Thank you all so very much. I hope I can explain this correctly/adequately...SJ, you are absolutely correct!
I just recently saw an episode of "Flip This House"...they fixed up a gorgeous victorian place, put it on the market and were offering shrimp and grits to the people who were coming to view the newly renovated gorgeous home. The shrimp and grits looked WONDERFUL! They added some cheese too...it looked marvelous. We are landlocked up here in the north and the shrimp we get here are usually frozen...the "fresh" ones are almost "squishy", if that is the correct word.
Next, I had some truly scrumptuous grits at a Waffle House (of all places) just east of New Orleans on our way back to 30A in Jan. of 05...wonderful consistency with just a touch of melted butter on top. They were simply the most wonderful thing I had had in a while. Truly, truly delicious! Had some grits in a Waffle House in Destin...not the same thing at all.
I am not a southern cook, that's for sure! I am a fairly good "northern" cook...do pretty fair "northern style" cooking, if I do say so myself.
I was hoping, I guess, for a fool-proof southern recipe that would take my friends back to the wonderful time they had in Savannah. They too are "northerners". We have a dedicated home movie theater and plan to screen the "Midnight Garden of Good and Evil", which, in my view, is so beautifully shot as to portray Savannah in all its beauty and splendor. I actually saw the house in question on a TV show called "The Antique Hunter" a while ago. What a gorgeous home!
We are looking forward to trying to "reasonably" replicate something you might naturally find in Savannah...I know I won't recreate it absolutely...hear our friends' stories and watch the movie, in order to try to re-connect with that wonderful New Year's Eve experience they had...
So, as I said to SJ, you are absolutely correct...and astute, to say the least. I will never be able to replicate a wonderful meal such as you would have in a fabulous Savannah restaurant...but I will try to replicate a semblence of the memory for our friends.
So, SJ, where did you come by all your profundities? You seem to me to be smart and quite wise beyond your years.
Thank you all. I think I'll try to go with the shrimp and grits...although I realize it may end up being disaster of my own creating ; )