Wow, what a crazy weekend of SEC football.  This weekend will be an interesting game against the Georgia Bulldogs for sure.  While I in general shy away from football predictions here, I will go on record and say the weekend looks to be great fall football weather.

I was traveling through Athens a few weeks ago and my co-worker had picked out a great little spot for dinner called The Place.  Great atmosphere and even better food and drinks.  Glancing at the bar menu, the Peanuts & Coke jumped out immediately.  Not only are peanuts Georgia’s official state crop, they produce near half of all the peanuts grown in the United Sates.  As a nod to GA and Athens, this week I’ll be featuring the Peanuts & Coke as our drink and getting a batch of boiled peanuts going as well.

In addition to the great drinks, these guys had a pretty good Shrimp and Grits on the menu.   Continuing the nod to my Athens trips, I’ll be cooking those for lunch.  As most of you know, I’ve been cooking over an open hickory and oak pit fire the last few years.  I will be smoking some Gouda for the grits as well as fire roasting the vegetables for the shrimp and grits to add another depth of flavor. It will be a variation of one of my favorite recipes Shane’s Shrimp and Grits.

For dinner, I’m going to work peaches into the menu for another nod to Georgia.  I’ll be keeping a fire rolling over the afternoon while cooking some whole chickens, pork tenderloins, vegetables and cabbage for a grilled slaw.

Here’s the days plan:

• Featured Cocktail:  Peanuts & Coke as done at The Place
• Lunch:  Shrimp and Grits with home smoked Gouda and fire roasted vegetables
• Afternoon:  Spicy boiled peanuts
• Dinner:  Fire roasted chicken and pork tenderloins with pan fried peaches, roasted tomato salsa and fire roasted slaw

I’ll be getting lunch off sometime around 1 and shooting to have dinner off around 5:30. Please let me know what meals you’re making so I can try and adjust numbers.

Roll Tide!

Shane