Scout Moves

I’m channeling my father when I speak in the dialect that includes phrases like “git ya’ some.” He usually used it when forcing fresh tomato slices in the summer. “Git ya some tomata,” he would say, and I would flinch because the notion of just eating a slice of tomato was not appealing. Still isn’t. But git ya’ some shrimp and grits for sure, especially if you live along the Gulf where shrimp are currently plentiful and presumably not contaminated.  Quite a few restaurants here offer this rustic and delicious dish, and I enjoy what they deliver to the table, but I also like making it at home. I pick up fresh shrimp at Goat Feathers on 30A and crack open my Ina Garten cookbook and get to work. Why would I use a recipe from a cook from the Hamptons and not one from Emeril Lagasse (a local, turns out) or Chef Paul Prudomme, you wonder? Because I want to, and because there is no one recipe that is considered standard. I have many cookbooks on the shelf from all of the above chefs (Ina...

I’m not afraid to address this subject because I don’t intend to mention names of politicians. I’m simply addressing the nature of politics on the beloved 30A. Florida is a red state generally, although in the 2020 election, the vote was approximately 52%/48% on the side of the GOP, which means a large swath of the population voted for a democrat. The swath does not encompass Walton County, however, which went 75%/25% hoping for a GOP win. As is true in most places, politics does not come up in daily life. You can conduct all your personal business as a resident—buy groceries, pick up some material for a project around the house, stop for some pet food, etc. You can enjoy a nice walk or bike ride, spend some time at the beach, have dinner or lunch out, chat with the neighbors across the fence, and politics will never be mentioned. There is so much more to living. During the 2020 campaign, though, locals picked their teams and showed their colors out in the open. As you can imagine, the...

I mean, key lime pie. Who doesn’t love it? Locals and regular visitors can tell you exactly where to get it and who makes the best one. Why is it so prevalent here, you might wonder, given this is not a tropical location? I’m not exactly sure, but I suspect it’s because people come here wanting FLORIDA, with palm trees and lazy days and key lime pie, like all of Florida is south Florida. Photo by Jasper Nance We are not South Florida, more like Lower Alabama, but locals have figured out that planting palm trees in pine tree territory and selling key lime pie in pecan pie territory satisfies the desires of the visitors. I’ll confess, while I don’t care about palm trees, I do like a good key lime pie. My favorite comes from the freezer at Goat Feathers seafood market on 30A between Gulf Place and Blue Mountain. Funnily enough, that stuff comes from a pie maker in Georgia .  That said, what I make in my own kitchen isn’t bad, either. Most recipes are the same, although some will subst...