Author: Nichelle

Categories
art historic savannah savannah

December Art Walk

art dolls at samantha claar gullah living

December Art Walk Savannah

This is the fourth month in a month in a row that I have attended the monthly art walk, and I always have a great time. I didn’t win anything at the raffle, but I enjoyed checking out work from local Savannah artists.

I missed the trolley but since it was a warm night, I walked to the art galleries in downtown Savannah. The galleries I attended are Tiffany Taylor, Kobo Gallery and Roots Up Gallery/Meryl Truett and Friends. At Roots Up, I met artists Lisa Ocampo and Kristie Duncan.

I also browsed the City Market Galleries which houses several artists. I stopped by Carrie Kellogg, SNichols Art, Stephen Kashun , Sue Gouse, Sabree’s Authentic Gullah Art and Samantha Claar’s Gullah Living.

Categories
business savannah

Craft Scout Savannah

Craft Scout

Craft Scout Savannah is an annual holiday market showcasing local artisans. The Craft Scout market was held at the American Legion Hall Ballroom, which is just south of Forsyth Park. The market kinda reminded me of the Brooklyn Flea. It was a well-curated market featuring candle makers, jewelry designers, knitters, leather good makers and more. Today was a perfect day to shop since the weather was unseasonably warm with high in the 70s.

CopperSeal

Three of the vendors are members of Jelinek Creative Spaces: Loop It Up Savannah, KKennedy Designs, and Salacia Salts.

Here’s the list of the vendors:

The Hipster Hound, LLC

Waypost

Forest and Fin

Kainat beauty

Salacia Salts

Copperseal

Fidler Supply

Nor Kale

The Contents Co.

Lovelane

Bowersfield

Strawberry Moth

Ophilya Handmade

Hello Happy Handmade

KKennedyDesigns

13 Bricks

Andrea Gray Harper

Categories
business savannah

Recycle and Remix Your Jewelry at Epiphany Bead and Jewelry Studio

 

Pink Beaded Bracelet

I love costume jewelry! When it comes to statement necklaces, I am often wearing the exclamation. (!) However, I have lots of broken necklaces that need to be repaired. Luckily, I work in the same building as Epiphany Bead and Jewelry Studio.  The studio is located here in Savannah at Jelinek Creative Spaces (101 N. Fahm Street). Jessica, the owner, remade a big pink necklace that I bought in New York five years ago into a nice bracelet. Not only does Jessica design jewelry and repair jewelry, she also sells beads to other jewelry designers. You can shop for beads online at Epiphany.

Below is a photo of the original necklace which I wore at the first TECHmunch NYC in 2010.  TECHmunch is a food blogger conference that I have co-produced in New York and Atlanta. It’s me with Matt Robicelli of Robicelli’s.

Nichelle Stephens and Matt Robicelli

Categories
historic savannah savannah

Shopping on Whitaker

sorghum syrup

In historic Savannah, many people shop on Broughton which has several moderate and high-end chain stores and retail brands. However, Whitaker is where you find many locally-owned retail businesses. Last Thursday, there was a shopping night that featured many of the shops on Whitaker Street. It is called the downtown design district. Savannah’s Downtown Design District resides on Whitaker Street, between Charlton Lane and Gaston St.

These are the shops that I stopped by to have a snack and a glass of wine were the following:

Mamie Ruth– A place for fun and funky Bohemian fashion.

No. Four Eleven– Monogrammed luxuries, furniture, gifts & interior design

circa lighting savannah

Circa Lighting– Antique reproduction and vintage modern lights

One Fish Two Fish– Furniture & gifts from around the world, and upscale souvenirs.  Salacia Salts sell their products there.  I love their soap which has grits in it.  

Bottega Bellini– Savannah’s destination for everything Italian.  Kitchen, home and Italian accessories.

PW Short General Store– A lovely mix of kitchen and camping supplies.

Madame Chrysanthemum– A florist for when you want a special arrangement.

Categories
food home cooking savannah

The Ultimate Southern Thanksgiving Side: Cornbread Dressing

local dressing

Dressing is the ultimate Thanksgiving side. On Thursday, there will be macaroni and cheese, potato salad, candied yams and cranberry sauce. However, dressing is the main side to go with the Thanksgiving turkey. It has to be right. It can’t be too dry or too salty. Plus, it must be seasoned properly. Stuffing or dressing, that is the question. It’s kinda like the debate between pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie. I prefer dressing. Stuffing is stuff you might stick in a turkey. It is the stovetop dreck that is high in sodium but low on flavor. Dressing is a side dish, a Thanksgiving staple. In the South, it is typically made old bread or cornbread. The vegetables used are up to the cook.

My friends in New York love my dressing. One friend requested that I make it for Easter, and I have brought my dressing to a few potluck dinners. Now that I live in Savannah, I make a dressing that incorporates local food and flavor.

Inspired by the vegetables I got from Forsyth Farmer’s market, I decided to make an Italian flavored cornbread dressing. From the farmer’s market, I used red and yellow peppers, fresh basil and Vidalia onion. Then I went to my local grocery which is walking distance from my place. I bought Italian sausage, chicken broth and Jiffy cornbread mix there.

Eating local also means going to locally owned business. There’s an amazing takeout place called 520 Wings. According to local Savannahnians on Yelp, the garlic parmesan wings are the best wings in town.

Now that I have all the ingredients, I got to work. First I made the cornbread the night before so that it was completely cooled. Then I roasted the vegetables in the oven and cooked the sausage in a saucepan. As the vegetables and the sausage were cooking, I took the cornbread and cut in the big chunks. Then I place the pieces in a casserole dish. Then I added the chicken broth and the vegetables. Next I added the Italian sausage after making sure that any grease has been drained. Using a big wooden spoon, I mix all the ingredients together. Then I added the chicken parmesan wings and basil on top.

Have a good Thanksgiving!
P.S.Check out Michael Twitty’s hilarious post on how to navigate Black Thanksgiving when you are not Black.

Categories
food historic savannah

My First Savannah Visitor: RKB

Rachel and Nichelle

If you have known me for awhile, then you probably also know RKB (AKA Rachel Kramer Bussel). Rachel and I have been friends for over 11 years. We started a blog (Cupcakes Take The Cake) together. We hosted cupcake meetups. We went on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

I don’t believe in having only ONE best friend. Instead, I have a second family of people I am not related that I love. Rachel is part of that family.

Over a short three days, we hit some of my favorite haunts here in Savannah. We had tacos at Foxy Loxy, sliders at Sly’s Sliders, and sweets at Back In The Day Bakery. We also went to the Juliette Gordon Low House to learn about the founder of Girl Scouts and had dinner at The Grey.

Rachel and her Fans

I organized a reading for Rachel at Back In The Day Bakery.  Owner Cheryl Day was very generous in letting a small group of Rachel’s avid fans sit and listen to her read.  Three women drove up from Florida and one drove in from Brunswick, Georgia. We listened to erotica and ate tiny cupcakes.  It was a throwback to my live in New York.

P.S. If you want to get a copy and review the upcoming Best Women’s Erotica 2016 edited by Rachel, then sign up using the easy form.

Categories
food home cooking savannah

Recipe: Mac and Cheese With Kale and Roasted Red Peppers

kale with mac-n-cheese

High/low cooking is what I call using local farmer’s market vegetables with store bought stuff. I decided to make macaroni and cheese with kale. I was inspired by a dish I had years ago when Red Rooster opened in Harlem. The mac-and-greens dish is still on the menu, so it must be a favorite.

I bought some shells and cheese to go with the cheddar cheese, kale, onion and red pepper I bought last week at the Forsyth Farmer’s Market. First, I roasted a quarter of an onion and one whole red pepper in the oven with olive oil and seasoning.

In the meantime, I sauteed the kale with chicken stock and garlic. After 10 minutes, I took the kale off the heat and drained the excess chicken stock into another boiler. I used that boiler to cook the pasta. Then I drained the pasta, and added sour cream, cheddar cheese and heavy cream. Then I added in the kale. Lastly, I put the contents of that pot into the same casserole that I roasted the red pepper and onion. I sprinkled a little more cheese and baked for 15 more minutes. It is delicious, and healthy. Marcus Samuelsson, eat your heart out.

Categories
food savannah

Shalom Y’all: There Are Jewish People In Savannah

Latkes

Shalom Y'all Jewish Food Festival

Savannah may be deep South, but Congregation Mickve Israel is Savannah is the third oldest synagogue in the country. Mickve Israel was founded in 1733. There is a history of Jewish people living in Savannah that predates the recent migration south of New Yorkers to the city.

This year marks the 27th annual Jewish Food Festival, which is aptly named, Shalom Y’all. The smells of the food wafting through Forsyth Park on Sunday reminded me of being at Katz’s or 2nd Avenue Deli in New York. Last week, I was reminiscing about Mo Pitkins which was one of the first restaurants to start the revival of Jewish cuisine.Though Mo Pitkins was more of a music and comedy venue, the original menu had an appreciation for Jewish food.

Hebrew National Hot Dogs

 

A few years later, Mile End popped in Brooklyn, and David Sax wrote Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen.  At the Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival in Savannah, there was plenty of food. There were latkes, blintzes, challah bread,  matzoh ball soup, sweet kugel, Hebrew National hot dogs, pastrami, Sephardic lamb and more. Potato kugel is the one that wasn’t there that I really wanted, but it was nice to smell the food and heard the sounds of Brooklyn. All of a sudden, people was speaking Yiddish with a Southern drawl. I was half expecting to see Marty Markowitz walking among the crowd.

Categories
home cooking

Hacking An Autumnal Cake Mix

cake mix hack october

I was in the mood for a spice cake but ended up something tropical. I had a package of Duncan Hines Autumn Velvets cake mix. The Autumn Velvet has two different colored cake mixes that combine together to have a layer cake with two autumnal colors, orange and brown. I only used one of the mixes because I wanted to bake a small cake that I would into cut into squares like brownies.

So to give this cake mix some extra flavor, I added one teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and some freshly grated ginger. My housemate offered some pecans and I add them too. The cake mix instructions call for 1/3 cup of water. Since I had some leftover coconut milk, I used that instead.

After the cake was baked, I drizzled some of Fat Toad Farm Cold Brew Caramel on top. The end result was more of a tropical spice cake. It was kinda like a hummingbird cake but without the banana or pineapple. It’s delicious and it is good with coffee.

Categories
food restaurants

Dinner At The Florence

Beef and Sweet Potato Gratin

Egg Ravioli
Kyle Jacovino is the young Executive Chef at The Florence who is not getting as much press as the Chef Mashama Bailey at The Grey. I am not pitting them against each other; I just want people to know about the other rising culinary star in Savannah. Kyle worked at Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South in Atlanta before becoming the executive chef at The Florence.

beef and sweet potato gratin

The other night I got to sample a lot from The Florence’s menu. A friend of mine was in town, and he and his girlfriend had a reservation. I was already in love with the trout bruschetta, so it was great to try the squid ink bucatini, the egg ravioli, the beef and sweet potato gratin. The food is delicious.  Yesterday, Chef Hugh Acheson was doing a book signing at The Paris Market. I got to meet him and we talked briefly about food, cookbooks and his upcoming projects. His latest cookbook, The Broad Fork, is in bookstores. It is a vegetable-centric cookbook. Speaking of cookbooks, he blurbed my friend Nicole Taylor’s debut cookbook, Up South Cookbook: Chasing Dixie in a Brooklyn Kitchen.

Hugh Acheson, Gelcys and Nichelle