GRITS! A Southern Girl’s Pantry Staple!

March 5, 2018

Grits, My One Weakness!

What’s a good southern girl to do without the creamy deliciousness of grits? Now mind you, not just any kind of grits! In my humble opinion, they are not all created equal. Stone ground yellow that are gluten-free and non-GMO are my personal favorite! If you are eating the instant, microwavable-kind, please toss them. You are missing out!

I did a little digging into one of our best-loved breakfast foods. Their origins are from Native Americans. Grits is a derived Old English word “grytt,” meaning coarse meal. The South purchases three quarters of all grits sold in America. Consequently, it is sometimes called the “grits belt” encompassing an area from Texas to Virginia! In 1952, The Charleston News and Courier proclaimed,

“An inexpensive, simple and thoroughly digestible food, (grits) should be made popular throughout the world. Given enough of it, the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about. A man full of “grits” is a man of peace.” The General Assembly of South Carolina made grits the official state food.

Uncooked Low Country ground corn is known as “grist” and the cooked dish “hominy.” The corn’s yellow or white color depends on the variety of the corn. The most common we find in our supermarkets is the “quick” grits.

I have fond memories of my sweet, southern grandmother Lula. She was truly southern through and through. She was a wonderful cook. As a child, I remember her serving up grits with fried or over easy eggs. I believe that is why they are my favorite!

What goes well with them…just about anything. Eggs, bacon, sausage and country ham are among my favorites. Because we loved them so much, we served Shrimp & Grits to our wedding guests.

My Predicament

After relocating to Virginia, I had a bit of a predicament. Our local grocery store only carried the Quaker Old Fashioned. Unfortunately, once you have eaten stone ground yellow, others pale in comparison! According to my palate, they just don’t taste as yummy. Considering our remote location and not desiring to drive a great distance to find them, I did what any savvy southern girl would do. I jumped on Amazon to see what I could find. Palmetto Farms Yellow Stone Ground caught my eye. With excellent reviews, it seemed like it would be a good option. The best part, the farm is 25 miles from where my grandmother used to live (smile)! I knew I had made the right choice.