Grits and storms

We had a non-stop train of storms come in last night. There was frightening thunder, lightning that caused a great many fires, rain that overflowed my plant pot that is 8 inches high, and of course, tornadoes. We were not hit by any tornadoes nor any straight-line winds right around here, but a little ways out, they were.

My cat Bert was inconsolable, He trounced on my head all night. I mean that literally. He would bound up onto the bed and lick my face and sit in my hair. Every hour or so when another storm would roll through he would do that. And he would do that in between storms too. The storms were unstoppable and Bert would not stop. I tried to comfort him as best I could by cuddling and talking to him. It makes for a tired Cat Mama the next day though.

I made the biggest load of grits a person can fit in the crockpot today. My friend gave me the recipe and it was for feeding the entire kindergarten class, 19 kids plus 3 adults. She told me to cut it. The first time I make a recipe I always make it exactly the way it is described, so I know how it is supposed to come out, and that way I have a benchmark to tweak it against. So I did not cut it. But this is a ridiculous amount of grits. I could seal my driveway with them.

The movie My Cousin Vinny came out 20 years ago. I enjoyed that movie. It was about a NY Italian lawyer who had to travel to Mississippi to defend his cousin who had allegedly committed a crime there. It was basically a show about the fish out of water, the comedy stemming from the clash between the hardened, brash New Yorker in the genteel southern culture. In the trial, the amount of time it takes to cook grits became an important part of the defense. At the time, I laughed so hard at this exchange:

Vinny Gambini: Oh, oh, oh, you testified earlier that you saw the boys go into the store, and you had just begun to cook your breakfast and you were just getting ready to eat when you heard the shot.
Mr. Tipton: That's right.
Vinny Gambini: So obviously it takes you 5 minutes to cook your breakfast.
Mr. Tipton: That's right.
Vinny Gambini: That's right, so you knew that. You remember what you had?
Mr. Tipton: Eggs and grits.
Vinny Gambini: Eggs and grits. I like grits, too. How do you cook your grits? Do you like them regular, creamy or al dente?
Mr. Tipton: Just regular I guess.
Vinny Gambini: Regular. Instant grits?
Mr. Tipton: No self respectin' Southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits.
Vinny Gambini: So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you 5 minutes to cook your grits when it takes the entire grit eating world 20 minutes?
Mr. Tipton: I don't know, I'm a fast cook I guess.
Vinny Gambini: I'm sorry I was all the way over here I couldn't hear you did you say you were a fast cook, that's it?
Mr. Tipton: Yeah.
Vinny Gambini: Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit faster in your kitchen than anywhere else on the face of the earth?
Mr. Tipton: I don't know.
Vinny Gambini: Well, I guess the laws of physics cease to exist on top of your stove. Were these magic grits? Did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?

Magic grits, lol. Now I need a magic genie to come and eat them all.

Who knew that twenty years later I'd me making grits from a recipe a southern lady gave me. That me, a Yankee, would be making grits like a southern lady and loving them so much and even living in the south. Ahem, though these are not instant grits (horrors!) they are 'quick' grits. They took 4 hours in the crockpot.