April 2011

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

  Don't tell the Easter Bunny!

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground clove
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups carrots, grated
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large mixing bowl combine, sugar, flour, salt, spices, and baking soda. Add oil to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add eggs; beat in one at a time. Once the batter is properly mixed, stir in carrots and walnuts. Pour the cake batter into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes or until golden brown. Once cake has cooled, frost and sprinkle chopped walnuts on top as a garnish. 

• 12 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice  

Florence Martus "The Waving Girl"

Florence Martus (1868 - 1943), aka "the Waving Girl", took it upon herself to be the unofficial greeter of all ships that entered and left the Port Of Savannah between 1887 and 1931. From her rustic home on Elba Island, a tiny piece of land in the Savannah River, Martus would wave a handkerchief by day and a lantern by night. According to legend, not a ship was missed in her forty-four years on watch and it is estimated that she welcomed more than 50,000 ships during her lifetime. There is a lot of unsubstantiated speculation about Florence having fallen in love with a sailor who never returned to Savannah. The facts, however, about why she started and continued the waving tradition for so many years remain a mystery.

In any event, Florence Martus grew into a Savannah legend, known far and wide. On September 27, 1943, the SS Florence Martus, a Liberty ship, was christened in her honor.

A statue of Martus by the sculptor Felix de Weldon 

has been erected in Morrell Park on the historic riverfront of

Savannah, Georgia.

The Essex

800-647-3708