A little southern town...Savannah

The decision was made to take a day trip to Savannah. After all, we are but 2 hours away. And if we don't go while living in St. Augustine, then when? The day was picked because I had several days off from work. And Christmas was coming. This was a little Christmas present to us. We packed an overnight bag (just in case we needed to stay the night), loaded Stinky Pete in the back and took off. The two hour trip ended up more in the realm of three hours. (Sounds like the beginning of Gilligan's Island, doesn't it?)

The weatherman said it was to be a nice sunny day. We did not even see a sliver of sunshine the entire day. It was misty and gray. Sometimes it rained out right. With all of that, it didn't dampen our spirits or our day. We just switched up our plans from walking to riding. Our self made tour involved weaving back and forth at a leisurely pace (no one seemed to be in a hurry) up and down the streets circling the 21 squares placed through out the neighborhoods. I loved each and every little square. They were all tiny parks...and oasis of serenity.

I wasn't able to take many pictures. The ones that I did take are up on SeaSide Sharon. I just happened to get caught up in the moment when Bumble was walking Stinky Pete. I grabbed my umbrella and headed up the sidewalk to snap a few. Bumble had to come find me! Dang, I love taking pictures!

Besides the unbelievable beauty of this town, a couple of things stood out for me. One was my visit to The Lady & Sons.

Notice I said visit. They were booked and we didn't get to eat there, but I did step inside. It was not huge...rather small. I was excited. The bizarre thing was you had to make reservations from a lady in a little alley like doorway a door down from the restaurant. BTW, I didn't take this picture of the restaurant. I was too excited and it was raining pretty good when we got there. This is from her website.

I did get to go in her store that was two doors down! And surprise of surprises, Bumble said I could get something from here for a Christmas present!!! I got a cookbook and a most wonderful pair of tongs.



And look on the inside of the cookbook...It is signed by Paula!!! How awesome is that?
Yes, I agree. Pretty dang awesome!

Since we didn't get to eat at Paula's, we went to her brother's place, Uncle Bubbs's Oyster House. I had Paula's Fried Chicken and Bumble had Shrimp & Grits. For an appetizer we had a seafood dip. All I have to say, is if Paula's food in her resturant is any better, OH MY! This was so good. The fried chicken truly was finger lickin' good. The best I've ever had. The shrimp grits was something like I've never had before, and simply delicious.

That leads me to the last outstanding event on this trip. We struck up a conversation with a couple at the next table about his bowl of seafood gumbo. It turned out that this couple lives up the road from us. Small world, huh. So we chit-chatted about Savannah, Florida State University (where Bumble graduated from) and Jacksonville/St. Augustine. Just a general nice conversation. They finished before us, and as they left, he shook Bumble's hand and patted me on the back, wishing us well.

We finished our meal and were getting all ready to get our check and leave. That is when the waitress came over with a huge smile on her face and said, "That's not all!" I really didn't know what she was getting at. She continued, "The couple that sat at that table picked up your check and said to tell you Merry Christmas!"

That was about the sweetest thing that complete strangers have ever done for us. A kindness that I won't forget anytime soon.

Read Bumble's take on our Savannah road trip!

Turkey Tetris

Nikki coined a phrase while putting all the turkey leftovers back in the refrigerator this morning. (Yes, I said this morning. And, no, they weren't left out from last night. You figure it out.) She had a leftover shelf that was cleared especially for the purpose of storing the treasured Thanksgiving leftovers.

The area is approximately 16" wide x 6-8" tall x 20-24" deep. I realize I could get up and actually go in the kitchen and do an accurate measurement of the allowed space...but that would involve me getting up. So, we are working with an approximation.

She had a 9 " x 13" casserole, a 7" x 8" casserole, and six Tupperware containers of various sizes and shapes.

These items had to fit back into the allowed space. With much juggling and shifting of containers, they finally all fell into place. The only thing different from this Tetris and the computer game, is this one is not timed. I guess to make it more sporting, we could time it the when we play Turkey Tetris again.

Turkey Math

This is a serious math, folks, but not yet taught in our educational system. (Do I need to start a movement?) All women and men that orchestrate a holiday dinner need to be fluent in turkey math. Some know it instinctively and use it without being aware of this ability. Others simply flounder and know that something is wrong when they and their hungry family are waiting two hours for the last dish to be brought out of the oven and the mashed potatoes have turned into a chilled mass.

So, what is it exactly? This is a timetable for preparation of a holiday dinner from expected time to eat backwards to the beginning of preparation. The turkey is the cornerstone which we build this timetable.

To do turkey math, a couple of things must be in place.

1. You need a solid menu...set in stone. Meaning, no "corn or baked squash casserole". It either has to be one or the other or both. No choice at the last minute.
2. You have to know the weight of your turkey for cooking time.
   
3. The time you want to sit down for dinner.
   

With that information in hand, you are ready to do turkey math. I will demonstrate how it works.

Menu (this happens to be our menu for this year...works out well for me, now my turkey math is taken care of):

• Turkey
  
• Dressing
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Gravy
• Butternut Squash Puree
  
• Broccoli and Rice Casserole
• Cranberry Sauce
• Watergate Salad
• Chocolate Pie
• Pumpkin Pie

The turkey weighs 14 pounds. It will have to bake @ 325 for 4 hours since it will be stuffed. We want to eat at 5:00. (hmmm...this is starting to sound an awful lot like high school algebra.) A turkey out of the oven should sit awhile to let it rest before carving. This works into my master plan.

Here is the turkey math action plan.

A week before:

1. Make the menu
2. Make a shopping list
3. Grocery shop for your holiday ingredients
4. Do turkey math
   

Three days before:

1. Remove turkey from freezer and place in refrigerator (thawing time: 24 hours per 5 pounds of turkey)
   

Two days before:

1. Make and freeze 2 pie crusts
   

The day before:

1. Make and refrigerate - Creamy Mashed Potatoes
   
2. Make and refrigerate - Butternut Squash Puree
   
3. Make and refrigerate - Watergate salad
4. Peel, chop and saute onions for dressing - refrigerate
   
5. Set bread out to dry
   

The night before:

1. Put turkey in brine

The day of:

1. 9:00 Make pumpkin pie and bake
2. 9:30 Make chocolate pie and bake
3. 10:00 pies should be out of oven and cooling
4. 10:00-11:00 take a break
5. 11:00 Make dressing
6. 11:30 Stuff turkey
7. 11:45 Put turkey in oven
8. 12:00 Set the table
9. 12:30 Clean up the kitchen
10. 1:00-2:30 have a glass of wine...nap...ponder the meaning of life
    
11. 2:30 Remove casseroles from refrigerator to come to room temp
    
12. 3:00 Assemble broccoli and rice casserole
    
13. 3:45 Remove turkey and keep covered
    
14. 3:45 Put all the casseroles in oven
15. 4:15 Make gravy
16. 4:30 Carve turkey
17. 4:45 Remove casseroles from oven
18. 4:45-4:59 Put all the yummy food on the table
    
19. 5:00 Eat!!

Good luck, all you little turkey mathematicians!