devils' food

The Savannah Civic Center offered up the usual concession stand food; but thanks to derby promotions, we were served a more original and tasty fare last night as the Savannah Derby Devils took on the Richmond County (SC) Regulators.  From championship bbq to a full bar to free candy, there was something for everyone in the largest crowd ever for a Savannah bout.  It was fun to have my buddies Will and Ken there for their first live derby bout.  Will caught on quickly.

The BBQ General was gracious enough to set up a tent in the civic center and hand out free samples of his bbq and his "most excellent" world famous sauce.  One taste of Mr. Wiley's and you'll understand why he has so many cookoff trophies on the wall of his Wilmington Island restaurant.

 http://www.wileyschampionshipbbq.com/

Free Candy for dessert.

https://www.facebook.com/freecandysavannah

Self-described as "Psychobilly, Rockabilly, Alternative, Punk, Surf, and Garage Rock all rolled into obnoxious, costumed craziness" which really also describes everything related to the whole derby experience.

The after-party was at Congress Street Social Club, but since JC and I had stopped off to listen to Josh Maul at Molly McPherson's we missed the free pizza.

Georgia Dawg

Felony Melanie sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart" to her adoring fans.  Another highlight was Irene singing "Rock You Like a Hurricane" in honor of the current hurricane Irene.

.

Next Bout:  September 17

Please pardon the cell phone photos.  There's no excuse for this.

they know apostrophe

I've been meaning to visit the Forsyth Farmers' Market for quite some time, but never seem to wake up early enough to get there in time for the good stuff. Today, I finally got there early enough.  Even friend Mandy was up in time to join me.

The market is located at the south end of Forsyth Park and includes vendors of  fruits, vegetables,  honey, grain-fed beef, cheese, bread, boiled peanuts, plants, and other local goodies.

Our friend Rachel Hennon sells organic onions that she helped cultivate at Walker Farms Organic Produce in Sylvania.

http://www.walkerorganicfarm.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walker-Farms-Organic-Produce/196335954640

Castra Rota sells handmade breads from Italy and Germany, while dressed as an authentic Roman (plus straw hat). Mandy and I split the loaf of bread.  To accompany the bread, I bought his waxed paper wrapped Caseus authentic ancient Roman gourmet cheese.

 http://castrarota.com/index.html

He also participates in Roman re-enactments in Brunson, SC.

http://legvi.tripod.com/castroromani/id8.html

Purchases

Mandy:  watermelon popsicle, bread, red peppers

Me:  bread, cheese, boiled peanuts, chocolate cinnamon plant

Sorry!  The boiled peanuts disappeared before I could take their photo.

Disclaimer:  While trying to place labels on this post, I could not save any label that used an apostrophe and s (farmers' market) because the blogsite thinks they are ampersands which are also outlawed!  So, I guess Blogger doesn't know our friend the apostrophe.  

going bananas

     Because school officially kicks off tomorrow (the students finally arrive), you'd think I was going bananas over lesson plans, seating charts, and bulletin boards.  But no!  We've actually got bananas in the backyard.  The first time I ever saw banana plants with bananas on them was at the Chiquiri Land Company in Changuinola, Republic de Panama. 

 This is where Chiquita bananas are grown and shipped by truck and boat.  After seeing this process, I am amazed that these bananas survive the trip to our local Kroger. 

The blue bags keep the monkeys from eating the unripe bananas.

     Anyway, I keep an eye on my banana plants, because they have been replanted twice.  They don't seem to be fond of the arctic-style winters we've had for the past two years in Savannah.  I learned that "bananas require as much warmth as can be given them."  http://http://www.bananaplants.net/banananinfo.html
Since we've had about 60 straight days of 99 degree weather, these plants should be very happy
     The first week in August, I noticed something so red in the banana plant.   I had to investigate and found what appeared to be a red ear of corn.  I knew that couldn't be right.  But then I saw three small green shoots at the top of the ear of corn and decided that they must be baby bananas.

 I've been watching it for over three weeks now and it seems that every flower that opens off of the ear of corn yields another banana.  We are up to four that I'm sure are bananas and another four that could be buds of tiny bananas.

     Since I know nothing about growing any crops, I've been doing some research and learned that "stalks of bananas are usually formed in the late summer and then winter over.  In March they begin plumping up and may ripen in April."  What? In April??????  I'll have to watch them for a lot longer that I had anticipated.  


     I just hope this winter is much warmer than last, or I'll have to learn to knit a blanket for the babies.  Stay tuned...

mattress wars

Remember these folks?  

I know you've seen the opening of The Beverly Hillbillies pictured above as they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly Hills.  Well, this weekend I was part of a Clampett-style trek in reverse as we moved from the cities of Savannah and Richmond Hill down to the country--more specifically to the Altamaha River area of Wayne County, GA .


http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/category/gardi-ga/


Suzi's son loaned us his truck so we could take tables, chairs, air-mattresses, coolers, and anything else we could think of as we headed out to celebrate our friend Lisa's 40th birthday with a river bash.

Granny, Ellie May, and Jetherine  in Avery's pick-up

Brooke and  Chad's beautiful house was the setting for the River Bash.  

Yeah, we camped out in style.

sweet Lisa whose birth we celebrated

Brooke's artistic talents were evident from the start. She even had Lisa's face plastered on cute green M and M's and tiny candy bars. 

 Suzi and I cut up potatoes and sausage while Chad added corn and Louisiana seasoning to vats of shrimp.  The other 50 or so partiers showed up bearing gifts of traditional southern fare:  pigs in blankets, chicken strips, red pepper crackers, toffee bars, bourbon.  Brooke was a blur, moving like the Tasmanian Devil, but with tasty results, to be sure we all had the best time.  

With Gregg Allman's new album Low Country Blues playing in the background, there was much celebrating (what happens at the river...you know the rest)  with a FABulous bunch of friends who love any excuse for a party.

You can find a recipe at 

http://www.coastalliving.com/food/entertaining/lowcountry-boil-00400000001984/

but you can make your own adjustments and refinements to this mouth-watering concoction.

Perhaps best of all, we got to share the house with this bundle of cuteness, aptly named River.  Brooke and Jack found him abandoned in the middle of the road; but after an expensive trip to the vet and a good scrubbing, River turned out to be the most adorable puppy.

On the way home while stopped at a red light in Jesup, we spied this fella who was reminding everyone to get right with the Lord.  

Teresa and Suzi decided we didn't have enough junk in the trunk, so we added mattresses along the way.  

Thanks to Brooke and Chad for their hospitality and a breath-takingly beautiful place to camp out.  

Thanks to everyone else for adding to our great store of memories. 

For more information see---

http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/

You know you're having a successful party in the country when some of the most unforgettable quotes are:

Text from LG:  I'm bringing Momma, but right now we're fixin' pigs...

DJ:  I know it looks like coffee, but it smells like I don't know what.

Written on CJ's styro cup:  Chrissy Pregnant

Joey on his niece's ultrasound pic that he carries in his pocket:  You can see right here it's a boy.

VD:  Now would you teach summer school again if you got beat up by a big old boy with his size 14 tennis shoe?

KG while falling backward into the tomato plants as his plastic chair is breaking:  aaaaaaaaa!!!!AAAAAA!!!!AAAAAA!!!!!!!!

LE:  Y'all, I just can't take it anymore.

CH:  I'm ready to start a fire!

BR:  F---!  F---!  F---!  Dear God, I'm just trying to have a party.

 

Winter Birds

December 2010

East Charlton Street

Savannah, GA

Technical difficulties kept me from blogging for a long while, but now I'm back and going beyond just food and restaurants.  Wait and see!

waiter rant

One of the first books I read this summer was Waiter Rant by a cynical Steve Dublanica (The Waiter) and it was laugh-out-loud funny. It came out in paperback in Aug. 2009, so I am about a year late in finding it.  You can get an idea of his humor from an article on his blog by the same name.

Below is a humorous list by the NY Times of 100 things restaurant staffers should never do.  Dublanica follows each item on the list with his own commentary.
http://waiterrant.net/?p=1485

The book also includes an appendix with rules on how to be a better customer.  Jennifer says it's always a bad sign if the customer walks into a coffee shop and orders hot tea...kind of like when I walk into a coffee shop and order Diet Coke.

You can also read friend Mandy's rules here
http://mattmandymitch.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-for-dining-out-diatribe.html

can be purchased here
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780061256684

skyline

This foodscape (food landscape) was commissioned in 2009 by the Good Food Channel. Among Warner's renderings of London's landmarks, he designed, set and photographed leek, cucumber and cloves for The Fire of London Monument; bread and cereal for Canary Wharf; melon and green beans for The Dome, and beans, celery, pineapple and more for the Tower Bridge. Photo courtesy of Carl Warner.