Shrimp and Grits Anyone???

About five years ago we went to visit friends in Charleston, SC. I suppose you could say that's when and where the Hubster fell in love with shrimp and grits. In fact, I think he ate that for every meal during our visit. Since that trip he has spent much time trying different recipes to recreate the deliciousness.

It was nothing short of fate when our neighbors told us about a shrimp and grits festival that wasn't too far away. I believe we made our reservations the night they told us. So this weekend, we'll be spending a lovely bit of time on Jekyll Island.

Now, I'd like to tell you that I love shrimp and grits as much as the Hubster does, but I'm afraid I'm kind of lukewarm about them. Nevertheless, I'm beyond thrilled that the festival also has an arts and crafts show as well as a kid's area with things Sweetbaby will thoroughly enjoy. Not to mention the sheer joy of just enjoying Jekyll Island with all its bike trails and natural beauty....A wonderful family getaway with something for everyone! Yay!

If heading to the festival isn’t an option, try this succulent Shrimp and Grits recipe, courtesy of Chef Abigail Hutchinson of The Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

Also, I hope you'll visit Yay Home next week for another giveaway, a furniture makeover, a Dr. Seuss baby shower, some simple sewing projects, and MORE! Have a great weekend!

Shrimp and Grits

Serves 4 to 6  

Ingredients: Garlic butter (recipe below)
1 bundle green onions, diced (green and white parts)
1/2 pound Andouille sausage or any other spicy sausage you like
1 pound fresh Georgia White shrimp peeled and deveined
White wine to taste
Juice from one half of a lemon
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Old Bay seasoning to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
All-purpose flour as needed
3 to 4 cups hot, cooked cornmeal (grits)
Shredded medium sharp cheddar cheese to taste

Directions: 1. In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt 4 to 5 tablespoons of garlic butter. Add sausage and onions and cook, stirring often, until sausage is browned and onions are soft.
2. Add shrimp, cream, wine and lemon juice, stirring to combine, and cook for 3 minutes. Season with Old Bay, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Let simmer for a few minutes then sprinkle flour on top and stir in. Continue doing this until it reaches a thickened consistency. Let it simmer a little while longer to cook out the flour taste.
4. Right as grits are done, stir in cheddar cheese. Divide cheese grits into 4 to 6 serving bowls and top with shrimp mixture. Serve immediately.

Garlic butter: To make garlic butter, soften 1 pound unsalted butter, 6 ounces bacon fat, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon each of chopped thyme, parsley, and oregano. Mix all ingredients together. This amount of garlic butter is good for two to three batches of Shrimp and Grits.
Note: Grits is nothing more than cooked cornmeal (Italians call it polenta). Use chicken stock or fish stock in place of water to add more flavor.

 

And The Winner Is...

Comment number 4 by my sweet follower/reader, HaleighsMomma will receive the stay-put kitchen towel and etched-glass casserole dish. I will contact the winner via email soon to work out the details.

Please check back soon for more giveaways from Yay Home! Thanks to all who entered!

Fall Online Bible Study

I got this invitation today and wanted to share it with you. I love receiving the Proverbs 31 daily devotional emails, so I'm sure this will be just as lovely. A while back I subscribed to a little series of emails made up of excerpts from this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I know I am my own worst critic and this book takes those kinds of thoughts and puts them into a spiritual perspective.

Looking forward to it!

Join our next P31 Online Bible Study A Confident Heart How to Stop Doubting Yourself & Live in the Security of God's Promises Beginning September 18th About Melissa Taylor's Online Study Melissa Taylor This FREE Online Bible Study includes weekly teaching, chapter discussions, prayer support and on-going conversations about the book on Melissa's blog and Melissa Taylor's Online Bible Studies Facebook page. An optional 4-part Conference Call series is available as well, and you dont want to miss it! Each call includes an inspiring message, interviews and Q&As with special guests including: Renee Swope, P31 radio co-host and author of A Confident Heart, Sheri Rose Shepherd, author of His Princess and His Princess Warrior, and more guests to be announced soon! About the book: A Confident Heart

Yay Birthday Girl!

I love that saying, and today it actually IS my birthday!!! Woo Hoo!!! I opted for a very relaxing day filled with a spa pedicure, a delightful book, a nap, hubster home early from work, lots and lots of hugs and kisses from Sweetbaby, and family over for supper. Oh, and lets not forget all the cake!!!!! Delicious.

This was one of those birthdays that I'd like to relive daily for a long time even though I'm getting older. I simply can't let that get me down because life is just too beautifully sweet to worry about wrinkles and such.

Yay Birthday!

Notebook Paper Shirt

I don't know about you, but I sure do love spending time gathering ideas and inspiration from Pinterest. A couple of months ago I saw a picture of a shirt that was made to look like notebook paper. The teacher in me thought that was a nifty and clever idea to try to recreate for my little guy's first day of 2K...perfect! Here's the one I saw on Pinterest. I believe the price tag on this one is around $50!

I just happened to have a white shirt that I'd not appliqued for him yet, so I got that out along with a ruler and disappearing ink pen and went to work. I drew one line down the side of the shirt to create the "margin." I then drew horizontal lines one inch apart all the way down the shirt. I already had both red and blue thread, so it was just a matter of picking a stitch on  my sewing machine that was a little thicker than a standard stitch, and I was on it! Nothing to this project except sewing some straight lines (and making sure your disappearing ink actually disappears ;-)

Here's Sweetbaby's shirt! Too cute and only cost a few dollars because I already had everything I needed!

Okay, so I did jazz it up just a bit more and added his name to the top line. Here he is rocking his notebook paper shirt on the first day of 2K....

Linking up:

Food Tidings & A Giveaway!

I want to wrap up this (overly extended) little series on things related to cooking by chatting for a bit about a really helpful site and by launching Yay Home’s second giveaway.

I participate in a couple of groups consisting of some very helpful and generous ladies. When a person has a baby, an illness, surgery, or just any type of big life event going on, these ladies provide meals for the family in need for about two weeks! What a blessing that is!

However, the coordination/management end of things, as you might imagine, could get a little messy when there are dietary restrictions, food allergies, and specific preferences to consider. This is just one very positive benefit of using Food Tidings, a website that helps with the management aspects of providing meals to families for a set period of time.

When you set up an account, you will receive invitations sent by your group’s coordinator inviting you to sign up for a particular meal schedule. You are able to view the recipient’s address, food restrictions/preferences, time they’d like the meal delivered, dates they will receive the meals, and contact information. I personally love that you can also see what others have volunteered to bring, so you don’t end up bringing the same dish the family had the night before.

I hope you’ll find this site to be a super-useful management tool.

Now on to the giveaway!! Yay!!

You may recall that in my dishtowel post, I shared with you the stay-put dishtowel that is soooo handy to have particularly with a toddler around.

And if you’ve spent any time at all on Pinterest, then you’ve seen these super-cute, personalized, etched-glass casserole dishes.

Source: makeit-loveit.com via Yay on Pinterest

I thought it was so neat that I made one for myself and one as a gift for a friend. I used the Don Juan font and my Cricut Create.

I had so much fun making these, that I’d like to make a set for one of you! Here’s what you’ll win:

-A stay-put dish towel AND a personalized, etched glass, casserole dish.

Two gifts for one lucky winner! What a great gift this would make for a newlywed or a friend who loves to cook…You could add a cookbook to it or pack of brownie mix to jazz it up even more! Here’s how you can win it (Three ways to enter):

- Become a follower of Yay Home and leave a comment saying you are.

- Mention this giveaway on Facebook, and leave a comment saying you did.

-Mention this giveaway on Twitter, and leave a comment saying you did.

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, September 14th at midnight Eastern time. I will select the winner using www.random.org and will announce it Thursday morning, September 15, 2011 on Yay Home! Good luck!!

Catching Up & Kid-friendly Omelets

Whoa! Has it been more than a month since my last post??? Time has flown by, and I apologize for the silence. When life gets super busy though, sometimes you have to take a break from the computer.

In the last couple of months we've dealt with our Sweetbaby climbing out of his crib and switching him to a toddler bed. He also started 2K which is some serious big-boy stuff. In addition to this I've been doing a ton of sewing. I taught my first ever class in my home. It was called, "Just Sew," and we made reversible half aprons. I've also been doing some "freelance" sewing for a local children's clothing business. We've had family birthdays, family baby showers, the premature arrival of my adorable nephew, OH, and a total bedroom makeover. Whew...I'm tired from just listing it all. It has been busy, but this is the good stuff you know??..The stuff that makes life fun.

Before my lengthy silence, I was in the middle of a cooking-themed series of posts. I'd like to wrap that up over the next day or so. I'd found several things I wanted to share, but since I'm ready to get back on my blogging track, I'll just shorten the list of topics a bit and then round it out with a giveaway.

This may be one you've heard of before or have tried before, but it was a new one on me. We had a ton of fun making these, and I was thinking that others may enjoy it as well because of its kid-friendly nature.

 

Omelets in a Bag!

Here's what you need:

• 2 lg. eggs per person
• quart-sized zipper freezer bags (1 per omelet)
• shredded cheese
• diced ham
• diced onion
• crumbled bacon
• sliced mushrooms
• diced tomato

(Obviously some of those things are optional depending on how you like your omelets made.)

I set up a table for Samuel to "help" me cook. I gave him cheese, spinach, and a bag (washed his hands) and told him to put those items into his ziploc. (This was BEFORE putting his eggs in, of course....) I left the room for a second and returned to find this.....He went and got his drill and chainsaw to assist with his cooking duties. Can you say ALL BOY??? He cracks me up....

Use a permanent marker to write each person's name on their bag. Crack two eggs into each bag. Close the bag, and shake/knead each bag to break the yolks and combine the eggs. (Actually I think we put everything in first and then did that step??) Add prepared items of your choice to the bag and shake to blend. Close the bags and remove the air this time.

Place the bags into a large pot of boiling water, and cook them for 13 minutes. Remove the bags from the water carefully. (Daddy's omelet had a LOT of extra ingredients in it, so we let his cook just a bit longer.)

Open the bag, and the omelet should slide out onto your plate.

Yummy, easy, and Samuel really enjoyed getting to help Mommy cook...power tools and all! =)

I missed my blogging time and my sweet readers. It's good to be back. I'll be linking up here: