Arggghhh...You're Under Arrest

A recent Savannah Morning News article about our local police department was so unintentionally hilarious and puzzling at the same time that I had to share.

The Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department announced a redesign of the departmental insignia displayed on uniforms and vehicles. One of the reasons for the change? Get ready for this... The iconic image on the old badge (of Savannah's founder, James Edward Oglethorpe) was often mistaken for Captain Morgan. The rum bottle Captain Morgan. I swear. Here's the quote: "As for the removal of Oglethorpe's image, (Chief) Berkow said visitors unfamiliar with Savannah's history regularly equate the picture of the colonial Georgia founder with the mascot of Captain Morgan rum."

Berkow went on to say the new insignia - so generic it appears to have been selected from a movie prop department - is supposed to be "a cleaner, more professional look." No matter that the old insignia was designed in 2004 by a committee of officers from the formerly-separate Savannah and Chatham County PDs to signify the departments' merger. Only five years later it's being thrown out.

So...What did the department accomplish besides spending unnecessary money and disappointing their own officers who designed the previous badge? Having to give mini-history lessons to drunken idiots on River Street must have been enough of a burden to justify the change.

Makes you go, hmmmmm.

And I Said I Wouldn’t

We recently got a pair of chickens from our friend Rob who was movin’ on up – actually from suburbia to a darling garden apartment downtown. His two hens needed a home and Mr. C jumped at the chance. He’d raised chickens as a youngster and I knew he secretly wished to tend a flock again. He happily worked to convert the girls’ old jungle gym to a deluxe chicken condo. The fresh eggs each day are great, and the chickens are fun to watch. I resisted naming them at first, figuring I wouldn’t get attached that way. Then the perfect names came to me: Henrietta (get it? HENrietta?) for the little one, and Marietta for the big chicken…and if you’ve ever been to Marietta, Georgia you know why that’s so darned clever.

	Henrietta and Marietta sharing a dish of yogurt (good for the shell, you know)
	The payoff

I'm Back...With a Rant. (What Else?)

I swear, the following actually appeared as the lead sentence of a food section article in last week's Savannah Morning News:

"In the South, when you're hungry but don't have much in the kitchen, you fry up something."

No surprise here, this line was NOT written by a Southerner - but by a woman with the Chicago Tribune. It went on to describe a hot mess called, "Potato and Onion Fry-Up" - an unimaginative dish that's typical breakfast fare in diners everywhere. The ol' Southern stereotype is glaring - the writer probably pictured Granny fryin' up a mess o' greens in possum fat for Jed and the rest of the Clampetts - and then congratulated herself for dreaming up such a clever lead.

This is what happens when your local newspaper can't afford to pay a full-time food editor or staff writers...you rely on this garbage plucked from syndication to fill what's left of your food section. Our food section used to be stellar - but no more. The sole saving grace is the occasional contribution from the wonderful Savannah food historian and writer Damon Lee Fowler. But those have dwindled from weekly to twice a month, the victim of budget cuts. And just today I learned that our very popular local restaurant reviewer was let go.

Like many dailies across the U.S., the Savannah Morning News is in trouble. Big notes due after multiple extensions...staff layoffs after drastically declining ad sales...and now, salary cuts for existing staff. I feel for them - I do. But I still think someone needs to read this stuff before they put it out there.

PS - This is the same paper that recently ran a photo cutline describing a traffic accident caused by a "wreckless" driver.

I rest my case.

Sorry to be gone so long - it's great to be blogging again. Stay tuned, more fun entries ahead - lots to talk about!

It's Been a Long Summer - What's for Supper?

Summer is ending and I'm feeling that I should have accomplished much more, as usual. I've been updating a website for our friend Tommy, recently home from a month-long hospital stay; we've dodged a few hurricanes so far (knock wood); refinanced our house; watched the Olympics, Wimbledon, the US Open and the DNC and RNC on television (or as much as we could stand); traveled to Atlanta a couple of times and spent a week at our beach house - the dreaded 'staycation.' I really shudder using that word and all that it implies about our sagging economy. But there you are.

I'm spending so much time at the computer for work that I haven't expended the extra energy - never mind the eyestrain - to blog. But my loyal readers clamor for current info, so at least I can tell you what we've been enjoying at the table of late. I know it's strange to take a picture of your dinner plate, but sometimes they really are so lovely that you want to share.

Mr. C and I have put together the most wonderful summer suppers from our local freshness; This particular night (my sister Beeb the former food stylist will note that I left the birdwatching binoculars on the table!) we enjoyed a cold supper of fresh shrimp and freshly picked crabmeat on toast points with dabs of various toppings including homemade mayonnaise, capers, onions, lemon and avocado; also, grilled chicken satays with ginger, soy and scallions. Sort of an Asian Southern fusion, tied together with a crisp Chardonnay. Not bad at all.

Mr. C's specialty is this tart, a simple pâte brisée folded around whatever fresh fruit we come across. This tart was made with juicy dark bing cherries. We don't get many of these at our local market, and I think he made great use of them!

From our favorite Saveur magazine, I found a wonderful recipe for Green Goddess dressing (remember that one?) and used it on wedge salads, that venerable steakhouse staple that's made a big comeback of late. The iceberg returneth! And this green goddess, made with anchovies (for depth) and tarragon, is wonderful and light for summer - and bears no resemblance to the old wishbone bottled dressing your mom used to buy.

And most recently, we were assembling BLTs at the beach - before watching the US Open one morning - and I snapped this photo of this perfect assemblage of ingredients - the peaches and tomatoes were particularly luscious.

The New Reality

So, I'll admit it...I watch a lot of reality TV. I follow a handful of shows based on competition where the outcomes involve some skill. I love The Amazing Race, the show that takes the viewer along on a fast-paced trip around the world as contestants struggle with fatigue, travel mishaps and challenges to win a million dollars. My whole family is riveted to every episode.

I also like for similar reasons Top Chef, Project Runway, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. I personally do not consider them to be true "reality shows," where people are thrown together in sketchy situations and expected to act like asses for the camera.

On Dancing With The Stars, it's fascinating to watch celebrities transform into lean, skillful dancers. Their teachers are the current stars of ballroom, who have never received this kind of exposure for their talent. Not surprisingly, among the best of the celebrity contestants are professional athletes. They are coachable and have the physicality and competitive drive to excel at this new "sport" and win. But it has taken me by surprise that among the athletes who are lightest on their feet are big ol' football players - Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice and Jason Taylor.

I read in the paper this week where Miami traded Jason Taylor -the six-time Pro Bowl defensive end and 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor - to the Washington Redskins because "management and players objected when he wasn't around for team workouts during the off season due to his Dancing with the Stars commitment." Pulleeeze! !

For those not in the know, Jason nearly won Dancing With The Stars last season. His partner was Edyta Sliwinska, the gorgeous professional ballroom dancer who's famous for wearing costumes that leave very little to the imagination. After 12 weeks of daily ballroom training, I would venture to say that Jason got his workouts. But he also got to spend the off season in LA dancing with Edyta - so I think it's more accurate to say that the Dolphins' management and players just had a bad case of being jealous and pissed off.

Footnote: I strongly object to last season's casting choice of figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. Sure, she's an athlete, but in a sport that requires years of training in.....dancing! Hellooo! Of course, she and her partner won - but it wasn't a fair fight.