Taste of Monroe's "Best Taste" Winning Nassau Grits

Ingredients:
-1/2 pound bacon
-1 cup chopped onion
-1/2 cup chopped green or red bell peppers
-1 jalapeño
-2 cloves garlic
-2 cups peeled & diced tomatoes
-1 cup Red Mule Grits
-3 cups water
-salt & pepper to taste

1-Fry the bacon and reserve 1 tbsp of the grease. Set bacon aside.
2-Saute peppers, onions, and garlic. Add the tomatoes. Simmer until mixture is thick.
3-Cook grits as package directs.
4-Add vegetable mixture to the grits. Add salt & pepper to taste. Top with bacon crumbles & serve hot!

Taste of Monroe Menu

It's only one week away and I have just finalized the Honey General Store menu for the Taste of Monroe. If you haven't bought tickets yet, you can still get them at Honey for $20 per ticket (they'll be $25 at the door). The Taste of Monroe will be held at the Van Horne Manor, 410 East Church Street, Monroe, GA 30655 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. You will have the unique opportunity to taste menu items from local restaurants and stores, do some early Christmas shopping at our silent auction, and enjoy our cash bar...all in one of our favorite downtown neighborhoods! The following restaurants and businesses will be participating in the tasting: Twisted Oak Woodfire Grill, Blue Marley Cafe, Van Horne Manor, Fox's Pizza Den, Nature's Magik Garden, Bella Cucina, A Better Bite Catering, SD Smokehouse, John's Supermarket, Bruser's Ice Cream, Robison's BBQ, Creative Dinner Solutions, Country Beginnings, Honey General Store, and a few more! All of the proceeds from this event will go towards the Downtown Development Authority of Monroe.
A few of these recipes will be posted individually, but I'd like to share a little about each of them first...Keep in mind that these items are available at my booth, but all of the other vendors will have 3+ items at their table for you to try!

• Pop's Nassau Grits: This recipe was given to my mother by a dear family friend, Harold Byrd, who now resides in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. He has been so kind to our family and we've spent several wonderful family vacations relaxing, scalloping, fishing, and enjoying Aunt Ebby's Ice Cream at his home! If you love grits, this is for you! If you're not from around here, haven't tried grits, or question the taste value of this Southern staple, this is for you! This recipe originated in Pop's area and the Red Mule Grits are from Athens, GA! Tim and Alice Mills and their mule, Luke, create a few quality corn products: grits, polenta, cornmeal, and porridge. You can find them at Honey!
  


• Caprese Cups: Caprese salad reinvented! Bright green (spinach) and red (tomato) fillo shells hold an all organic carprese salad mixture and are topped with a fresh local basil leaf.


• Asiago Flatbread: Fresh, cheesy, delicious asiago cheese flatbread from Big City Bakery in Athens, GA will be served in small bites for tasting. This bread is available at Honey General Store each Wednesday and is currently my best seller!
  


• Pumpernickel Bread: This yummy bread will be served with a soft honey butter. Also from Big City Bakery in Athens, GA.


• Sourdough Everything Baguette: We will have some dipping oils available when you try this Big City Bakery treasure!
  


• Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies and Ginger & Molasses Cookies: The names say it all! Order these for your sweetheart in a Christmas Cookie Box! Big City has a large variety of cookies for you to choose from.
  


• Cream Cheese Brownies: You won't be able to resist these treats from Big City! Also available in fancy holiday boxes.

I hope to see you at the Taste!

Yum! Plums!

Plum Sorbet!

Plum sorbet...a sweet way to end any summer meal! Sorbet is a a flavored syrup with a slushy consistency that contains no dairy. Serve this treat in a chilled martini glass or small ice cream dish. Garnish with an sugared orange peel twist and mint leaves!

Plum puree:
3 cups ripe red fleshed plums
1 cup boiling water
2 cups superfine sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick

Plum Puree: Place the boiling water and sugar in a saucepan and stir them together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the vanilla pod, cinnamon stick and plums to the syrup and place the saucepan over a moderate heat. Bring the syrup to a simmer and reduce the temperature slightly. Leave the plums to cook gently for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the plums with a slotted spoon and leave them and the syrup to cool. Cut the plums in half and remove the pits from them. Roughly dice the plums and place them in a food processor or blender and puree them with cooking syrup. Set the puree aside until well cooled.

Sorbet: Place the puree and syrup in an ice cream machine and allow it to churn until the mixture becomes firm. Place the sorbet in a well sealed freezer proof container and freeze until ready to serve. If you don't have an ice cream machine place it in a freezer proof sealed container and place it in the freezer for 1 hour then remove it and stir, then return to the freezer and take it out and stir it every 30 minutes for 2 hours then freeze it until ready to serve. Remove the sorbet from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.