I love corn. I will eat it in any incarnation - popped, creamed, steamed, grilled, boiled, mashed, baked, ground - you name it. My kids love corn, too... except when presented in the form of grits.
What southern-born, Georgia-bred, great-grandchild of a Rocky Top moonshiner doesn't like grits?!? It is just plain unnatural I tell you.
Grits can be deceiving, though. Once, at J.Christopher's, I ordered a side of grits for G. She was about 7 months old and was really good about trying new foods. I temperature tested the top of the grits with my finger... nice and lukewarm. I gave her a bite and oh my - how she did WAIL! Her sweet little face just crumpled in to sobs and real tears came streaming out of her little accusatory eyes. Turns out grits are really good at keeping the heat on the inside... they were searing hot underneath that lukewarm crust. What an insulator, though - I wonder if the early settlers thought to use the leftover grits to seal up the holes in their cabins... the stuff hardens like bricks when it cools.
Today I introduced grits to Little L and got the same unimpressed review. She happily took a few bites (I made sure it wasn't secretly scalding this time), then proceeded to stick her thumb in her mouth an fwap away the spoon any time I tried to ease some more grits into that perfect Cupid's bow mouth. Strike three.
Now OATMEAL they can't seem to get enough of. Must be the Pennsylvania Dutch eeking through from my side of the family.
2 comments:
You have Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, too? My paternal grandparents were Amish until the Great Depression. (Y'know, the first one ; ) Liam & I both like our oatmeal with a TON of brown sugar. I think that must be a Pennsylvania Dutch thing, because I got it from my dad & my grandma used to serve rice with brown sugar.
Anyway, I'm not a fan of grits, either, but then I grew up in the northwest. I do like hush puppies, though.
Yes, somewhere around there in Pennsylvania - My great grandfather was a pioneer with a wagon and everything. His wagon sank on the first trip across, and his wife and three daughters drowned. He went back and married her sister and made the trek again - successfully this time - and settled in the Dakotas.
He chose well - we are a hearty people. My grandfather was a preemie born in February in South Dakota... they kept him in the oven to keep him warm, but he survived. Isn't that something?
My kids like thier oats with lots of butter and brown sugar... I've never tried rice with brown sugar, but it sounds yummy. Rice pudding is one of my favorites.
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