This Christmas season, Sea Island will be transformed into Alice’s Wonderland in holiday décor at The Cloister and the Beach Club. The community is once again invited to enjoy December Dining and Spa options, December 1-22, with special menus and prices at the resort. Larger-than-life original art from world-renowned pop-up book artist and master paper engineer Robert Sabuda will welcome diners at the Beach Club, to be decked out with Alice in Wonderland décor, and where little ones and not-so-little ones are invited to join Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit at a pretend high tea. Guests may sit at the table with their favorite characters as they discover or reminisce about the magical world of Alice. Bryce Brock, her staff at The Vine, and the Sea Island graphic design team have created a true visual wonderland at both locations.
The culinary staff has created a complimentary amuse bouche for diners in several of the restaurants and special Alice in Wonderland cocktails for the grown-ups. Thanks to the talent of the Cloister Bake Shop, the tradition of an elaborate gingerbread display continues at The Cloister, showcasing Alice bursting through the windows of the white rabbit’s cottage in the woods, along with other parts of Lewis Carroll’s book.
Dining options include two courses for $22 or three courses for $33 at Tavola, Southern Tide, River Bar and the Oak Room, three for $44 at Colt & Alison and the Georgian Room, Georgia’s only Forbes Five-Star restaurant. Reservations for dining and spa are necessary, at 912.638.3611.
In addition, “Mad” Tea Parties are available upon request at The Lodge from 2:00-4:00 p.m. December 19-26. Reservations especially for those parties must be made in advance at 912.634.3967.
Inspired by that fantastical world of Alice created by Lewis Carroll, we’re inviting you to follow us down the rabbit hole to our own holiday wonderland of Christmas tea parties and tradition. Don’t be late!
Photo and recipe: Pineapple & Coconut pineappleandcoconut.com
White Christmas Cocktail
“Drink Me”
Like Alice, we’ll start the journey with an enchanted elixir. While she sipped a potion that magically made her smaller, we’re offering up a delicious cocktail that can transport you from our sunny South Georgia island right to a fireside evening at an Alpine ski lodge. With this pretty presentation, you can bring the magic of a white Christmas right to the beach!
White Christmas Cocktail
Ingredients:
4 oz. vanilla vodka
4 oz. white crème de cacao
2 oz. Frangelico
4 oz. half & half
For the rim:
2 oz. white chocolate
white sprinkles
Directions:
Melt white chocolate in microwave, then spread into a circle on a plate. Pour white sprinkles onto another place in circle the width of the glass. Dip edges of chilled glasses into chocolate, making sure to coat evenly all the way around. Then dip rim into the sprinkles, scooping up sprinkles so they fully cover chocolate. Place glasses in refrigerator immediately to firm up chocolate. In a cocktail shaker, add ice and cocktail ingredients, shake well. Divide between 2 chilled glasses and serve.
"Eat Me"
While Alice found cakes to make her grow along with the potion that make her shrink, it was the tea party she discovered along her journey that was most intriguing. Once Alice made it through the door, she met mysterious and entertaining characters like the Cheshire Cat and Tweedledee and Tweedledum, as she followed the White Rabbit to his “very important date” and wound up a guest at a bizarre tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter. While you probably don’t want a sleepy Dormouse in your sugar bowl, the idea of serving up cakes and cookies and other delicacies at a holiday-themed tea is a great idea for a Christmas party! If you don’t want to host your own, don’t fret, you can attend one right here in the Golden Isles and simply be a guest!
In addition to the Mad Tea Parties that will be hosted by Sea Island at The Lodge, the Jekyll Island Club Hotel hosts a Holiday High Tea in the Grand Dining Room on December 6 and 13, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. This has become an annual holiday tradition at the hotel and is eagerly anticipated by guests and visitors. You can enjoy the sounds of the season while sipping on an expansive selection of teas and dine on tea sandwiches, soup, warm scones with fruit compote and exquisite holiday sweets. We can’t guarantee that the others attending the tea will be quite as colorful characters as the Mad Hatter’s assorted guests!
For children, there’s a special Kids’ Holiday Tea Party and Etiquette Class on December 17 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. At this memorable holiday experience with vibrant “Tea Party Etiquette” hostess, Christina Godwin. Kids can spend an afternoon at the hotel sipping on tea, enjoying tea sandwiches and delicious sweet treats while learning the ins and outs of table etiquette. Santa’s special elves will even make an appearance at the tea party with gifts in hand! Not at all like Alice’s experience, good table manners will be on display and learned here. That’s a Christmas gift that every parent will treasure!
If you’d rather skip the whole tea party experience—I mean, after all, look at how that turned out for Alice—you don’t have to miss out on the cookies! There’s a Christmas Cookie Workshop at the Morgan Center on December 20 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. You can join the hotel’s Pastry Chefs for a sweet afternoon decorating Christmas cookies. Each guest receives one dozen cookies to decorate and take home. Colored icings, sprinkles and more fun decorations will be available along with punch and mulled cider!
To make reservations for any of these holiday events at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, visit jekyllclub.com/events and purchase tickets online.
Cookies are an important part of Christmas and, for many, are deeply entwined in holiday traditions, from family baking and cookie parties to leaving a plate of treats out for Santa to enjoy on Christmas Eve. Here’s what some of our friends had to share with us about their traditions:
Beth Jennings says, “Every year on Christmas Eve we go to church, out to dinner, then both children have one present to open. These gifts are their Christmas pajamas. After they open them and put them on, we make cookies for Santa as well as our Elf on the Shelf, Sweetie Pie, and watch Polar Express.Cookies and milk are left out to share for Santa as we head to bed for the night. The Christmas tree lights are left on all night so Santa can see.”
EIL staff members Julie Andrew and Molly Duckworth say that cookies and milk for Santa played a part in their families’ Christmas Eve traditions too. Julie shares, “We always left out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. We wore Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve, and sat by the fire reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. My youngest is in college now, but we actually still do Christmas pajamas with the same stories, from the same books my parents read when I was little.” In Molly’s family, her dad went the extra step for authenticity: “We’d open presents at my grandma’s on Christmas Eve and had to sing 5-6 traditional Christmas songs first. (They FORCED me to learn to play the organ so I had to play when everyone came over on Christmas!) When we got home that night, we were allowed to open one present. Then we would write Santa letters, leave out cookies and popcorn, and my dad would climb a ladder to leave carrots on the roof for the reindeer.”
Showing her true Georgia colors, Merrill Edens shares a particular Southern twist on the tradition: “My family always left out cookies and a 6oz bottle of Coca-Cola, and we still do!” Certainly the Coca-Cola Christmas commercials and those holiday collectible bottles herald the season for many. It’s not Christmas until you see the polar bears! The Mexican heritage of our EIL staff member Yolanda O’Hern meant different cultural traditions: "We decorated on tree on Christmas Eve, made Christmas tamales and had Mexican hot chocolate, melting chocolate and cinnamon in the milk, after going to mass. No presents until morning!"
Leigh Langford says, “We have always done the milk and cookies of course, and left the carrots for Rudolph. My kids also always threw out the Magic Reindeer food—oatmeal with red and silver or gold glitter—because you have to catch the reindeer’s eyes, you know! I always told them that Santa came to the houses of the children who went to sleep first so it was in their best interest to get to bed early. Little white Christmas lies don't count do they?!? Aren't they kinda like Christmas calories?! None of that stuff counts!” She says another important part of their Christmas ritual involves a handmade holiday heirloom: “We also have an Advent Calendar that my mom made when I was young that we used every Christmas and my kids now use. I’ll be sending it to college with my daughter this year. Each evening a handmade ornament is hung on the tree until Christmas Day the tree is topped with a star. When we were growing up, Mom made some of the ornaments to reflect what we were doing. I had a softball and my brother had a skateboard, I think. I know there was a Winnie the Pooh when my brother was little. It's very special in my family.”
Treasured family keepsakes are also part of Leslie Miller’s traditions, “I've always taken my kids to Color Me Happy to make handprint Christmas plates. On Christmas Eve, they leave cookies and ‘reindeer food’ on those plates with a note to Santa.”
EIL Art Director Beth Rowen reports that her family traditions are more Griswold than Parker or Bailey. "My mother would have these annual cookie parties and coerce my dad into putting together a lavish gourmet spread for 20 of her closest friends. The guests each brought 12 dozen homemade holiday confections to swap -- some of them, works of art. The ladies circled the cookie table over and over until they had all collected a variety of treats to bring home. After years of protesting, yet ultimately giving in each time, my dad finally went Clark Griswold -- and in an epic rant, announced he was boycotting Christmas. He would no longer come up north from Florida for the holidays in order to be my mother's personal chef (servant). The following year, epicurean comestibles of the highest caliber were replaced with store-bought cheese platters and hunks of summer sausage. In retaliation for the inferior fare, all the ladies began bringing cookies from Price Chopper. That was the end of the cookie party."
Christmas’ biggest fan in the Golden Isles (just ask when her first tree went up this year for proof), Beth Walters-Parker, says that cookies have always been a big part of the holiday in her family. “When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things about Christmas was baking cookies for Santa. I spent a lot of time with my great-grandmother, Deedee. I remember it was always near the week leading up to Christmas Eve that holiday baking went into full swing. Rum balls, chocolate chip cookies, fudge, fruit cake (Yack! Does anyone even eat those?!), all that stuff. We would bake things to give as gifts to neighbors. I was allowed to sample everything my Deedee made, and as her "assistant,” I got to lick all of the bowls too. It was a pretty sweet set up (no pun intended). On Christmas Eve, she would come over to my house and she, my mom and I would bake a special batch of my favorite cookies for Santa. That was how I justified tasting everything, you know, to make sure Santa would approve. My favorite was always these corn flake and peanut butter cookies. They were messy as all get out, but delicious. My Deedee would let me pick out a special plate from her china cabinet to use for Santa's cookies. Sometimes we would leave milk, but it was usually hot chocolate. I would leave a little note explaining that I was also leaving a carrot for Rudolph and that was that. On Christmas morning both the plate and the mug would be empty.”
She tries to carry on the same tradition with her own kids now, “We do this ‘24 Cookies of Christmas’ thing with 24 different Christmas cookies in December. The idea was to do a cookie every night through Christmas Eve (my delusions of free time actually made me think that was going to happen). Now it's kind of meshed into a cookie night once or twice a week and playing cookie catch up on the weekends. We always do the same thing my Mom and Deedee did for me...picking out a favorite, and baking it on Christmas Eve. I swore to myself I would always try to make Christmas magic linger for my kids. Even though they are teenagers now, we still do the cookie thing, we still make a Christmas list for Santa, and we still make those messy peanut butter cookies.”
We’re honored that Beth even shared the recipe with us, adding “While they’re great served with milk or hot chocolate, they probably need to come with a side of Lipitor or something!”
Beth’s Epic Peanut Butter Santa Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
3 c. cornflakes cereal
Directions:
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat; stir in butter and peanut butter until thoroughly mixed, and remove from heat. Place cornflakes into a large bowl, and pour peanut butter mixture over cereal. Mix until cornflakes are coated with the mixture. Drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper; flatten slightly if desired. Allow to cool before serving. Enjoy—and remember to save some for Santa or for that holiday tea party!
Another Christmas Eve tradition was brought to mind by Alice’s encounter with Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They told her the tale of the Walrus and the Carpenter and their “friends,” the ill-fated oysters. As much as they were a delicacy to their dinner hosts, oysters are a favorite holiday dish in American homes as part of a traditional oyster stew.
Oyster stew originated with the Irish. As Catholics, they observed religious dietary customs around the holidays, including abstaining from eating meat on Christmas Eve. Since fish was the preferred alternative, in Ireland, they made a simple stew from a fish called “ling” for the Christmas Eve meal. Dried ling, milk, butter and pepper were the main ingredients. As ling was heavily salted for preservation and chewy in consistency after being dried, milk was used to tenderize it, and mixed well with the butter and saltiness to create a rich, delicious broth. In America, Irish cooks found that oysters made a fine substitute for the dried ling and adapted the stew to use the popular mollusk.
The South’s butter queen, Paula Deen, has an easy recipe for oyster stew that only takes 15 minutes to prepare. Keep it warm in a crock pot to serve after candlelight services on Christmas Eve or for visiting children and grandchildren.
Oyster Stew
Ingredients:
2 green onions, chopped, plus additional sliced green onions for garnish
2 Tbs. butter
12 oz. fresh raw oysters, undrained
1 qt. half-and-half or whole milk
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Crackers, for serving
Directions:
Saute onion in butter until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat until edges of oysters begin to curl and mixture is hot but not boiling. Serve stew with crackers and garnish with sliced green onions.
If you saved the oyster shells from the oysters from the stew or a recent oyster roast, you can turn these into a cute Santa ornament for your Christmas. They are fun for the whole family to do together and they make inexpensive gifts that can be personalized with a person’s name or special note on the back.
What You Need:
- One oyster shell for each ornament
- A drill with a small diamond bit to make a small hole in the oyster shell (or you can use strong glue to attach ribbon)
- Oil or acrylic paint in red, white, black and flesh tone
- Paint brushes
- Thin ribbon to hang the ornament
Instructions to Make an Oyster Shell Santa Ornament
1. Scrub all the oyster shells you are using with hot water and dish soap. Make sure you get rid of any dirt.
2. Use the small drill to place small holes into the top of each shell so you can add a ribbon for hanging. Make sure the hole is in the narrower top of the oyster, leaving the widest part for Santa’s beard. Instead of drilling, you can always glue the ribbon to the back side too.
3. Paint the top of the shell with red to make Santa's hat. When dry, paint a white bell for a festive jingle or add a cotton craft ball to make a fuzzy topper.
4. Paint the remainder of the shell white and let it dry.
5. Paint a flesh colored oval for the face to match the shape of the shell.
6. Using a tiny paint brush or fine tipped Sharpie, draw or paint details of a face onto the shell.
7. Paint a white moustache onto the shell to finish Santa's face.
8. Add a hanger and your oyster shell Santa ornament is ready to enjoy!
Tip: You can outline Santa’s hat and adding glitter to the edges of the shell makes for extra sparkle.
And while we’re talking about oysters, remember to get your tickets to the St. Simons Land Trust Oyster Roast that will take place at Gascoigne Park on January 17 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. They make a great Christmas present too—as does a gift membership. Tickets are $75 and are available for purchase on the Land Trust website at sslt.org. If you're a member the price is only $50 through January 6 (and non-members can join online to get the same discount.) Preserving our island’s greenspace and creating more parks and wildlife areas where we can visit and enjoy the natural splendor of this unique coastal environment is priceless.
It's All Just Fun and Games
While you’ve got the family gathered around, take some time for fun and games too. And since we’re in Alice’s Wonderland, that means cards must come into play. So what card game to choose? Why of course, the game in which the Queen of Hearts rules: Hearts!
Hearts has been called one of the greatest card games ever devised for four players, with each playing individually. Using a standard 52-card pack, the object of the game is to have the lowest score at the end of the game. When one player hits the agreed-upon score (or higher), the game ends; and the player with the lowest score wins.
Deal the cards one at a time, face down, clockwise. In a four-player game, each is dealt 13 cards; in a three-player game, the 2 of diamonds should be removed, and each player gets 17 cards; in a five-player game, the 2 of diamonds and 2 of clubs should be removed so that each player will get 10 cards.
The player holding the 2 of clubs after the pass makes the opening lead. If the 2 has been removed for the three handed game, then the 3 of clubs is led. Each player must follow suit if possible. If a player is void of the suit led, a card of any other suit may be discarded. However, if a player has no clubs when the first trick is led, a heart or the queen of spades cannot be discarded. The highest card of the suit led wins a trick and the winner of that trick leads next. There is no trump suit. The winner of the trick collects it and places it face down. Hearts may not be led until a heart or the queen of spades has been discarded. The queen does not have to be discarded at the first opportunity. The queen can be led at any time.
At the end of each hand, players count the number of hearts they have taken as well as the queen of spades, if applicable. Hearts count as one point each and the queen counts 13 points. The aggregate total of all scores for each hand must be a multiple of 26. The game is usually played to 100 points (some play to 50). When a player takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades in one hand, instead of losing 26 points, that player scores zero and each of his opponents score an additional 26 points.
Pass the Hat
If you managed to evade the Queen and captured some winnings through your card skills, keeping the classic chapeau of the Mad Hatter in mind, it’s the perfect time to pass a hat for local charities. Here are some local organizations that would benefit from assistance during this time of year.
America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia
Established in 1981 in Savannah, America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia is a locally inspired, volunteer driven nonprofit food bank and community partnering organization. Second Harvest serves as the food safety net for tens of thousands of children, senior citizens, low-income families, and people with disabilities who are at risk for hunger throughout Southern Georgia. They work diligently to feed the hungry by distributing nutritious food to non-profit agencies and at-risk elderly and youth. They partner with nearly 300 faith based and non-profit agencies to provide emergency food assistance across Coastal Georgia. Volunteers are also welcome at the distribution center in Brunswick. Learn more online at helpendhunger.org.
Faithworks Ministries
FaithWorks serves the needs of more than 20,000 people annually in the Golden Isles through volunteer and financial contributions from members of our community. As part of their ministry, Faithworks operates The Well, hospitality center on Gloucester St. for homeless individuals, providing resources such as a shower, a laundry room, phone and internet access, a safe place for social activities and support groups, and an address for correspondence. Sparrow’s Nest food pantry and financial assistance is available for families with extraordinary financial needs due to illness, death, fire, and other circumstances. Cancer Network of Hope helps provide support and resources to those whose lives have been touched by cancer. Additional services offered by FaithWorks include homeless and post-incarceration transition resources, support for the elderly and those with chronic illness, local missions, and pastoral care. Visit faithworksministry.org
Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor’s mission is to provide shelter and therapeutic services to children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected; who are homeless or have run away from home; or who are otherwise at risk or feel threatened. They have both residential and non-residential services available. Volunteers and donations are always welcome. Visit safeharborcenterinc.org.
Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation
If you would like to make a donation to support the community, but you aren’t sure where your gift would be best utilized, Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation can help. Each year, through endowments made by way of Donor Advised Funds, Designated Funds, Unrestricted Funds, and Field of Interest Funds, and a competitive grants process, the Foundation invests approximately a million dollars in worthwhile causes that strengthen our community. The Foundation accepts various types of assets, including cash and appreciated property, publicly traded stock, closely held stock and/or real estate. The Foundation also accepts deferred or planned charitable gifts including bequests, life insurance, trusts, annuities, retirement accounts, life estates and other options, and can work on your behalf with your attorney, tax professional and/or financial advisor to carry out your wishes.Visit them online at coastalgeorgiafoundation.org.
Now on to the impossible…
The Queen told Alice, “Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” That’s rather ambitious, but surely you too can believe and accomplish six extraordinary tasks by the end of the year. What impossible things can YOU do this holiday season? Here are some suggestions:
- Get all of the Christmas lights on the tree and house to work on the first try. (We know that’s not really in your control, so maybe we’ll modify this to “get all of the lights working using less profanity than Clark Griswold.”)
- Make—yes, actually create with your own hands—an ornament for your Christmas tree. This means YOU, but you can have the kids make their own too! (If you followed the oyster shell Santa instructions, you can already cross this one off the list. How ‘bout that?!)
- Bake a batch of Christmas cookies for that neighbor who uses the leaf blower too often or revs the motorcycle in the driveway in the wee hours.
- Remember where you hid that one last gift.
- Finish with all the shopping and wrapping BEFORE Christmas Eve.
- Make a list of New Year’s resolutions you can truly accomplish in 2017.
We here at Elegant Island Living wish you all the very merriest Christmas and look forward to more journeys together in the New Year. Ignore that White Rabbit, it’s time to look for Santa instead!
