A little bit of a dinner party

Bf and I had a mini-dinner party on Friday night. We just invited a couple of friends over and cooked bf's favorite dinner. We have been making Bonne Femme for a couple of years as our "special dinner." Typically reserved for Valentine's, Anniversaries, etc... but Friday we thought that our friends would enjoy a little bit of a very rich, very delicious dish. 

I cheat and loosely use Food Network's recipe. The protein in this dish is scallops, which are perfect in this dish, but you can also use chicken... or seriously, just bread. 

Since we had friends over we were busy telling stories, laughing, and sharing some wine so I felt rude excusing myself to take pictures. Next thing you know, it was ready. And we dove in. Before I could even get a picture of a non-nibbled on plate. 

Bf and 1/2 of Thandrew were dining to my left and totally involved in their plates. 

The other 1/2 of Thandrew, glaring at me from across the table. We exchanged some heated words later about this attitude. Just kidding, I could never be mad at him. 

I wasn't hesitating to dive on in. I am a very fast eater, when everyone else is slow. I am a very slow eater, when everyone else is fast. I don't know. Bf says I do it to get on his nerves... but I don't think that's really the reason. 

And to my right was Schneebs and Waverly. It was their first time over to dinner and we were so happy to have them. Friday nights, I am so drained. I wish we had been able to do this dinner on Saturday night so I would have been a more enthusiastic hostess. Next time...

I mean... hello? Do we have guests? Are we talking to anyone? Probably not. Just eating. 

Approximately 2 minutes later, we were finished. I think we were all starved. I ate mine in 1 minute. 1 minute faster than the rest, of course. Then, it was time for a show.... A DOG SHOW! 

Our dog, Stellar, is smart. Now, I know I know, so is your dog. But, Stellar is really smart. Like, can write with a pencil smart... ok, that was a lie. He's not that smart, but he is smart enough to sit in your chair if you get up and join the rest of the group at the dinner table. 

He happily joined in on our dinner conversation. He had very interesting insight on the housing crisis. 

Then, it was a battle between Chum and Stellar for who got to sit in Schneebs's lap. Followed by apologies for the dogs being such free-spirits. Thankfully, he loves them too. 

Stellar hears better this way. We wanted to make sure he was paying attention. Oh, and by this time we had pulled up another chair so that bf and Stellar could both sit at the table. 

NO MORE NO MORE. Shortly after being photographed multiple times, he had had enough and went to sleep on the couch. But we had fun while we could. 

And if you have ever hung with 1/2 of Thandrew and I, you would know that a party is not a party until we break out the nail polish. I can not begin to describe all the likes of people whose nails we have painted. 

I wish I had taken more photos of the food, but I am sure I will be making it again soon. Maybe this time, for the first time, I will try chicken. I just love scallops soooo much. 

Savannah: Shrimp and Grits

I am a South Carolina girl living in Georgia. I love the south, I love the north too. I have no clue where I belong. But I know that the south beats in my blood. I come from a line of country folk, so country even I was surprised. My parents are North Carolina folk living in South Carolina. Those old North Carolina folk, shoooweee.... anyway, I was going to talk about some Shrimp 'n Grits I made (it seems I have gotten off point). I have never made Shrimp 'n Grits before, so I thought my and bf should do it for a quickie din in Savannah. Yes, it has bacon.....

Ingredients: 

3 cups low-fat milk

2 garlic cloves, pressed, divided

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup quick-cooking grits

6 slices thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, cut crosswise into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-wide slices

1 1/2 pounds deveined peeled uncooked large shrimp

1 cup sliced shallots (about 4 large)

1 8-ounce bottle clam juice

2 5-ounce packages baby spinach

Hot pepper sauce

1 lemon, cut into wedges

I am such a cliche. I buy books by what the covers look like and I buy wine depending on name and the prettiness of the label. So when I saw this Cupcake Wine, it was right up my alley. Nice name and nice label. 

This was some goooood clam juice too. Of course it is not "bar harbor." Its "BA HABA."

I live and breathe for Pepper Sauce. I could put it on anything. I could totally go for collards right now. 

I had my trusty glass of white wine with ice by my side and I was ready to begin!

Let me digress to the other things we bought at PUBLIX as well: My favorite pickles, a lunchable (?!), and a classy magazine. 

The pickles are da bomb (yes, I know I wrote "da bomb" but I don't care. They deserve it.)

Ok, now time to begin:

Chopped up two garlic cloves. 

Bring milk to a boil with the garlic.

Coarsely chop the bacon.

We had to shell and devein our shrimp. 

Measure out grits. 

Add bacon to hot pan. 

Chop up your four shallots

Add grits to milk and briskly stir. 

When bacon has browned, spoon out with a slotted spoon and deposit on waiting paper towels. 

Bf was in charge of deveining and shelling our shrimp and he was taking his sweeeet time.

Meanwhile, I was stirring the grits. And stirring and stirring. 

Then, we plopped the scrimps down in the pan of bacon grease .

Add your shallots to the pan right after your shrimp turn pink. 

Stir. 

After cooking your shallots and shrimp for about 2 minutes, add clam juice and bring to a boil while scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. 

Then, chuck your bag of spinach on top of the shrimp.

Let wilt.

Plop down a large dollop of grits into the bowl. Then spoon in shrimp and spinach mixture. Make sure you get some sauce!

Sprinkle with green onion.

Top with bacon. Trust me! The bacon and pepper sauce make this dish!

I added the photo below to Facebook and I thought that the responses from it were pretty funny and I was surprised it was so unrecognizable. 

So, that was my first go at Shrimp and Grits. It was very good. I want to try this other recipe soon that I found when I found this one. I'll keep you posted. 

I would love to try someone else's shrimp and grits recipe? Have one?