My Grandpa, my dad’s dad, grew up in Augusta, Georgia – an interesting spot for my original Irish ancestors to wind up. This is my main claim to being actually southern. After attending Georgia Tech and becoming a hell of an engineer, this southern boy moved to Detroit.

And even in Detroit, my Grandma managed to find grits to cook for her husband. My dad grew up with grits as a breakfast staple, and to this day he makes the best grits I’ve ever tasted.

But back to Grandpa. He passed away when I was only 13 years old. But one of my earliest and most treasured memories of him comes from a visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, in North Carolina where they retired. Grandma cooked us a big breakfast of fried eggs over easy, buttery grits, and slices of toast. Grandpa put his toast aside, picked up his knife and fork, and cut up his eggs right into his grits, stirring the yolks up into the grits and making a huge mess of his breakfast! That’s the way he always ate his grits and eggs, and even now, I do the same from time to time, just to remind me of him.

But today it was scrambled eggs with grits. Don’t do the instant grits – find some that you actually have to cook – the flavor and texture is to die for. We get ours from a local mill just up the way in Helen, Georgia – the Nora Mill Granary Grist Mill & Country Store. It is a really fun place, a truly authentic mill with a great store right on the Chattahoochee River. Their white speckled grits are my favorite. Wow, you can order their stuff online, too – who knew?

Now remember- grits aren’t just for breakfast. Try serving grilled fish on top of a bed of creamy grits, or shrimp and sausage baked in grit-cakes. Delish.

Scrambled Eggs ‘n’ Grits

For the eggs:
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

For the grits:
1/2 cup grits
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Butter, for dressin’ it up

Preheat a nonstick skillet over low heat. Lightly beat together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook over low heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir the eggs occasionally to scrape the cooked layer off the bottom. Just as the eggs start to firm up and come together, toss in the cheese. Serve immediately

For the grits, combine the grits, milk, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and continue to simmer the grits, covered, for about 20 minutes. Serve with a thin tab of butter on top. Enjoy!

I have gotten a lot of requests over the past several weeks for a rockin’ recipe for macaroni and cheese. In face, some of you who know me in *real life* have expressed your shock and concern over the lack of a mac ‘n’ cheese recipe here on VV. This reaction is understandable, considering that the truth is . . . . macaroni and cheese is my #1 favorite food of all time!

Mac ‘n’ cheese is the food of my dreams, the food of my childhood, the food of my adulthood. I don’t think I ever met a bowl of mac I didn’t like. I’m going to come out and admit, flat out, that I am not too proud to make the occasional Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese – heck I practically grew up on the Blue Box. And I have been known to eat Velveeta Shells and Cheese right out of the pot, while sitting on the couch indulging in a sappy chick flick.

I like mine with broccoli, I like it with bacon, I like it baked, I like it from the stove-top. I

Your comments and requests, dear readers, do not fall on deaf ears. Added bonus? No slaving over a hot stove – this recipe is extra easy, with no beschemel sauce to cook.

With that, I am proud to unveil, my S’Mac ‘n’ Cheese! This is an incredibly flavorful dish, highlighting the sharp cheddar flavor while bringing a subtle heat and a soft onion flavor to the foreground.

S’Mac ‘n’ Cheese
You will be smackin’ your lips . . .

1 1/4 cups elbow noodles
Salt
2.5 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
A pinch or two fresh ground pepper
A pinch cayenne pepper or red pepper flake
A pinch of ground nutmeg
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons yellow onion, finely chopped or grated
3/4 cup half-n-half
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 shakes Worchestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce (tobasco)
3/4 cup (about 5 ounces) extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Sprinkle in som salt. Add the noodles and cook until al dente, according to the box instructions.

Meanwhile, grease an 8×8-inch baking dish. Drain the noodles well and pour them evenly into the prepared dish. Sprinkle in the cubed cheddar cheese, and mix gently until evenly distributed. Set the dish aside.

Measure the flour, the salt, the dry mustard, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl, stirring the ingredients together. Add the sour cream and eggs, whisking until blended. Next, whisk in the onion, half-and-half, heavy cream, Worcestershire, and tobasco until the mixture forms a custard-like sauce. Pour this mixture over the macaroni in the baking dish. Finally, sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the top.

Bake until the custard sauce sets around the edges but is still a bit saucy in the middle, about 30 minutes. After baking, allow the dish to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, dear readers! As I may have mentioned before, I come from a very strong Irish bloodline, and March 17th is a day to celebrate. Tonight we celebrated our Irish heritage a few days early with wonderful friends and delicious food. I was in charge of the soda bread. I found a great recipe in a book I found recently at a book fair. It was a major crowd pleaser and an excellent accompaniment to our corned beef and cabbage!

Hearty, dense, and full of wheaty flavor, this bread is as close as you will come to the staple on Irish tables across the green countryside each and every day. It is a quick-bread, made without yeast. It has a delicate crumb with a wonderfully grainy texture. The whole wheat flour gives it a soft nutty flavor. I can’t wait to toast a piece for breakfast tomorrow morning – with a tab of butter and a drizzle of honey, perhaps?

Irish Brown Soda Bread
from the Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother, by Jeff Smith

2 cups of flour
3 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Measure all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, combining well and making sure that there are no lumps of brown sugar. Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon just until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about a minute until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, and press down on the top of each half to flatten. Place the two loaves on a large ungreased baking sheet – preferably non-stick. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with a little bit of flour, and, using a sharp knife, mark the shape of a cross on the top of each loaf.

Allow the two loaves to rest for at least 10 minutes before baking. Bake on the middle-rack of the oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is toasty, brown, and crunchy.

Cool on racks and serve with Irish butter.

My husband, the cornbread expert,
My husband, the cornbread purist,
My husband, Mr. Southern Boy . .

. . . told me tonight: “Baby, this cornbread is just beautiful.”

Now the receipt of this compliment is a remarkable accomplishment in my life for several reasons. But the primary reason is this: I actually made this cornbread.

I, a supposed “outsider” to true southern culture, due to the fact that I grew up in Atlanta with Yankees for parents, made this cornbread.

I, the “city girl” who somehow managed to steal a country boy’s heart, made this cornbread, and it was not under the close supervision of my Southern Boy hubby.

I, the timid cook who still asks her husband’s permission every time she dares to pick up one of the precious kitchen tools that found their original home in that his granny’s farmhouse kitchen, made this cornbread, and it even had “extra foo-foo stuff” in it. And he still said that it was “just beautiful.”

So you KNOW this stuff has GOT to be good!

Corny Corny Cornbread

Prepare Southern Boy’s Cornbread as directed, but add to the batter:
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

Serve with your favorite soup or chili!

My Southern Boy likes it sliced like this with a thick pad of butter.

My husband loves to cook up some apples around this time of year. It makes the house smell amazing, and his recipe is delicious! It’s great as a snack on its own, as a side to pork chops, as a topping on some vanilla ice cream, or as a sweetener for your morning oatmeal.

Homemade Stewed Apples ~ Homemade Apple Sauce

1 cup of water
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Heat up the water in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until it is simmering. Stir in cinnamon and cardamom.

Pour in the apple slices.

Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour – until the apples are tender and the water is nearly gone.

You can also do this in a crock pot – just cover the mixture and turn it on low for 4-8 hours.

If you want to make applesauce out of the stewed apples, simply blend the mixture in a food processor or blender. For lumpier applesauce simply blend using your mixer.