Road Trip 2017 Continues. Atlanta.

September 20, 2017 lovingsixtyfive

I am so behind with our travelogue. This blog has become my journal, replacing the Moleskines I’ve used for years. If I don’t write about the experiences here I’ll lose them forever. My gray matter is sadly shrinking. Having photos jogs my memory way more than the scribbled doodles I used to draw.

We stopped in both Nashville and Atlanta on the way home. And we had other blogworthy adventures while in Chicago. Bit by bit, out of any chronological order, I’ll capture them here.

Atlanta. My trip advisor research suggested we tour The Swan House and Margaret Mitchell’s home. I added Oakland Cemetery to the “must see” list. Jim indulges my fascination with cemeteries.

Swan House: Built in 1928 for Edward and Emily Inman and intended to be their empty nest home. But Edward died in 1931. Emily then invited her children and grandchildren to come live with her. The kids weren’t allowed to use the grand staircase. They ascended and descended via the back stairs. Bronson felt smug as he walked up that elegant winding set of stairs. Sadly I failed to take a photo of the stairway.

This sign describes the car in the next photo.

The name of the house references the many swans collected and depicted throughout.

When the Hunger Game franchise was looking for locations to film Hunger Games: Catching Fire they chose the Swan House to be villain President Snow’s home.

If you look close you can see the names of the cast on the pages next to the script.

We had lunch at Mary Mac’s Tea Room. Mary Mac’s Tea Room doors opened in 1945 when Mary McKenzie decided to use her good Southern cooking to make money in the difficult post-World War II days. In those times, a woman couldn’t just open up a restaurant, so many female proprietors used the more genteel Southern name of “Tea Room.” There were at least sixteen other Tea Rooms around Atlanta. Mary Mac’s is now the only one left.

The sweet potato souffle was delicious. Jim regretted not getting fried chicken.

The walls of Mary Mac’s are covered with framed photos of famous people who have dined there, up to and including these guys.

We also visited the apartment where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind. Mitchell had been a journalist, writing the Atlanta society news. When she broke her ankle, in 1926 she was immobilized and housebound. Her husband brought her library books regularly. Eventually, he said, “Margaret, you’ve read every book in the library. Why not just write your own?” She did, and the rest is history.

Margaret lived in the little apartment on the lower left.

Margaret kept a towel near the typewriter. When people came to call she covered the pages so they wouldn’t see what she was working on. After each chapter was finished she would put the pages in a brown envelope and hide them. The completed book is sixty-three chapters. That’s a lot of hidden envelopes.

Jim bought the book, I added to my dish towel collection. I just read that page in the book. It seems Rhett never used the word “Frankly.” Maybe that was added in the movie.

Lastly, we went to Oakland Cemetery where I was determined to find Margaret’s headstone. I followed signs and everything but never found her. She died at age forty-eight after being hit by a streetcar while crossing Peachtree Street. The heirs to the estate continue to collect royalties to this day.

While I was unable to locate Margaret, I did find these sad reminders of the Civil War.

Here is why cemeteries move me. I wonder about the people buried there., their dreams, families, worries. J. Higgens. How old was he when he passed? Who did he leave behind? Probably he was not more than a boy. People wander around the cemetery looking for the resting places of the famous. I’m intrigued by the anonymous too.

So that’s it for today. Finally, time to shower, put on my war-paint and get ready to go to watch the Cubs at Tropicana Field. Go Cubbies Go!

Published by lovingsixtyfive

Artist, Writer, Positive Thinker, Colorer outside the lines, Product Designer, Rocket Scientist...(Okay, that part is a lie.) I'm a sixty five year old just loving the journey. View all posts by lovingsixtyfive

You must log in to post a comment.

Serves 10

Ingredients:

2 small bulbs fennel
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 T. good olive oil
1 T. unsalted butter
2 pounds russet potatoes
2 C. plus 2 T. heavy cream
2 1/2 C. grated Gruyere cheese
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter inside of 10 cup baking dish.
(10x15x2)

Remove the stalks from the fennel and cut the bulbs in half lengthwise. Remove the cores and thinly slice the bulbs crosswise, making about 4 cups of sliced fennel. I recommend using a mandoline slicer. Saute the fennel and o nions in the olive oil and butter on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until tender.

Peel the potatoes, then thinly slice. Again, I used mandoline and it made the slices perfect. Mix the sliced potatoes in a large bowl with 2 cups of cream, 2 cups of Gruyere, salt and pepper. Add the sauteed fennel and onion as well.

Pour it into prepared baking dish. Press down to smooth top. Combine remaining 2 T. cream with 1/2 cup Gruyere and sprinkle on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until potatoes and browned and bubbly.

Allow to set for 10 minutes and serve.

My notes:
This would NOT have been enough for 10 of the hungry Easter group. Knowing we'd be 12 I did about 3 1/2 pounds of potatoes and 4 cups of Gruyere. Forgot the part about sprinkling extra on top, but that was fine.

Sadly people were hoping for seconds and we didn't have any. Next year 5 pounds of potatoes, double the cream, 6 or more Cups of cheese. These were simply wonderful!

Thanks again, Ina. You always come through.

These are dangerously delicious and gluten free! Made them today to take to a party this evening. They are sitting on the counter just daring me to eat another one. Already had three. Oink. My daughter, Mo, turned me on to the recipe. She also taught me to use a scoop and silpat mats. More on those in a future blog post.

I used a #40 cookie scoop, baked on Silpat lined half sheets for about 18 minutes. You can also line the cookie sheets with parchment papter.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups (335 grams) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (450 grams) smooth peanut butter
Coarse-grained sea salt, to finish

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar and eggs until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then the peanut butter until smooth and completely incorporated; you shouldn’t be able to see any ribbons of peanut butter.

If you’d like to get those pretty striations across the top of the cookies, chill the dough by freezing it in its bowl for 15 minutes, stirring it once (so the edges don’t freeze first), before scooping it. If you’re not obsessed with these markings, you can scoop it right away. Scoop or spoon the dough into balls — Place on prepared pan. For the tallest final shape, place the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking.

Sprinkle the dough balls lightly with coarse-grained sea salt just before baking. When finished, cookies should be golden at edges. They’ll need to set on the sheet for a minute or two before they can be lifted intact to a cooling sheet. Trust me, you should let these cool completely before eating so the different textures (crisp outside, soft inside) can set up.

Do ahead: You can definitely make the dough in advance and either refrigerate it for a couple days or freeze it longer. However, if I were going to freeze it, I’d probably go ahead and scoop it first. You can bake them right from the freezer.

Check out the Smitten Kitchen website for further info. She said she got the recipe from Ovenly, a site I now need to look into!

2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. whole fennel seeds
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 C. good olive oil
1 lemon halved and sliced 1/4" thick, cut off and discard stem ends.
1 yellow onion halved and sliced 1/4" thick
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 chicken, cut up (Ina says 4 lb. butterflied, but I'm lazy and just buy it already cut up.)
1/2 C. dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio
Juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 450.
Place thyme, fennel seeds, 1 T. salt and 1 tsp pepper in small food processor (I use my Nutri Bullet) and process until ground. Pour olive oil into small glass measuring cup, stir in ground herbs and set aside.

Distribute lemon slices in 12" skillet (I use large Le Creuset) and distribute onion and garlic on top.

Place chicken, skin side down, atop of oniion and brush with about half oil/herb mix. Turn chicken skin side up, pat dry (Ina says this is important!), and brush with remaining herb/oil mix.

Roast for about 30 minutes, then pour in wine being careful not to pour directly onto chicken. Roast another 10-15 minutes until meat thermometer in thickest part of chicken registers 155-160 degrees.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with lemon juice, cover skillet tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, and serve hot with pan juices. The onions and lemons should be included. The lemons are edible and fabulous.

After cooking this go buy Ina's "Cooking for Jeffrey." She is simply wonderful.

Share this:

Like this:

Published by lovingsixtyfive