First things first. The lovely Robin nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award. And that, kids, means a) I’m officially a superstar (no, no I’m not), and b) you’re about to learn 7 useless pieces of information about yours truly. You’re on the middle of your seat, I know.
1. I’ve played flute since 6th grade. I graduated college in 2006. You do the math. (No, seriously. I was a Comm major and therefore can’t do math so you’re on your own with figuring out how many years that is.)
2. Facebook irritates the crap out of me. Yet I keep logging in.
3. I have the knees of an 80 year old. Seriously. You do not want to hear me stand up.
4. I name everything – my car is Stella, my iPhone is Ingrid, my Keurig is Baby K. . .I’ll stop now.
5. I’m fluent in Christmas and baseball movies. My husband occasionally needs a translator.
6. I’ve met Keith Urban twice and had an autographed (poorly photoshopped) picture of the 2 of us until the tornado ate it. It’s the only thing the tornado ate that I’m still uber pissed about.
7. My hatred for the Cubs, Packers, Sammy Sosa, and Brett Favre knows no bounds.
And now on to the real reason you’re here – food!
My husband is literally the first person I met when I got to South Carolina. He picked me up at the airport for my interview, joined us for lunch, and then disappeared until I’d been at the new job for almost 2 months. A co-worker set us up that October, and we quasi-dated until December when I demanded to know what the what was going on between us (I may or may not have been double dating and in need of answers). Our last quasi-date was a Keith Urban concert followed by a late dinner at one of the most amazing breakfast places I’ve ever been to. It was there that the husband introduced me to grits. He was eating them plain and I was vastly unimpressed.
Fast forward a few months later to the husband taking me to Charleston for the first time in my life. At one of the restaurants we went to, he ordered shrimp and grits. I was immediately repulsed. Then the shrimp and grits appeared on our table, and I was intrigued. Lo and behold, the beauty of grits is it’s all in how you prepare them. And this Yankee was sold on shrimp and grits.
I’ve since made shrimp and grits several times. I’ve also made shrimp risotto. We’re big fans of both in my house. So obviously when I saw this Cheesy Shrimp Rice, there was no question that it would appear on my kitchen table.
Verdict
Nailed it. Both the husband and I basically inhaled this. It’s nice to have a little change up from regular shrimp and grits.
Alterations
I used all shrimp, skipped the peas for I had none, and skipped the cilantro for I am not a fan. I also think the rice could have cooked a little longer, but we were hungry so we went with it. Just know that it’s probably going to take longer than 20 minutes.
Original recipe from The Fit Cook.
P.S. I’d do the whole Verstaile Blogger button thing, but I have no idea how to. But here are the 15 I’m passing it on to:
1. Taking On Magazine One Recipe At A Time
10. Rantings of An Amateur Chef
12. Sweet Tater Blog
13. The Bloggess
14. Whipped
15. The Fit Cook
Nailed It/Failed It 
You hate the Pack and Brett….that would put you as a Midwest girl. I’d even say Chicago. But you also hate the Cubs, so does that mean you’re a White Sox fan or from another state? I’ll have to check you’re ‘about’ page. Now I’m curious. I’ve lived here in the south for fifteen years now and still don’t like grits, no matter how well they’re prepared. The shrimp and rice dish looks delicious. I’d keep the peas and cilantro in though since we’re fans of both. 🙂
Thanks so much for nominating Taking On Magazines for the Versatile Blogger Award. That was very sweet of you. And, congratulations for winning it yourself!
You would be correct on the Chicago and White Sox fronts. 🙂
Thank you for the nomination! So nice of you, truly.
And as far as the knees go..I can so relate. I’m about 100 years old when I stand up or sit down. The crackling scares animals and little children. 🙂
Thank you so much for the nomination!