Saturday, September 12, 2009

Happy Blog-iversary

Three years ago, I wrote the first post for Brim.

Writing a blog has been an interesting experience. When I started, I had no idea what I was doing – as it's been with most of my endeavors. Along the way, Brim has attracted a surprising, yet modest following. I lost lots of readers when I went silent for a long stretch in 2008, but I’ve picked up some new people and lured back some regulars.

Instead of going on and on about everything that’s gone into writing this and everything I’ve gotten out of it, I’ll just say, thanks.

To all my readers – past, present and future – I appreciate you stopping in to see what’s going on with Brim. Thanks for reading, and I'm humbled by your interest.

Tonight, E and I are raising a glass to all of you. We're toasting with Gruet Winery brut sparkling wine, which is appropriate because it’s a slightly off-beat (like my blog) choice of bubbly.


Champagne wouldn’t be right for this occasion. I also passed over some California sparklers that I love, as well as a couple non-Champagne French sparklers. I picked the Gruet not just for it’s flavor and character, but also because it’s from New Mexico. As my long-time readers know, I'm passionate about the expansion of wine producing regions in the U.S.

For dinner, I'm serving spice-rubbed salmon (wild, of course) fillets with a green tomato/red onion/red pepper chutney (or something close to it), grits and snap peas. Those of you who aren't familiar with grits may not know what you're missing. Columbia just happens to be home to Anson Mills, which grinds some of the best grits anywhere.

I could gush about the yeasty-lemon-carmel notes of the Gruet, but I won't. I'll just raise my glass in your honor.

Here's to you.

7 comments:

Sonadora said...

Congrats on making it 3 years!

Dr. Debs said...

Happy, happy anniversary. Sparkling wine and grits sounds like a heavenly pairing to me!

Unknown said...

Thanks, y'all. You two are, by far, my most loyal fans. I appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

A little behind on my reading, but congrats!

I'm perplexed by grits. I had a friend from Memphis go on about his friend green tomatoes which I can envision, but every time I think of grits I think the only way I might ever get to enjoy grits is at a popeyes. (which I may add is creeping its way into the midwest)

So one of these days I'm either going to have to figure out how to make some or finally go to popeyes. :)

cheers

Unknown said...

Thanks, mrT.

To appreciate grits, first you need really good, stone-ground grits. Next, remember that grits are just like rice or pasta -- they are either vehicles for flavor or a foil to strong flavors. Season them with something yummy like cheese, or use them on the side with something that has a very strong flavor.

Most of all, make your own and skip Popeyes.

Anonymous said...

First off, I met to say Fried Green Tomatoes, not "Friend Green.." curse the spell check.

Would something like using just butter and salt be the best way to start off trying grits? Seems like a food that one would start off simple before making and decisions to get creative. Cheese does sound like a good combo but I'd hate to cover up the taste and texture of too much for the first experience.

mrT

Unknown said...

Butter and salt are the foundation of good grits. That's certainly the place to start. If you decide to add some cheese, use it judiciously. You don't need much. A sprinkle of hot sauce is also good.

 
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