Hush puppies are a fried cornmeal batter usually served with fish (the fishy flavor in the grease adds to it) and was named hush puppy as frying a little bit of fish batter to keep the dog quiet and not begging. Don’t know how accurate the name is, but that’s what a hushpuppy is.
What to put on grits depends on where you live. In Alabama, sugar is pretty popular on grits. Where I’m from though, it’s cheese and eggs with crumbled up bacon or just plain butter and salt.
And we take transplants down here. Come on down!