Soaking it all in

I went into the Haunted Forest alone, Deep into all unknown. Deeper still where things howl and creek, Enveloped in dark unable to speak. In the stillness I lose track of time, Stuck in the recess of my own dark mind. Patty Leon

As the weather cools I look forward to homemade soups and stews. Since leaving Miami, I’ve craved a soup that I used to get on my visits to Latin House Restaurant in Little Havana – plantain soup. No. Not banana soup. That would be just plain gross! Plantains are a cultivar of bananas, but are only edible when cooked. Plantains are typically a side dish staple at a Cuban dinner. More often they are served as tostones (fried like thick chips) or as maduros (when the plantain is allowed to get a bit over ripe and soft to the touch. They are cut at a diagonal and sautéed lightly in oil). Maduros are sweeter and tender. Both are scrumptious, by the way. I had never attempted making homemade plantain soup, thinking it would take hours of preparation and a thousand items for the recipe. But I looked up the recipe and found one that seemed simple on the Three Guys from Miami Blog site. Hey this looks simple! Their original recipe called for a spice called bijol, which is primarily...

Everyone I know is freaking out over Hurricane Irma. As of Tuesday morning she was a strong Category 5 storm barreling toward the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Where it goes from there is still up in the air. Most models show it tracking toward Cuba and the Florida Straits. There are a few models that show Irma skirting up the East coast impacting all of Florida, the eastern coast of Georgia and South Carolina. Which is correct? WE DON’T KNOW YET PEOPLE because it is still way too early to tell people. SO STOP FREAKING the heck out. The one advantage of hurricanes is that there are ways of tracking them and plenty of time to plan ahead. So instead of freaking out you should be planning. First, secure all your important documents in one location and place them in zip lock bags to protect them from water. Have an evacuation plan in place. If you have pets they should be included in your plans as most shelters do not accept animals. Best place to stay is...

There is so many great foodie events coming up, two of which involve some of my most favorite things in the world – BEER and BACON. We are just days away from the annual Savannah Craft Brew Fest. This year it will be held 2-6 p.m. Sept. 2 at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center. Have you not been? Well if you’re a beer lover, like me, YOU MUST GO AT LEAST ONCE. Dude, I plan to sample every beer they have….all 150 (or more) of them! I’ve got my ticket. Give me my two-ounce souvenir sampling mug and get the heck out of my way, please. And the incredibly SMART folks of Savannah have one upped themselves by incorporating Bacon Fest into the same weekend. Well, Bacon Fest is actually Sept. 1-4, but they are smart to have them both on the same weekend. Bacon Fest will be along River Street. Food vendors are encouraged to think outside the box and make bacon the center of all their appetizers, desserts, entrée and snacks. Think about it! Chocolate covered...

Trying to eat healthy, I joined a few of my friends in giving meatless Monday a go. Not a big deal in switching to a full veggie meal here and there. Pizza can be meatless. In fact my all-time favorite is the primavera white they sell at That’s Italian. It’s mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, Ricotta cheese and spinach. Completely delish! But maybe not a true healthy choice. There are plenty of pasta dishes that can be made without meat. I like substituting eggplant, zucchini and squash for those dishes. While shopping for options I picked up an item I have not used in a long time – Portobello mushrooms. I thought I would try to make a traditional steak with black beans and rice dinner and use the large mushroom caps in place of the steak. I am such a genius for thinking this. It was the BEST EVER and so simple to cook. I got out my handy cooking pan, placed it on the stove top and turned the heat to medium-high. I used a teaspoon of olive oil and a sliver of butter in the pan....

A good way to blow your good eating habits and your pocket book is shopping for food when you’re hungry. It’s just a bad idea folks, too much temptation while your tummy is rumbling saying, “Feed me.” It’s something I tend to do far too often. I start off with the best intentions of getting healthy items but hunger has its own plan. “Let’s see I need chicken for dinner tonight … oh wait this pizza will take only 15 minutes and has pepperoni and BACON . I should get the chicken to make ahead for tomorrow’s dinner, and get the pizza for tonight. YES. In the meantime let me snag this bag of chips and start on these now while shopping.” Crunch, crunch, crunch crunch…YAY CHEETOS! Of course then I need a soda to wash down the chips. There were a few times where I grabbed a ready-made sandwich at the deli to go along with the chips and soda. And if the hunger lingers I may start going aisle by aisle, searching for the next quick grab and chew option. OMG pickles, I need some for th...

In 1978, the low-budget science-fiction film “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” was a hit among young moviegoers. The film was a spoof on the horror and sci-fi genre movies of that time and featured monstrous tomatoes revolting against humans, killing them off one by one. Today, however, tomatoes are highly regarded in helping humans in battling a barrage of diseases. Prostate and breast cancer, surprisingly, top the list. Research indicates that tomatoes contain lycopene, which scientists consider to be a strong antioxidant. “Several studies have shown that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, soy, fiber, lycopene — which you find in tomatoes — and the omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of both breast cancer and prostate cancer,” Dr. Dean Ornish, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, reported when speaking about the benefits of a more plant-based diet while in Savannah in November of 2016. “These diets contain a lot of naturally occurring an...