The opening theme for today is grits, inspired by a visit to The Camp House. Anonymous from Brainerd wrote, “I love grits. On their menu is an assortment of bowls with your choice of bases: jasmine rice, lettuces or buttermilk grits. I know that you get a creamy taste when you cook grits in milk, but they scorch so easily. Does buttermilk make them creamy? I would like a recipe for buttermilk grits or any other recipe for creamy grits. Also what is the best kind to buy? Is the stone-ground variety really better?”
Juanita Ellis had a cold-weather longing for old-fashioned gingerbread with lemon syrup topping, and so she wrote, “Do you have a good recipe that is simple to make?”
This one is for everybody. Please send us one recipe, just one, that you are planning to make for the holidays. That will fuel the Christmas fires in our kitchens.
CORRECTION
Before you dig into today’s contributions, please add an ingredient missing from last week’s column. The Sour Cream Coconut Cake that is a favorite of Janice Hixson and several other readers was printed without the necessary sour cream, and it’s my error. Add 16 ounces of sour cream to the other frosting ingredients – 2 cups sugar and 2 (6-ounce) packages of fresh frozen coconut – and you have a dessert worthy of your own special occasion.