A Messin and a Gommin

This past week seemed to last forever. Rainy wet weather that gave us flood warnings and left the ground saturated with water. Friday was a beautiful day, except I spent it inside working, and anticipating my weekend off, which is supposed to be sunny and dry.
So Saturday, I got up and after drinking my morning coffee, the sun was shining and it was a bit breezy, but I decided to get outside and try to do some work. I started by going out to my garden to pull up my tomato cages, clean out the debris and get them ready to this season. As I walked into my garden spot, I remembered my daughter telling me earlier in the week, that the cows had gotten out and into the garden area, so she shut the gate so that they couldn’t get into the yard. Our garden plot is fenced off of our pasture with cattle panels so that we can easily access the pasture if needed through a gate from our yard. Anyway, as I opened the gate to much of my surprise, the cows had thoroughly tromped up the whole area! I mean there wasn’t much space to walk without stepping in a hole, not to mention the rain had left the ground wet and muddy. But with my boots on I went in, sinking in the mud and muck well up over the foot of my boots. I saw the panel that was lain down by the cows, so naturally that was first on the list of things to do. I got my wire and mended the fence, walking the perimeter making sure there were no other loose panels. With each step in the mud I found myself having to pull each foot up without losing my boot in the process. Once the fence was mended, I turned my focus on the tomato cages. I have somewhere around 30 to pull up. Luckily, since the ground was wet, they came up fairly easily. I pulled out the stakes and cleaned out the dead debris left from last season. I lined them up along the fence so that they are ready to use again.

After the cows tromped my garden

Tomato cages ready for this season

Next, my sister and I decided to clean up the limbs and leaves over at the farmhouse, our home place. So I met her over there and she had already started with a tarp full of limbs. So we pick up a few more and then she put on her back pack blower and started in on the leaves. Wow, that thing is amazing, I need one! After we finished up, I saw my husband was working cows down at the barn so I went to watch them for a bit. They were palpating cows to see if they were pregnant. All were bred except two, so that was a good day.
I then received a text from my mother in law, that she was having dinner at her house if I wanted to come, so I went home changed my dirty clothes and drove up the road a mile or so to her house to have a wonderful meal and visit with family. That was my Saturday.
On Sunday, I woke up and noticed that my face and lips were somewhat wind burned and chapped from being outside most of the day before. As usual we had our coffee and proceeded to get dressed for church. We attend St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lafe Arkansas. After service we decided to drive into Paragould, to eat lunch. The clouds had moved in and we are expecting more rain Sunday night. So after lunch, my husband needed to clip some bulls for an upcoming sale and he headed out for the afternoon. I retrieved a mason bee house from the farmhouse on Saturday that needed repaired so I used my hot glue gun to repair the cane pieces that had came out over the winter.

Mason bee house

Then I remembered that earlier in the week I decided to pull some peaches out of the freezer to cook down for some peach butter. These peaches were very ripe when I put them up, so they wouldn’t be good for much more than peach jam or peach butter. I added lemon juice to keep them from turning brown and cooked them all day in the crockpot. I used my immersion blender to blend them up to a smooth consistency and added sugar and cinnamon to taste. I kept this in the refrigerator until I was able to put it in jars. So I got the peach butter out of the refrigerator and proceeded to heat it up and put it in sealed jars. As I was working on the peach butter, I decided that some biscuits sure would go well with that peach butter so I made some. I’m still trying to make the perfect biscuit. Oh don’t get me wrong, these were good. I just haven’t got it the way I want it yet. A work in progress I guess. Maybe one day I’ll be able to post the perfect biscuit recipe!

Peach butter

Fresh buttermilk biscuits

Yum I had to try one!

So after I made the biscuits and canned the peach butter, I needed to take some freezer meals I made on Friday night to a sweet family that just got to bring home their newborn twin girls. So I loaded up the frozen meals, placed in a few warm biscuits and grabbed a jar of peach butter and off I went.

Freezer meals for friends

After I got home, I worked in some laundry, and thought about making cookies but low and behold, I didn’t have enough flour left to make them. I need to add that to my grocery list.
I’m telling you about my weekend because after I finally sat down and thought about it, a phrase came to mind that my mom and grandma always used when asked what they were up to. They would respond by saying, “Oh just a messin and a gommin.” This phrase is used in southern dialect to mean that they are doing things with no purpose in mind. Another word that comes to mind is “piddling” which basically means the same thing. I think that sums up my weekend. I started with a purpose and I just messed and gommed the rest of it. Maybe I could say “I just piddled around all day.” Nonetheless, I enjoyed my weekend, and I’m looking forward to warmer, dryer days and hopefully more productive ones. However, it seems I always find myself in these situations where I start one thing only to move to another and then to another and so on. Just a messin and gommin around!
Earlier in the week I had a craving for a meal that I love, but have found out as of late, that surprisingly, is not as popular as I thought it was, even though it is on almost every costal menu in the south. I’m talking about “Shrimp and Grits.” I think most people in my area have never had grits cooked properly to enjoy them. I also found that it’s the combination that some people just don’t like together. To see a video of me making shrimp and grits, see my fb page. However, my craving took over and I had to make me some. So if you like them, great! If not, just scroll on through.

Shrimp and Grits

Shrimp and Grits

Grits:
(Note: all measurements are approximate, as I don’t usually measure when I cook)
1/2 cup of dry grits
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
Heat water and salt to boiling, turn down heat and add grits. Allow grits to cook until they start to thicken and stir frequently. Once grits are thick and soft, add approximately 3 T. Cream cheese, 1 – 2 T. Butter and about 1/2 -3/4 cup of cheese. I used Gouda but Cheddar will work or any type cheese you like. Allow this to melt and I add about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of cream. Add garlic powder and just a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir until smooth and creamy. Remove from heat. Cover.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp:

2 slices of bacon fried, set aside and grease reserved
1 -2 lb. shrimp(fresh or frozen) peeled and deveined
Smoked sausage approx. 1 cup sliced
1 medium onion chopped
1 T. Chopped garlic
Dry white wine approx. 1-2 cups
Worcestershire sauce approx. 1/2 cup
Hot sauce
Butter 6-8 T.
Whipping cream 3 T.
Salt
Pepper
Creole seasoning
Cilantro for garnish

Start by sautéing the onion in bacon grease until soft and transparent. Add garlic and sausage and sauté until sausage browns slightly. Deglaze pan with about half of your white wine, add Worcestershire sauce, 3 T butter, and hot sauce to taste. Allow this to simmer for about 5 min and then add your shrimp and seasoning to taste. Cook shrimp until pink. Remove shrimp and sausage from pan and set aside. Add rest of wine and butter. Simmer until sauce reduces and starts separating from pan when stirred. Then add cream. Return shrimp and sausage to pan and allow to thicken slightly.
To serve, place grits in bowl or plate, then spoon shrimp and sauce over the grits. Garnish with crumbled bacon and fresh chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
This was a quick version of shrimp and grits, there’s a lot of variations and I would make it somewhat differently if given time, but this is a delicious quick recipe.
If you have any questions about this recipe or any others on my blog please feel free to comment or send me a message. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Have a great week!

Gods peace,

The Handy Heifer