Tennessee throwdown

Friends I hope we all had as fabulous of a holiday as I did.  Let's just say day one and I'm drunk with my mother in my poodle pajamas, singing Herman's Hermits at the top of my lungs in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.  Now if that doesn't bring a tear to your eye in the spirit of the holiday season, I don't know what will.

A good night's sleep and a few aspirin later, we managed to pull ourselves together and accomplish a day's worth of chores, holiday-style, most of which revolved around which outfit the Tiny Sheriff would be wearing, discerning whether the Tiny Sheriff was in fact still hungry/thirsty, and, most importantly, determining the Tiny Sheriff's mood, which ranges from pissed off to extremely pissed off.  All in all a productive venture!  And even with time to spare to take Paula Deen up on her challenge of the month:  decide for yourself which shrimp 'n grits recipe really is the best.  Well, folks, my momma isn't one to blaspheme the mistress of the south, so we took an evening to settle the great debate once and for all.

First we cut up all the ingredients and put them in their own brightly-colored wares just like Paula would do on her own show. And then we were so worn out from our labors we snapped some pictures, had a cocktail, and briefly commented on how the Tiny Sheriff may or may not need to put on her doggie snuggie because she was looking cold and particularly pissed off.  Then we realized the grits take over an hour to cook and why the sam hill did we spend the last hour aimelessly chopping veggies for the money shot.  Idiots.

ANYWHO.  We finally figured it was time, as sister would say, to TCOB (take care of business).  Frank Stitt's sophisticated recipe included yellow grits seasoned with fontina cheese, and shrimp sauteed with white wine and various flavorful veggies, such as sweet tomatoes, chives and green onions.

Paula's spicy, low-country creation (which I've made before and thoroughly enjoyed) included white grits seasoned with sharp cheddar, and shrimp sauteed in bacon grease (yikes), chopped peppers, and creole seasoning.

All paired with some tasty libations including, from the left, a rose I brought back from a small winery in the Hamptons (I must've been a few glasses in when I tried it this summer because it tasted like shiz), Sarah's Patio Red from Virginia's Chrysalis winery - a family favorite and highly recommended!- a very light, sweet red served chilled, and, randomly pictured, a delicious Malbec/Tempranillo blend Mumsie brought to the cabin from Florida.

We finished our mad, chaotic, double-burner showdown and each sat down with one bowl of each in order to sip, stir, munch and scrutinize.  We decided we ever so slightly preferred Frank's subtle, more sophisticated  flavor's over Paula's cajun overload, but we thoroughly enjoyed both and filled up for second helpings of each (with a small morsel or two for the Sheriff herself).

 And that was our Thanksgiving break throwdown folks!  The rest of the weekend was full of more feasting, some college football (RIP Florida Gators), plenty more libations and tons 'o reading, which will produce more book reviews in the near future.  (The photo-documentation is dedicated to Miss Jessi-Anne and her colorful food blog that always makes my stomach growl.)  xo