Comfort Food, French Style

This has been one of those weeks. You know, the kind where you get to Friday and you just want to treat yourself to something comforting. For me, that equates to comfort food and no place does it better in Savannah than Papillote.

Cooking en papillote means to cook in parchment paper where the contents are steamed, and it also refers to a traditional French Christmas candy wrapped in shiny gold paper containing a fortune. The Savannah version of Papillote has been in town since February of 2009, and the menu promises "fresh, delicious food available to everyone and to be eaten anywhere." And therein lies the beauty. There aren't any linen tablecloths or exorbitant prices. Just good, accessible food that's always interesting and made from scratch on the premises.

Chef Hervé Didallier was trained at some of the finest restaurants in Europe including Le Beau Rivage in Geneva, Switzerland and Orsi in Lyon, France, as well as the renowned Parisian culinary school Ecole Superieure de Cuisine Francaise. Of the restaurants on his resume, eight are Michelin recognized establishments including La Tour D’Argent, Paris. The face of Papillote, however, is his trusty sidekick Ann Marie Apgar, who previously worked as a technical services manager for an energy and green consulting firm in New Jersey. At Papillote, she made sure that green building practices were incorporated into the shop, and a majority of the packaging is 100% recycled or recyclable/compostable.

The menu is divided into salé (savory) and sucré (sweet). Yesterday, I tried the special roasted fig salad - figs wrapped in prosciutto, roasted with honey and served on a bed of arugula with vinaigrette, watermelon "medallions" and shaved Parmesan cheese.

The figs and prosciutto were the perfect balance of the salé and sucré; the meal was the epitome of comfort food. Too bad I had to return to work and couldn't go home and take to my fainting couch.

So go to Papillote today if you're in Savannah...it's over on 218 W. Broughton Street, but you'll swear you're in gay Paree.

Summer Tomatoes

It's that time of year when the tomatoes start comin' in. This year, I planted two varieties - Brandywine and Cherokee Purple - and they are both delicious.

Admittedly, one of the best ways to eat a tomato is sliced, with salt and pepper, on bread with some Duke's mayonnaise. But this past weekend, I was inspired to be a bit more creative...plus, I had other ingredients I wanted to use up. That's when I recalled a post on the Southern Foodways Alliance blog about Birmingham-based fashion designer Billy Reid and his favorite tomato pie recipe.

First, I cooked some applewood smoked bacon outside (sorry, Porky and Bess):

Gathered my ingredients from the "garden" - a couple of Brandywine tomatoes and fresh oregano and basil:

Chopped everything up (along with half of a Vidalia onion):

Assembled the pie in a ready-made crust (one of those ingredients I was talking about needing to use) and topped off with a pimiento-less pimiento cheese composed of the aforementioned heavenly Duke's mayo, sharp cheddar cheese, some Thomasville Tomme from Sweetgrass Dairy and some Sriracha sauce for good measure. (Sriracha sauce may rival Duke's mayo as the condiment of the gods.)

Then baked at 375 degrees for an hour - 30 minutes covered with tin foil and 30 minutes completely nekkid. And voila~

And boo-yah:

Tomatoes and bacon - need I say more?

Ginger Kitty

This morning on my walk, I passed by a house where a lovely ginger kitty was lazing about in the morning sun. Alas, she was safe behind a gate and far away from my inquisitive nose.

Well, I certainly didn't expect her to see me walking by and brazenly stroll up to the gate and crawl under it. Most kitties run from me or spit at me. Ginger Girl wasn't afraid at all!

Of course, I could only act interested in her for so long. I eventually tired of playing "Getting to Know You" and had to bark just to let her know who was boss.

Splish Splash, Sadie's Taking a Bath

This morning, my Ma was acting all sneaky and pretty soon I found out what she was up to - bath time for Sadie. Harumph.

She got me all sudsed up outside in front of the house. How embarrassing. I tried to get back at her by shaking water all over her:

But she just broke out the towel and humiliated me again:

Once we got inside the house, I was so happy to be done with the bath, I performed my usual post-bath ritual. My Pop Pop calls this my "zoot scoot boogy."

Dog Days of Summer

Today I went with my Ma over to see my friend Lancaster. He's a Swiss Mountain dog. A few months ago, he looked like this:

This was our play date last April.

Hello, Lancaster! My, how you have grown.

I like to stand on the garden wall to feel a bit taller.

Can you tell how hot we are? According to the Weather Channel, it's 90 degrees but feels like 105 degrees out there. Imagine having a fur coat on top, to boot.

Despite the heat, I did enjoy the garden. (See, Miss Yvette? I didn't even dig up any of your lovely basil.)


Next time, Lancaster, let's meet at the big fountain in Hull Park. These really are the dog days of summer.

Red, White and Blue Ridge

As I noted in my last post, my ma and pa told me I was going on an adventure. And what an adventure it was! We headed out Friday morning around 10 a.m. and started driving north. I was wedged in between suitcases, an espresso machine and a bunch of wine bottles, but it was all good. I had my bed, my squirrel and my deer antler.

We took a brief detour in Greenville, South Carolina, and toured the campus of Furman University. Pa said that's where Ma got educated. Here's a photo of us in front of the big fountain by the main gate:

After we tooled around the campus and I christened the million-dollar manicured lawns, we drove across town to the Pita House, one of my ma's favorite places to eat in college, for a late lunch. I even got a taste of some pita bread baked just that morning.

We continued on our way and meandered up towards Asheville and then west towards Waynesville. Our little creekside cabin, Sit 'N Whittle, was the perfect place to relax and unwind:

There were all kinds of new smells for me to explore. On Saturday, we headed out again to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway that runs a total of 469 miles, mostly along the Blue Ridge mountain chain. We stopped at the highest point - 6,053 feet - and enjoyed temps in the high 50s. Quite a change from Swampy Savannah!

All that sightseeing and driving got us hungry, so we went to Weaverville, the town north of Asheville where my Ma and Pa got hitched. It was a lovely breezy day, and we sat outside on the front porch of Blue Mountain Pizza and enjoyed live bluegrass music, libations and delicious pie.

I got to monitor the street festival from this perch:

On Sunday, Ma and Pa told me I was going to have a party with some new friends, Cam and Nico. I wasn't too sure of them at first, but I warmed up quickly and we celebrated our nation's Independence Day over pork and lamb burgers, sausages, grilled zucchini, baked beans, watermelon and ice cream. I had to settle for kibble. Again.

The weekend came and went too quickly, but Ma and Pa said I get to go back in October. Until then, I'll be dreaming of long walks on mountain roads.

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy early Independence Day, everyone! This year, I get to go on what my ma and pa call an "adventure" for the long holiday weekend. We're hightailing it to North Carolina tomorrow to beat the heat.

However, the first Fourth of July I spent with both my ma and pa was right here in sunny Savannah, and it was a great day. First, we loaded up a chilled watermelon in my car:

And headed over to our friends' house for a good, old-fashioned cookout. There were corn dogs, onion rings, funnel cakes, Lone Star beers and pie.

There was also a bunch of gooey goodness that fell on the ground. I did my part to help clean up:

I also met a friend there, a dog by the name of Blue. We played and played and played.

I got tired and had to rest a spell (these plants provided a nice cushy respite).

Then, we watched some fireworks:

Happy Independence Day, everyone! Let freedom (and F-U-D) ring.