled eggs and all things deliciously Southern are coming your way in the most authentic way that Hawaii has yet to see...
I asked to volunteer at an event where she was serving. I was sweaty and achy and really tired at the end of the night, but you know what? I was thrilled. I was happy. I haven't felt that good in I don't know how long. That was my ah-ha moment, as the big O would say.
What the "h" am I doing this for? Staying in a job that makes me miserable? What for? All the glamor and glory? All the infinite money? Ha! I'm killing myself for no joy.
That's it. I'm making Kiss My Grits a reality. Stay tuned friends. In the next few weeks, the Kiss My Grits mobile unit will deploy. Biscuits and bbq (a noun not a verb), deviled eggs and all things deliciously Southern are coming your way in the most authentic way that Hawaii has yet to see...
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Oy what a week
Used to be that I could handle nuclear levels of stress, at least outwardly. Stress has caused all kinds of crazy internal health problems for me over the last several years, but now, it's starting to affect me on a whole new level.
I likened the way I feel to a friend today to the nuclear meltdown happening in Japan. I can feel it coming. It's not only emotional, it's physical. My joints are aching and I feel anxious and uneasy. For all those people pushing your physical limits with stress, it's only a matter of time until you will start to feel the effects in other ways.
It's just not worth it. It never really was but I somehow convinced myself it was so. It's not. Not for a second. I can't figure out why I let people who have proven they have absolutely no sense make me feel inadequate. I'm pissed at myself for letting ignorant and ungrateful people make me feel insecure.
Don't do it! Life's too short to let stupid people make you feel bad about yourself. I am sure that'll be quoted for generations to come.
I likened the way I feel to a friend today to the nuclear meltdown happening in Japan. I can feel it coming. It's not only emotional, it's physical. My joints are aching and I feel anxious and uneasy. For all those people pushing your physical limits with stress, it's only a matter of time until you will start to feel the effects in other ways.
It's just not worth it. It never really was but I somehow convinced myself it was so. It's not. Not for a second. I can't figure out why I let people who have proven they have absolutely no sense make me feel inadequate. I'm pissed at myself for letting ignorant and ungrateful people make me feel insecure.
Don't do it! Life's too short to let stupid people make you feel bad about yourself. I am sure that'll be quoted for generations to come.
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