Savannah…….continued

We stopped at The Green Truck Neighborhood Pub for lunch on our way to the Historic District.

My Papa’s Salad was really delicious – it was like having breakfast on a salad.  It contained warm roasted potatoes, ham, Gorgonzola and cheddar cheese, topped with a sunny-side up fried egg and dressed in oregano red wine dressing.  Hubby had the El Camino Salad with black bean salsa, tortilla points, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, cheddar and southwestern vinaigrette – also delicious.  I can see why people were still outside waiting for tables late in the afternoon.  I’d definitely visit again.

We dined at The Olde Pink House on our first night in Savannah – I highly recommend it.

I can’t believe that I didn’t take pictures of my wonderful Habersham Platter that included shrimp & grits with collards, huge seared scallops and a delectable crab cake. 

If you love crab cakes, then don’t miss Belford's in City Market.

The fish and chips at Molly MacPherson’s Scottish Pub & Grill were good (did I mention the waiters wear kilts?).

After hearing so much about the Back In The Day Bakery and their new cookbook, we had to stop for lunch on our way out of Savannah.

It was a cute place and the desserts all looked scrumptious.  We tried the bourbon bread pudding.

The sandwiches are served on fresh baked ciabatta bread – my chicken salad with curry and raisins was excellent.

As I mentioned before, the Savannah historic district is a great place to walk, and I needed that after all those lovely meals.  Hubby likes reading all the historical information on the many statues and plaques. 

I’m looking forward to visiting Savannah again, but for now I’m off to Canada.  I’ll have lots to share about my time in beautiful Northern Ontario when I return. 

The (Savannah) Tea Room

The Tea Room was an easy walk from our hotel.  The guys had a four hour break from their conference, so they decided to join us for lunch at The Tea Room.

Once again, I forgot to take photos of the gift shop which is right inside the front door.  There are many books, china teacups, teapots, and of course tea for sale, among other things.  There is one wall of silver tea canisters with an impressive selection of fine quality loose leaf teas for sale.

 

Since I hadn’t made a reservation for afternoon tea, I chose this turkey avocado wrap from the lunch menu.  It was filled with moist, freshly roasted turkey breast, bacon, avocado, tomato and cheese with aioli sauce.  It was served warm in a whole wheat wrap – so delicious.

Hubby had the salad of the day with Applewood bacon, watermelon, onion and a tasty vinaigrette type dressing.  All of us had gazpacho soup (very refreshing).  Our friends said the quiche was very good too.  We enjoyed iced peach, Temi Sikkim, Pinhead Gunpowder and Assam Mangalam tea.

Our dessert was a piece of vanilla cake, cranberry scone, shortbread and fruit.  I’d already started to eat this before snapping the picture.  My friend asked if she could have chocolate cake instead and that was quickly brought to the table.

I’ve never been disappointed at this tea room.  I’d still like to tell you about The Green Truck Pub (great for lunch) outside the historic district.  The Olde Pink House was memorable for dinner.  We also had fish and chips at Molly Macpherson's Scottish Pub & Grill where the waiters wear kilts.

Lunch at Gallery Espresso was fun and so was dessert at Lulu's Chocolate Bar.  There are so many great places to eat in the Savannah historic district.  So…….more to come.

Savannah trip

What a wonderful city to visit.  Once again I was struck by its beauty and accessibility.  The historic district is a great place to stay and there are so many sights and restaurants within walking distance.  We stayed at Planters Inn for the second time.  This boutique hotel is in a 200 year old building, with lovely amenities.  The rooms feature reproduction furniture by Baker, with four poster beds.

A wine and cheese reception is offered in the lobby each afternoon between 5:30 and 7:30.  Such a nice place to gather before dinner.  There is a pianist to play romantic music and lots of little seating areas for quiet conversation.

I love to walk in Savannah.  There is so much to see with all the pretty squares, gardens, historical buildings and sculptures.

The residential areas have so many gorgeous old homes.

We met a fellow at the hotel (visiting from Toronto) who studies architecture.  What a perfect place for that.

There’s something for everyone here -  the foodie, the history buff, the shopper, the photographer……

I did visit my favorite tea room on Broughton (The Tea Room) and for this visit hubby and another couple joined me.  Sadly, I didn’t make a reservation for traditional afternoon tea, but I must say I was impressed with my gazpacho and turkey avocado wrap.  The chef roasts the turkey on the premises, instead of using deli sliced.  I drank a pot of Temi Sikkim tea and hubby enjoyed the Pinhead Gunpowder.  Our friends said the peach iced tea and Assam Mangalam were also very good.

We ate at many restaurants and coffee shops.  I’ll post more on those later.  On our way out of the historic district we visited Back In The Day Bakery – they have been getting a lot of press on their cookbook by the same name (with a forward by Paula Deen).  I so wish I’d bought an autographed copy while we were there. 

  

Beautiful Savannah GA

Seems like I’ve been away more than I’ve been at home lately, but I’m not complaining.  Especially when the next trip is to beautiful Savannah, GA. 

Can’t wait to visit The Tea Room on Broughton Street and The Gryphon tea room near The Savannah College of Art.

 

There are so many lovely historical buildings to see and stunning views with trees covered in Spanish moss or frothy pink flowers.

Gorgeous squares and gardens are everywhere – perfect for walking and relaxing.

Of course, the historical district is loaded with excellent restaurants and interesting places to shop.  I’ll let you know how we enjoyed dining at The Olde Pink House (right next to Planters Inn where we are staying).  The Planters Inn is a boutique hotel in a 200 year old building on Reynolds Square and I can definitely recommend it after our first stay there a couple of years ago. 

Hubby will take the ferry across the river to the conference center each morning and I’ll be free to take tea, shop, photograph the sites and relax.  Heavenly!

Key Lime Pound Cake

I came across this pound cake recipe at the Southern Living website.  My hubby loves Key Lime pie, so I thought this would be something he’d like.

It’s a little off putting when a recipe actually says to use a heavy-duty electric stand mixer (that’s still on my wish list).  Well, happily my hand mixer worked just fine for this recipe, although it does take a little more effort to mix up the batter.

Wow, three cups of sugar.  Then it takes a little time to beat in six eggs.

Then the flour, alternating with the milk and lastly the lime juice, zest and vanilla.

Wouldn’t it be fun if you had someone to measure and prep all the ingredients for you?

My glaze could have been thicker, but I didn’t want to waste the lime juice I’d already squeezed.  This turned out to be a good thing because the glaze really soaked into the cake (like lemon poke cake) adding moistness.

And now for the best part – tasting the pound cake.  Yummy.  Very moist with the tasty bite from the citrus.  This makes a nice change from the  plain pound cake I usually bake.  I might have to try some of the other varieties of pound cake mentioned here.  That Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese pound cake sure looks delicious.

My New Ride

I’m excited to be driving my first new vehicle in eighteen years, a Hyundai Veracruz.   

It has a pretty pearl white finish and all the extras. 

Of course, I had to put my own stamp on it with a special tea enthusiast tag.

Here’s hoping that I’ll be enjoying my new ride for quite a while.

Time For Tea

Iced Tea Weather

Since the temperature here has dropped to the nineties (whew), even I’ve been craving some iced tea instead of my usual hot black tea.

Time to grab a book from my tea library and sit down for a tea break.

I chose a tea from Zhena's Gypsy Tea in a ginger mango flavor and it turned out to be a delicious choice (too bad this blend is no longer available). I like the fact that Zhena’s Gypsy tea is organic and fair trade.

Since I enjoy the flavor of ginger very much, I’d like to try the recipe for Green Tea Ginger Sparkler in the “Loving Tea” book by Jane Resnick.  This might be a good punch substitute for summer entertaining.  It sounds refreshing and quite simple to prepare:

GREEN TEA GINGER SPARKLER

2 cups cold water

2 tablespoons green tea

2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped

4 cups ginger ale

Boil water.  Brew tea for 5-7 minutes.  Strain into covered container.  Add ginger, and refrigerate several hours.  Strain into pitcher.  Add ginger ale and pour over ice to serve. 

Makes 4-6 servings.

How about you, do you switch from hot to iced tea during the summer months?