Weekend Recap

We just had the best weekend with my parents and my in-laws!!  I love it when we are all together. And we had the BEST food - we ate all weekend long and it was wonderful!!  Most of you know that I am a foodie and as a foodie this weekend topped them all.

 

Friday: Mom and dad arrived around 3, I got off work around 4, and the party began!  They brought up trout (similar to salmon in color and taste) and we had the crew over for trout, rice, salad and Mrs. Deb's strawberry shortcakes.  Sorry no pictures - there was no time- food went down to fast!  I watched dad cook the fish so I will know how to do that in the future, but I still need to sit down with Mrs. Deb next time she makes the short cakes.  They were Awesome!!  

Saturday: We went out to eat at Folks Folly for a little early birthday celebrations. Best steak ever!

Sunday: On mothers day I had a brunch celebration at our house to honor my mom and mother-in-law.  The menu consisted of shrimp and grits, ham biscuits, fruit with baileys dipping sauce, mimosa's, and bloody mary's. I have to say, the shrimp and grits were the best I have ever had.  It started from a Food.com recipe, but I modified it to add white wine, tomatoes, changed the cheese, and added more sauce.  Here it is below:

 

  

 

Shrimp and Grits

(serves 8)

Ingredients:4 cups water

1 (29 ounce) can chicken broth

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups regular grits (I used quick grits and they were fine)

2 cups Gouda cheese

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

6-8 slices bacon

2 lbs medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 cans petite diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cup sliced green onion

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 -2 cup white wine

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

2 to taste lemon wedge

Directions:

Grits:  Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually whisk in grits; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until thickened; add Gouda cheese and next 4 ingredients; set aside but keep warm.

Sauce & Shrimp:
- Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lay down slices of bacon.  Cook in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until it has reached the desired crispiness (Alternative method is to cook bacon in a pan); remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserve 3-4 tablespoon of drippings and put in a skillet; crumble bacon and set aside.
- Sprinkle shrimp with pepper and salt; dredge in flour. Set aside.
- Saute mushrooms in hot drippings in skillet 5 minutes, or until tender; add green onions and saute 2 minutes; and garlic and saute 2 minutes; stir in white wine, lemon juice, tomatoes, and hot sauce and cook 2 more minutes, stir in salt and pepper to taste. Add shrimp to the sauce and stir until they are pink.  If the sauce looks dry then add white wine and lemon.

Serve: Divide grits into large, shallow soup bowls; divide shrimp mixture into servings and place on top of grits; top each serving with crumbled bacon and serve with lemon wedges

If you are going to make for a crowd then you can do a few things ahead of time:
- Peel and devein shrimp
- Grade cheese
- chop green onions

Afterwards we relaxed on the deck - my kind of weekend!!