Tea Party Time

Cheryl Day, y'all, is a dear friend of mine here in town

and she owns Back in the Day Bakery here in Savannah, along with her husband, Griff

I just love having her over to cook with me. Today, I thought we'd unwind with a little lunch, a spa-o-tea

Now, Cheryl's gonna make me a neighborhood favorite, her oatmeal coconut sammies

which will go perfect with my orange spice tea. I'm going to start us off with an old-fashioned turkey patty melt

There's nothing like girlfriends. So let me tell y'all, here I am going to prepare Cheryl this turkey melt

So I walk into my kitchen 30 minutes before Cheryl's supposed to get here

No Bread. Hello, back in the day bakery. Cheryl. Hey, Paula, how are you

Hey, girl, how you doing? What'd you forget? I had planned on making us turkey patty melts

Uh-huh. And I just realized that I'm out of fresh bread. Would you ask Griff to throw a loaf of bread in the car for me

No problem, Paula. I'll have Griff hook it up for you. Thank you, dear

I'm looking forward to us spending the afternoon together. All right, we'll see you in a bit

Bye. Paula! Cheryl! I'm here. Hey, girl. Hey! I'm so sorry I had to call you

Hey, darling, I'm great. Oh, I brought the bread and I brought you something

Oh. I see something. I see something. Brought you some bacon jam

Oh, my gosh. From Griff. I thought we could use that on our sandwiches. My son's favorite

Oh, Cheryl, that's going to be delicious on our old-fashioned turkey patty melts

Griff made 100% whole wheat. Uh-huh. And have you ever heard of sorghum

Sourup? Yeah. He put some of that. He invented this. Oh, no

Southern style whole wheat bread. Sorghum syrup is in here. Let me tell you about quiet little Griff

He produces the most incredible homemade breads you've ever put in your mouth

Oh, my gosh. So it has. I think that'll be good with our turkey melts. Oh, my gosh

Can't wait to try it. All right. Here's the turkey. I've got a steak sauce here, salt, pepper, a teaspoon of ground thyme. Okay

If you would just mix that into that turkey meat. All righty. I'm going to get our mushrooms and onions to cooking

Okey-doke. Paula, am I just sprinkling and mixing? Yes. Is Griff the only one that knows how to make the bread

He is. So, Cheryl, you can just put that meat in that bowl. Okay

So, when is he gonna get in there and start teaching people? We always are talking about that

It's hard to relinquish everything, isn't it? It is. All right, so, Cheryl, I'm gonna spray our griddle a little bit

because, you know, there's not much fat in turkey, so... So we're doing these just like hamburger patties? Yeah

You should be able to get four or five out of here. Okay. And just put them on the grill

I'm gonna wash my hands, Cheryl. Okay, I'm gonna keep putting these on

Cheryl, everybody that knows you and comes to y'all's bakery just loves looking at your wardrobe

Aww. The way you dress is so nostalgic. I just always kind of have liked, you know

shopping at vintage stores and playing dress up, and you know. We're gonna be making tea to go with our tea party, of course

What do you say we kind of dress up a little? That'd be fun. You want to? Yes

Do you have a hat? That'd be fun. Oh, honey, I have got you a hat in mind

You do? Yes. That's gonna be fun. I've got the griddle back here, Cheryl

Okay. I got it on. Check our meat. And I'm gonna, yeah, get you out a spatula

Look down there in that drawer. And I'm gonna be slicing our bread

Here we go. Oh, my goodness. I love that we're doing turkey

Oh, Cheryl. Don't you think that bacon... All right, now these are gonna be open-faced

Yes. It looks like honey. It looks... But that's the sagram. Yeah

You know what? I think, Cheryl, I'm gonna put some of that bacon jam on this bread

That would be good. But first, let me butter it up and get it on the grill

I know Jamie just raves about Griff's bacon jam sandwich. So you put this on thick

We put that on thick, because that's all you get, is that the cheese

And Jamie kissed Griff. I think he kissed him on that. My son Jamie kissed him

He did He did That is Ooh Cheryl it hot Griff you know likes to come up with these concoctions of spices but it got a little Coca in there

You tell Griff to keep it coming. I like this griddle. All right, these are doing up nicely

Our buttered bread's on the griddle, and I got the brawler on

Okay, so we're good. You got some bread. Yes, we're gonna... You need to try some

Try a piece. Oh, I am, honey. I done got my piece of butter. Ooh, what's in there

And your piece. This is cheese. Cheese. Yum. How long you think on our turkey patties

Oh. It's not gonna take long, is it? No, not too long

All we have to have is like one, two, really. Yeah, that's true. We can give Griff, Michael

And somebody lucky. Yeah. Coming up, I'm serving up my ooey-gooey patty melts

Dig in, darling. Oh, yay. This is gonna be good. And later, Cheryl may have the perfect cookie, y'all

but I have the perfect hats for our tea party. This is perfect

You know, lunch is not gonna be fancy. Oh, we don't need fancy

But I know these old-fashioned patty melts are gonna be delicious. I'm gonna grill our bread

And look at that. It's... Man. Yes. That's perfect. I can't wait to taste it

Now I'm gonna push that bread over to the side, and I'm gonna come down here and spread some of Griff's yummy bacon jam

Cheryl reminds me of myself. She had a very limited budget when she started

but she had a great passion for her bakery. We decided that we wanted to be, you know

the place where people would come and think of when they come to Savannah

And how did you decide that that's what you wanted to do? Well, I tell you what, Cheryl, I was on the south side

You know, we didn't know what a tourist was out there. Right, right, right. And I realized early on with my style of cooking that it belonged in the historic part of town

Right. You know? Yeah. So in the back of my mind, I started working towards that goal

You know, I was lucky. I think that's why we can relate to it, because you know what I'm doing every day

I mean, the hours. Listen, a bakery. Yeah. What are you talking about? I know. 2 and 3 a.m. in the morning

That is tough. A lot of people work hard, so I don't complain about it. You know, that's exactly right

A lot of folks are working hard, so. Oh, excuse me. Did I get your toes

No, you're fine. See if you can peek in there, Cheryl. Okay. And see if they're done

Do we need it? Let's flip them close. Oh, yeah, it's getting there

Oh, yeah. It's a little pinch. Yeah, it won't take long. When you're having a turkey burger, it's not like a beef burger. Right

You don't want to serve a medium rare turkey patty. Or a chicken patty. Right

You want it totally done. And of course, if you're unsure, you can always stick a little meat thermometer in it. Right

So we'll turn these over, and you can see there's hardly any fat in them at all

But I think these are safe now, Cheryl. Okay. What do you think

They look good. I think you're... Yeah, it looks good. Yeah, plus we're gonna stick this under the broiler

Ooh, yum. Now, I'm gonna... Yes. Now, I'm gonna top this. With our mushrooms and onions, I put our bacon jam on there

Oh, my goodness. You're going to love it. All right, guys, I'll move these down

We are going to love it. Give this a strip of my ball

All right, so now for our cheese. Yes. All right, so I'm going to stick this under the broiler, Cheryl

Ooh. Do you want me to do that? Yes, darling, you can. And I'll get our plates ready

I remember that your broiler worked fast. Oh, gosh, that broiler worked so fast

All right, keep an eye on that for you. Okay, yes, yes. Because it will be gone on you in a second

In fact, when you're broiling... Look at that. Oh, my, my. Yes, now you know you always want to broil, Cheryl

with your oven door cracked. Look at it. Yeah, we just want to get a little color

Yes. There, and it's melting. Oh, my goodness. We are there, girlfriend

Man, that was like... I'm telling you, that oven does not plate

Okay, I'm gonna let you plate this. Be careful. Careful. I know you've got all the iron fingers

I do. Pretty much. All right. Oh, got it. Yes. Okay. Yum, yum, Cheryl

Oh, my goodness. So you think Griff would approve of what we're doing to his bread

Love these plates. Thank you Dig in darling Oh yay Okay Oh my goodness This is going to be good Yes Look at that bacon jam

It's just got so many flavors in there with the spices and stuff

Oh, my God. Oh, this is so good. Isn't that turkey meat good with the churn

So good. What are you making today? Oh, I'm gonna make you, because I know you love coconut, some oatmeal, coconut, like Sammy's, kind of like a whoopie pie, but with cream cheese frosting in the middle

Cheryl. You know I can't come over here without making something sweet. Have I told you lately that I love you, girl

Coming up, it's Cheryl's turn to work her magic in the kitchen

Oh, my goodness. Stick around for my version of an old-fashioned tea party

Looks delicious. Mmm, Cheryl

I think our coconuts don't. Perfect, Cheryl. Perfect. You know, when you're toasting nuts, coconut

you have to be very, very careful. Isn't that perfect? Now, I know you love coconuts, so..

I do. I incorporated that into this... oatmeal recipe. Let's get going, Cheryl

You know, I just can't wait to make your famous oatmeal coconut sammies

Alright, so you put me to work. Well, nothing starts without four sticks of

butter. Four sticks. I started to say pounds because that's what it would be at the bakery. Yay. But four sticks of butter

You never disappoint me. And then you're going to need sugar. Uh-huh. Sugar

You're going to need two cups. Two cups. Okey-doke. And then I'm going to start with our dry

And then one cup of Brown sugar. Yep. Cream it together. I like to get it really light, Paula

Okay. And I've got two and a half cups of all-purpose flour

All righty. And then this recipe has a lot of spices in here

I love it with the oatmeal. I do, too. In one of my cookbooks, I formulated a loaded oatmeal cookie

And, honey, I cleaned out my spice drawer, put everything in it, and it was so good

Isn't that fun? Yes, I loved it. So I'm starting in with a little salt and then all my spices

I've got allspice. Yes. Half a teaspoon of that. We've got our cloves

Baking soda. And then I've got my cinnamon. And then I'm just going to whisk all this together

I'm going to crank this. And I know you're like me. We like to make sure our eggs are

Are these your little chicken's eggs? You know those are from my chickens. Yay

We've got four eggs, Paula. that are going in. You gonna add one at the time

One at the time. And when you... Can you do the vanilla for me, sweetie

Yes. Just eyeball it. Okay. What, like a teaspoon? Yeah. Or you can scrape it down

because I do something, I don't know, maybe a little different than most people do their cookies

I'll put in my oats next before I add in my dry. Okay

And it's a lot of oats, because they are... How many tops? Four and a half

That's it. All right. So now we've got all of our dry ingredients

You want to add those, Paula? Yes. Okay. And I just add that in a little bit of time

So it's a good thick cookie. It's going to be yummy. You know, Cheryl, tell me, because, you know, I don't claim to be the world's greatest baker

I've played around with different cookie recipes. Now, sometimes they can be real fat and thick

Yeah. And other times they'll spread out. Oh, goodness. And I'm so passionate about that

If you have your butter too soft, you're not going to incorporate the air

and it's not going to be able to do its job when it reaches the oven. That's why they get that flat as a fritter

I did not realize that. So that's why when you're creaming it, it needs to be, like, room temperature

I bet you on occasion I've walked in and decided at the last second to make a cookie

and pop it in the microwave. And they're still good, so. Oh, they're delicious

In fact, I kind of like a thin cookie. Mm-hmm. All right, so we're gonna incorporate the coconut in here

Get the coconut in there. And I'll stir in a cup of raisins

That looks perfection. Yes. We're gonna scoop it out. Okey-doke. Six. I always like to do my corners

Yes, to hold your paper down. So I would do like six. Okay. Yes

Oh, my goodness. Maybe. Mmm. All right. So then I'll just take..

Is that turbinado sugar? Oh, well, is this what you're going to do

Yeah, yeah. It gives it kind of a nice little crunch. Crunch. Yes, I love it. Up

When you bake them off. This batter is so good. Isn't it good? All right, so how long are we going to bake this for

and at what temp Um 350 and it going to be about 8 to 10 minutes I like to kind of slightly underbake them because they gonna continue to bake on your tray Okay

So, Cheryl, what's next? All right, so here, this is just the old-fashioned frosting

which I know you're very familiar with. We're gonna start with a stick of butter

Okay. I'm gonna get you to cream that. Okay. And then let me get some milk, about a quarter cup

Okay. I love these milk bottles. I do, too. it's hard to believe that when

my children were babies we had a milk box out by the front door

Oh yeah! I remember that! We'd leave my bottles of milk in our little silver

box out by the front door. Vanilla in there. And then we're going to put

in our confectioner's sugar. How much? And that's going to be about

two cups. I want to get your milk in here. Hello, find it over here

That would help you. Paula, this is going to be about a quarter cup. What'd you say? Yeah, a little

milk goes a long way with confectionate sugar. You know, this isn't really definitive

You basically want to just get it to the right consistency. That's looking good

Yes. It's nice and Thick. Now, I've got enough filling for my three cookies

What are you going to use? We could always get you another stick of butter, Paula

Make us some more. I'm going to just kind of sling that. Okay

But so that's it. We're almost ready for a tea party. Oh, yay. Yay

I'm going to put your milk back. I can't wait to show you what I've got for you to wear

Oh, I can't wait, too. Coming up, we'll add the finishing touches to our Sammy's

These cookies smell phenomenal. And then it's time for a tea party

Look what I've got for you. Oh, my goodness. Cheryl, these cookies smell phenomenal

and look how beautiful they are and they're cool so they're ready for..

Ooh, they're gonna be good. But listen, would you do me a favor? Yes. Oh, here I invite you for a night

and I just work you like a mule. You're not going back to the watch soaps, are you? No, no

Okay, okay. Do you mind making the tea face? No, of course. To four cups of water

you just add four cloves, two cinnamon sticks, some orange peel, juice from half an orange

and four black tea bags. I've got a surprise for you. Uh-oh

Okay. Okay. Cheryl, how's the tea coming? Oh, good. It's almost done

I'm putting some of your favorite honey in here. I love Cheryl

She, too, likes to have fun while she works. So it was my idea for us to dress up and have tea

Oh, my gosh. How great is this? I had the hat. I had the gloves

Oh, I'm almost done. Surprise. eyes. Look what I've got for you

Oh, my goodness. You weren't kidding. No, I'm not kidding. Tea time. I feel like part

of the Queen's family. Oh, my goodness. All right, Nessa, I'm going to have to ask you. Uh-huh

And I hope you like your hat. Oh, I love it. I'm a bit from the view

Fabulous. I look like I'm going to a tea party. You're done with the tea. Done with the tea

I've put everything in. I'm just going to Steep it for a few minutes and then we'll drain it out

Okay, well, while that's steepened, let's go ahead and start filling our cookies

Let's. Would you like to join me in the sitting room? Yes, I would

I tried to have the accent, y'all. I'm not good with accents

The only accent I can do is my own. You know, little girls love tea

Do you remember having tea parties when you were little still? Yes. Little girls love to dress up

Yes. All right, there's your... Without a care in the world. Oh, my goodness

This beats those tiny little finger sandwiches any day. Is this how we do it

Oh, stick it straight out. To be safe, I'm just sticking both of them out

Oh, there you go. My goodness, darling, that's so good. And now for our little, or not so little

Looks delicious. You ready? I was ready 30 minutes ago. This has been so fun

Not a care in the world when I come over here. Cheryl, I always love spending time with you

There's nothing like girlfriends. Mmm. Delicious. So good