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October 13th, 2011
 Lost in California - by Ashton Howard Written by Shelley Yates – The Great Southern Grits Girl.
The Grits Girl recently sat down with local artist Ashton Howard to hear all about what inspires him and why he and his beautiful wife Emilie chose to move back to Pensacola and live. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Ashton’s work, check out his website, www.ashtonhoward.com, before you read this article. There is a certain quality about his work that we find provocative, bold, balanced yet gentle, idealistic and dreamlike. Ashton creates beautiful images in tribute to the people and world around him that he draws his inspiration from.
GG: Did you pick art or did art pick you? Did you or do you have any other career aspirations?
A.H. I think the answer would be both! I have always loved to create and I have been into art since my early high school years. I started out drawing, spray-painting, and eventually was led to traditional painting on canvas by 12th grade. I knew that I had some talent and was producing some good art and that was fun. It was not until a few years later that a trip to California landed me a job as a surf instructor, and that is when I believe art picked me. I was in the right place, inspired by the right things, and through surfing met many influential people that were in the art industry—many aspiring and many successful artists, 
Tags: America, Art, Ashton Howard, Fish House, Murals, Pepperdine University, Shelley Yates, Surfing, The Grits Girl, Things to do, Why I love Grits
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October 12th, 2011
Halloween candy inspires sweet cocktail
 Trick-or-Treat Martini - photo by Katie King Written by Melissa Temsook-Boeker special to The Pensacola News Journal
Now that October is finally here, many people start thinking about the usual fall festivities — like football, leaves changing color, and cooler weather. But personally, I think of Halloween! At my house, the month of October is spent deciding the theme of this year’s haunted house, making the subsequent gory decorations and transforming the yard into a creepy scene of blood, guts and pretty much anything that will terrify the neighbors.
Also, one of the best parts of the holiday is seeing all the creative costumes, and, of course, throwing the perfect Halloween party so that all your friends have a place to show them off. So while everyone else is thinking of the perfect costume to wow their friends, I decided
Tags: Atlas Oyster House, Cocktails, Happy Hour, Melissa Temsook-Boeker, party planning, Pensacola News Journal, Recipes, Things to do, Vodka
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October 11th, 2011
Written by Troy Moon – The Pensacola News Journal
 MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' starring former U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough of Pensacola broadcast live from The Fish House in Pensacola this morning. / Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com “You’re with ‘Morning Joe’ from beautiful Pensacola, Florida.’’
That’s the message sent out across the nation early Thursday morning as the MSNBC morning news/talk show broadcast live from The Fish House in downtown Pensacola.
About a dozen people nibbled on muffins and bagels inside the waterfront restaurant, watching the program on television screens. Outside, just feet away, Scarborough sat behind a bistro table with notes and paperwork in front of him, bright lights and cameras shining his way.
The show airs from 5 to 8 a.m. weekdays on MSNBC.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to be showcased on a nationally renowned show like Morning Joe,’’ said Laura Lee, communications director for Visit Pensacola, a local tourism and marketing group. “We were up there in New York in June and Joe showcased our local seafood and celebrity chefs. And to have him back in Pensacola in October with
Tags: America, Fish House, New York City, Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, Public Relations
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October 11th, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. is Ghouls’ Night Out on The Deck Bar at The Fish House.
It’s all the fun of Girls’ Night Out with a Halloween theme and one wickedly cool Halloween costume contest with two great prizes. Grand prize is $1000.00 in cold, hard cash. There will be a second prize for the crowd favorite, which is $500.00 in prizes.
The contest will be run by DJ Tony C. Entrants will register with the DJ until 10:00 p.m. in three separate rounds. The crowd and the judge will decide who moves on through to the final round. Judge for the evening will be Kate Peterson, a writer from the Independent Weekly. Kate will make the final decision of who will win the $1000.00 cash prize. Following the announcement, the crowd will then vote for their favorite costumed entrant. The crowd favorite will win $500.00 in prizes. The contest will be decided at midnight.
Rumor Mill will provide entertainment for the evening starting at 9:00 p.m.
There will be fun giveaways throughout the evening, as well as a
Tags: America, bacardi, Best Damn Photo Booth, costume contest, DJ Tony C, girls' night out, Halloween, Halloween contest, Halloween Party, Happy Hour, Holidays, Rumor Mill
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October 11th, 2011
Good Grits Girls bake for a good cause. 
Tuesday, October 25, 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Twelve Good Grits Girls, employees of the Great Southern Restaurant Group (The Fish House, Atlas Oyster House and Jackson’s Steakhouse), will join together on the Fish House Deck to submit over 1000 cupcakes to the public for judging. The winner will be crowned the Great Southern Cupcake Queen. Judges are our own Great Southern pastry chefs Trina Confusione (Fish House) and Miko Franklin (Jackson’s Steakhouse), and Partners/Owners Mrs. Collier (Cate) Merrill and Pensacola Celebrity Chef Jim Shirley.
People’s Choice: The public will pay 5 dollars for a chance to taste all of the cupcakes. Cupcake tasters will receive two voting tickets. After tasting cupcakes at each station, the guests will leave their tickets with their favorite baker. The baker who has the most cards will win people’s choice. Prizes for the winner will be donated by the restaurant.
100% of the tasting fees will be donated to the American Cancer Society.
Judges will announce their choice along with the crowd’s favorite at 6:30 p.m.
Door Prizes: Provided for attending guests by area boutiques and salons such as Style Downtown and Escape Wellness Spa.
Drink Specials: Pomegranate and ginger martinis and pink sparkling wine.
Entertainment: Provided by Lucas Crutchfield.
We are all very competitive when it comes to our baking skills. We frequently bring in a new baking recipe for each other to try. We thought that making it a fun event and tying it to such a cause as breast cancer, particularly during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, would be an ideal way to have fun doing what we love for a cause we believe in. We hope that people will come and enjoy the evening with us. “It’s just a few days before the breast cancer walk on Saturday, so in a way it’s our own little pep rally,” says Lindsey Voorhees, a Fish House manager.
Tags: America, Atlas Oyster House, Chef Jim Shirley, Cocktails, contest, cupcakes, Fish House, Good Grits for a Good Cause, Happy Hour, Jackson's Steak House, Shelley Yates, Things to do, Trina Confusione
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October 3rd, 2011
Pensacola News Journal Article written by Trina Confusione
It’s football season again! Time for tailgating and game parties. Time to come up with ideas for snacks that will be easy to take along with you, and that have not been done over and over again. My favorite snack to take along is these pecan brown-sugar bars. These addictive little bites are always a huge hit. They are easy to make and store and are great by themselves, but one of my favorite ways to eat them is warmed up and served with a scoop of butter-pecan ice cream. Do not plan on having any left over; they are usually the first thing gone. So be sure to keep a few at home for later.
Tags: America, chef's corner, Cooking Tips, Trina Confusione
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October 3rd, 2011
 WIne maker from Willamette Valley Vineyards Don Crank Written by Chef Jim Shirley
Last week, while visiting my oldest daughter in Oregon, I also had a great visit with Don Crank III, a Willamette Valley Vineyards winemaker. We tasted through a bit of his portfolio, and he invited me to the winery to taste the rest. Fortunately, the winery is located in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon, which is between the airport in Portland and Madison’s choice for college — Oregon State University in Corvallis (not the Ducks).
Rolling hills, cool Pacific fogs and a drizzling rain that never quite requires an umbrella make for a great place to grow the very finicky Pinot Noir grape. (On the white grape side, Pinot Gris and Riesling do very well in this area.)
Crank was pleased to be able to help grow the grapes and make the wine from some of the oldest vines in Oregon (”old vine” generally means more intensely concentrated flavors in the fruit). The Pinot Gris and Riesling were excellent, but the older vines on the South Block produce a Pinot Noir that was my favorite.
Tags: America, Chef Jim Shirley, Things to do, Wine Time
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