Another photo shoot by Richard Leo Johnson

We had another visit to our cottages by Jane and Richard Leo Johnson. Regular readers will remember that Richard is a world class photographer and takes pictures of homes that are featured regualarly in Coastal Living and Cottage Living Magazines, to name just a few publications. Here are the pictures of their most recent visit to Fiddler on the Creek Cottage. Be sure to visit Richard's website http://www.atlanticarchives.com/

Jelly Fish Squish

Jelly Fish are beautiful to watch- in aquariums that is. But we do not like the fact that jelly fish also come to our waters to enjoy the late summer season. Jellyfish who sometimes sting.... There are alot of known cures to stop the dreadful sting- urine being the most oft-proposed cure... however help has come in a different form.

One of our own mermaids, Miss Linda Bray, has a new man in her life and he's a partner in a Savannah based company which has developed a cure for the dreadful sting. The name of the product is Jellyfish Squish and Linda's friend is known to all of us as Squishman. Jellyfish squish works because it disables the toxins of the sting unlike the other cures ( ammonia, vinegar, beef tenderizer and baking soda and of corse the earlier mentioned cure....) Scientifically-developed and beach-tested - 86% of the test subjects reporting much or total use within the first five minutes.

Visit their website http://www.jellyfishsquish.com/ and you can purchase this great product at Seaside Sisters Coastal Cottage Shop here on Tybee. Thank you Linda for introducing us to this great stuff!

A hummingbird in my garden!

One of my goals with my cottage, Mermaid Manor, was to create a garden that was full of plants that "belonged" in our part of the country and required little water or care. The wonderful Gardening Company who planted my garden is Natural Beauty Gardening, Organic Plant Care. Call or email Crisit 912 224 5318 or nbgardening@hotmail.com She knew I wanted flowers and plants that would attract birds, bees and butterflies. I've seen lots of butterflies and bees, as well as a wide variety of birds. But today we had a brand new visitor. A hummingbird!!!! Now I've seen hummingbirds all over the world, two places especially- Costa Rica and Palm Springs, CA were locations where I've seen them by the dozens. But never in my own front yard! I was transfixed watching this little bird flutter around! Here are some fun facts I've since learned about the hummingbirds who spend time in Georgia.

Georgia Has Hummingbirds Year Round
Georgia is a great place to watch hummingbirds. Like the rest of the Southeast we have hummingbirds all year long. While we only have one specie that breeds here, we have had eleven other species that have been recorded in Georgia. Our resident breeder the Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrives in Georgia in early March and usually is last seen around mid-October. Prior to the Ruby-throats departure we start seeing the winter hummingbird species start to arrive. Most winter hummers show up at feeders in mid-November through December, but they could show up at anytime. These winter hummingbirds can stay into late March or early April. This past winter we had a record season for winter hummingbirds.

Interesting Facts
Georgia hosts a total of ten species of hummingbirds during the year: the ruby-throated hummingbird, black-chinned hummingbird, rufous hummingbird, calliope hummingbird, and magnificent hummingbird. Allen's hummingbird, Anna's hummingbird, broad-billed hummingbird, green violet-ear hummingbird and broad-tailed hummingbird.
The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only species of hummingbird known to nest to Georgia and weighs about as much as a first-class letter. The female builds the walnut-sized nest without any help from her mate. This process can take up to 12 days to complete. The female lays two eggs about the size of a black-eyed pea. In Georgia, female ruby- throated hummers produce up to two broods per year. Nests are typically built on a small branch that is parallel to or dips downward sometimes rebuilding the nest they used the previous year.
The calliope hummingbird is the smallest bird found in North America.
The rufous hummingbird has the longest migration of North American hummers-More than 3,000 miles.

For more information, visit this website dedicated just to Georgia Hummingbirds! http://www.gahummer.org/

The Sea Largo Cup Cake Competition

Judy and Kathy ( the owners of Sea Largo Cottage - see my earlier blog on their story) are here for a few days with Judy's mother Virgina who turns 94 next week. Teresa Love- our Mermaid Cottages Owner Services Manager has a birthday as well - so Judy decided she'd host dinner AND we'd have a cup cake competition for desert. Sue Bentley and I were the only takers since we both love to cook and share our goodies. Sue used to own a bakery here on Tybee so that may have given her the edge, but I'm an excellent reader of cook books and I have a brand new cookbook only featuring CUPCAKES!!! How much fun are cupcakes! There is a great place in LA that really started the cupcake craze http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/ which is a high light for me when I visit my dear Marriott friend Cindy Lou Goldsmith. Their cupcakes are handcrafted and just pure love and fun. Or as they say- a deliciously sophisticated update on an American Classic!

The cupcake I selected for the competition featured two of my favorite flavors- Chocolate and Peanut Butter. The cake part was the peanut butter and the frosting was dark, dark chocolate. Hersey's has out a new cocoa that is dark chocoate and OMG- the frosting was definetly for adults- nothing kid like about this stuff! The cupcakes- I rationalized- were all good for you. I used organic brown eggs, organic white sugar, stone ground flour and of course the dark chocolate- which we all know how good this is for the heart! Sue selected a receipe from her favorite cookbook from the Maganolia Bakery in NYC. White cake and pink butter cream frosting. Except her twist was the SIZE!!!!! Yes, she made one giant cupcake.

We all decided that it was a total tie- how do you judge two completely different tastes that each is perfection in it's on way! If you'd like the receipe , just post a comment and we'll include the receipes in a future blog.

Thrive's Menus

Here is a follow up to last night's blog on Thrive- the wonderful new carryout! Sorry it's sideways ( haven't quite figured out how to do everything yet on my blogging!) You can also go to www.savannahmenus.com or thrivetogo@aol.com

A Southern Monday night

All is good in my world tonight. All our guests have checked in for the week ( including another soldier's family celebrating his safe return home ), we had some rain which all our flowers and frogs just love, we're all stocked up for the next groups of arrivals this weekend ( another full week- thank you to all our visitors!) and the dogs are back home after their day at the groomers. A year or so ago , Sarah who used to work for us and now works for Paula Deen, told me about how Paula and Michael have their black lab shaved for the summer heat. I tried it and am hooked . Now my 2 labs get shaved about every 2 months. Those of you who live with dogs and understand about dog hair will appreciate the freedom of now not having to vacum on a daily basis! The dogs have crew cuts, love the cool feeling and I love the lack of hair bunnies which used to float everywhere in whatever home I was in! Max is sleeping on his dog bed ( Maxie! found already monagramed at the LL Bean outlet store) after licking clean the peanut butter jar, Danny is sound alseep on the sofa laying on his back with his legs up in the air

But there's even more good news about today! My kayaking friend , co owner of Bobaritaville ( along with Bobby) and all around very, very smart woman Suzanne Everett had told me about this great new carry out cafe on Whitemarsh Island ( the island where Wal-Mart lives and the closest island to Tybee) called Thrive. Thrive is a must for anyone who loves freshly prepared carry out dishes , using mostly organic and mostly local food products. And even more special - the carry out containers they use are materials that will actually decompose in our landfills unlike plastic which will take years to go away. Today I had for lunch their chicken salad made with free range chicken, almonds, cranberries and red grapes. Dinner ( I stocked up) was their spinach quiche with puff pastry..... and butternut squash and sweet potato soup!!! Their website is coming soon, in the meantime visit them at Whitemarsh Plaza or call 912 898 2131.

So after dinner I turned on the TV and Fried Green Tomatoes was on!!!!!!!!!!!! This movie is worth it just to hear all those wonderful southern accents and hear the sounds of summer. If any of you has never had fried green tomatoes, the movie will still make your mouth water. Here's the classic receipe for this delicious dish.... and two pictures to make your mouth water even more.

Ingredients
1 large egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided 1/2 cup cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices Vegetable oil Salt to taste
PreparationCombine egg and buttermilk; set aside.
Combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan.
Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°. Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt.
Yield
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Source:

Southern Living, JULY 2003
and here's a little tid bit

Novelist Fannie Flagg modeled her book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café after Birmingham's Irondale Cafe, which her great-aunt operated for nearly 40 years. Owner Jim Dolan says his crew cooks about 135 pounds of fried green tomatoes a day. The book and movie helped the dish's popularity-visitors come from all over the country to sample this Southern specialty.

Making News:Savannah Style

I've said it before, my guilty pleasure in life is watching Reality TV. Now I don't watch just any and all shows, but I do have my favorites. Survivor sucked me in the first season ( along with most of America) and then The Apprentice and The Donald, but now everywhere you turn is another reality show you truly can't believe is actually on TV. Denise Richards "It's complicated" and the Real Housewives of New York City are two that really are like watching train wrecks, but again- so crazy that you sometimes watch just to see what they'll do next.

However, there is an extradonary reality show on right now that I encourage everyone to watch. It's on the TV Guide Network ( you know that station- usually station 3 which constantly runs all the shows on tv and the times but now has branched out into their own various shows?) The 2nd season of Making News is here and it features our local Savannah TV station!!!! And even better, features Tybee's own local and all around great guy, Michael Sullivan, who is the very experienced Director/News and Community Affairs for WJCL/Fox 28TV Michael is also married to one of our favorite art Gallery owners- Irene Sullivan. (www.irenesullivangallery.com )

Michael just wrote a great article for the Tybee Breeze about his experience and my favorite quote in the story in how Michael told the big reason why the TV Guide Channel should select his station : "You can't fall off the floor." They were the lowest rated ABC affiliate for news in America. The previous General Manager for the station was in the federal pen for stealing from the station. The equipment was easily the worst in any station ( and half the time didn't work properly) and the station was located between two car lots on the South side ( the south side....) of Savannah! Drama! Excitement! Reality TV where we actually know some of the key people! Tybee People no less!!! Tune in Wednesday nights at 8Pm EST on the TV Guide Network , or go on line and watch all the episodes so far to get caught up.

http://video.tvguide.com/Shows/Making%20News--3a%20Savannah%20Style