Let's see if my memory serves me well. Hominy Grits (more commonly called Grits) are a corn product.

The corn kernels are dried and then soaked in water and lye. This removes the outer shell of the kernal and leaves you with the bleached white germ of the corn. You rinse them thoroughly and this product is called Hominy. It can be cooked right away or it can be dried for storage and later reconstituted with boiling water.

If you dry the hominy and then grind it, you get Hominy Grits. The grits are about the consistency of cream of rice and when cooked with water they bear a strong resemblance to cream of rice. Grits are a traditional side dish for Southern USA breakfasts (they also appear at other meals). Some eat 'em plain with perhaps a little butter. Some stir them into their eggs (sunny side up or over easy).

Like rice or potatoes, they are often used as the carbohydrate side dish or as a vehicle for another flavor. My Betty Crocker cookbook, for instance, suggests a grits and cheese dish.

Some folks eat 'em as hot cereal like cream of rice.

Hope this is helpful to them Northern Yankees and other foreigners NOI (this is humor) (see the Xenophobia thread).

Roger in Baltimore (just South of the Mason-Dixon line)