In Pictures

I am in the fourth week of teaching a class at Aquinas, so I don’t have much time to post.  Okay, so I’m in the first week.  But with a Maymester class, every day equals a week of class in a normal semester.   At the end of the second class, one of the students stood up, stretched, and said, “Second week down!”  So tomorrow is our fourth class.

But I at least have time to post pictures.  You wouldn’t want to read an entire post about any of these things, anyway.  So here we go…

A few weeks ago, I made a killer lasagna for dinner when a priest friend came to visit.  He blessed my new condo and I made him dinner.  Win, win.  The recipe came from a composer-chef friend of mine.  He and his wife had me over for dinner a few months ago, and I fell in love with this Sicilian lasagna and had to have the recipe.  Lasagna with meatballs inside of it?  Score. And the ricotta cheese wasn’t overpowering.  (Trena, remember shuddering while eating the shells at Christendom?) It was deeelish.  While it was pretty labor intensive, it was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon and the work produced awesome results.

I forgot to take a picture of the actual finished product.  So all I have are pictures of the prep.

Mmm, meatballs.

I was in the mood to make ice cream, so I did that, too.  I was originally going to make ice cream inspired by “Spouse Like a House” at Handel’s (how I miss you) — namely, ice cream with peanut butter-filled, chocolate-covered pretzels —  but I didn’t dip my pretzels in chocolate, and the ones I bought didn’t have enough peanut butter in them.  So  I ended up throwing in peanut butter cups, too.

It was good, but only because you can’t really go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate in ice cream.  I’d buy different peanut butter pretzels next time.  And dip them in chocolate.  Father ate it without complaint.

…

My “house” at school (sort of like a sorority, but not) had a bake sale to raise money for veterans who have had trouble getting back on their feet after coming home.  Since Joan of Arc is the patroness of our house, we thought helping veterans was fitting.  My friend Paul did the posters, and they just crack me up:

One of the history professors emailed me and noted, “Joan of Arc must really hate the English.”

…

Part of my job regularly takes me to Knoxville, TN, where Cardinal Rigali is living in retirement.  Many of his things from the conclave are on display in the chancery, including the prayerbook and Rite book for the conclave, the little briefcase he was given (it had the little sede vacante umbrella embossed on it with “2013″ – it’s no wonder it took awhile to get this conclave going, they had to make all these things!), his little red lap desk with his name card that was waiting for him at his place in the Sistine Chapel, a sample ballot, and the pen he used to vote.  I couldn’t get over the humorous fact that the pen is a simple blue Pilot pen.  After seeing all the special books and the embossed small briefcase, I expected some cool pen.  Or maybe a quill.  Nope, just a blue Pilot.

There were also pictures of him taking the oath and processing — right behind Cardinal Bergoglio. Very cool.

…

A few weekends ago I re-vistited a wine bar my cousin Michael had  introduced me to last year.  It’s in an old house, and in addition to a regular bar area, the different parlors in the house have machines with various kinds of wine.  When you arrive you get a card (similar to a hotel key) that you put in the machines prior to making a wine selection.  Then you choose whether you want a taste, a half glass, or a whole glass.  It’s pretty fun- and can get very expensive if you aren’t careful!  I went down with some friends for happy hour and wondered why I don’t go down more often.  But perhaps it’s a good thing it’s not closer.

…

May 1st is the Feast of St Joseph the Worker.  I happen to work in a building trailer structure named after St. Joseph, and so we decided to celebrate his feast day.  Yes, we celebrated on March 19, too.  But if the Church celebrates him twice, we can too.  In true southern fashion we had barbecue and slaw and chips and invited everyone to come hang out in our building trailer structure for awhile.

Providentially, on that same day, we received the sign for our building place of work that we requested several months ago.  We have formed a nice little community in our portable building (which just means that we’ll probably be split up before too long. Isn’t that the way it works?) and I we decided we deserved a sign on the outside of our building so people would know who we were.  A minor request, really.

Especially since this is the sign on the outside now, just to the right of the front door:

What does that mean, you might ask?  Well I did too-  eventually.  It’s apparently leftover from when the, er, structure was on the property of an explosives testing site in Bucksnort, TN.

You can’t make this stuff up.

So this sign has been on our building for 10+ years.  So leave it to me to be difficult and ask if we can have a sign that indicates we’re the St. Joseph…

But what?  What are we?  Since the philosophy faculty is at home in our structure, they said we can’t be the St. Joseph Building, because by their nature, buildings don’t have wheels.

We couldn’t very well put “St Joseph Structure” on our sign, could we?

So we decided on “St. Joseph’s.”  That’s what everyone says on campus, anyway.  ”Where is Dr So-and-So’s office?”  ”In St Joseph’s.”

But apparently that message didn’t get to the actual order-er of the plaque. So now we’re St. Joseph Hall.

We’ll take it!  Although as our sarcastic selves, we put the sign in the hallway for the first day.  ”Where are you putting the sign?”  ”In the hall.”

Our shrine to our sign.

…

You know what is dangerous?

Homemade Nutella ice cream with Trader Joe’s Ultimate Vanilla Wafers.  I was in charge of bringing dessert to book club last week, and instead of making some elaborate something or other, I made Nutella ice cream and bought those awfully-addicting vanilla wafers from TJ’s.

Too good.  You know what else is dangerous?  Trader Joe’s Oatmeal Cranberry Dunkers. My sister Jill introduced me to them, and they’re deadly.  I bought them without thinking, and quickly took them to work before I ate them all in one sitting.  Everyone loved them. And hated me.

Buy at your own risk.

My week (or two, or three) in pictures.  Food, alcohol, and Catholic stuff.  Sounds about right.

Happy Birthday, Pope Benedict!

I know, Pope Emertius.  But it still sounds weird to me.  And you all know I know he’s not Pope anymore.

Today is Pope Benedict’s 86th birthday!  So my friend Loretta and I went to eat German food to celebrate.  We toasted him with German beer.

And we ate schnitzel and spaetzle.

We tried the newest German/Austrian restaurant in town, Viener Fest, and frankly, I wasn’t overly impressed.  The food there was better than the other German restaurant in town, but it wasn’t as good as the Rathskellar in Indianapolis and not nearly as good as Cantina Tirolese in Rome.  The atmosphere was so-so and our waitress wasn’t superb.  But if I ever have a hankering for schnitzel, I’ll be back.  All in all, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I imagined when I looked at their menu.

I do love spaetzle, though, so it was a nice way to celebrate his birthday.  I wonder if he and Archbishop Ganswein had spaetzle tonight? Or a nice beer?  Or maybe just some Fanta.

Or maybe they just watched the evening news.

I love, love, love this picture.

And then I went to teach my bible study, where I asked the 60 people present to pray for him.  So that was probably better than toasting him with beer.

Come and have breakfast

We obeyed Jesus this morning and after Mass went out to breakfast.

One thing I love about my little parish is that it’s in a neighborhood.  There used to be a little coffee shop around the corner and I walked there after Mass a few times.  It has since closed, so I obviously should have walked there more often.  This morning I convinced my friends to try a new restaurant a few blocks from the church, and when one of my friends suggested walking, I gladly agreed.

It was a beautiful little walk.

The destination was Red Bicycle Coffee and Crepes. I had read mixed reviews about the place, but a friend had said their crepes were good, so we all decided it was worth the risk.  Their menu looked wonderful:

Tons of different crepes to choose from.  I got the Wake Up, which had cheese and eggs and onions and mushrooms and my choice of meat (I chose bacon).  I also split the Nutella crepe with my friend Darcy.  Because who can resist a Nutella crepe?

I had heard the service was slow, but that wasn’t the case this morning.  I don’t think we waited longer than ten or fifteen minutes for our crepes.

And while I’m not crepe connoisseur, these were good.

This is Liza’s “Bacon” crepe. It had bacon, spinach, mozzarella, and balsamic.

They were stuffed.

My “Wake Up”

And so were we.  Well, not so stuffed that I couldn’t eat this:

The crepes themselves were a little tough, but it wasn’t something I noticed except when trying to cut the Nutella crepe.  They were yummy yummy.  I’m definitely up for a return trip.

Another return trip I’ll be making is to Fat Bottom Brewery.  My friend Manda and I had wanted to go because we had coupons for a free sampler of beer.  So last Thursday, I went to Compline at the Motherhouse with Manda and her boyfriend and we headed to Fat Bottom afterwards for dinner.

There’s another brewery in town that has a taproom, but it’s basically just that — a taproom.  I couldn’t imagine going there for dinner, unless a food truck was parked outside.  Fat Bottom, on the other hand, had a great menu and the ambiance of a restaurant.  I will definitely be going back for dinner again.

I liked it as soon as we walked into the back porch/biergarten area.  Dean Martin was singing — what’s there not to like with that as a first impression?  The inside was very trendy — concrete floors, wood everywhere, and those awesome Southern lights with antique bulbs that are everywhere these days.  It’s hard to explain the vibe — they played 40s music the whole time, which was awesome, and it was very laid back but classy at the same time.

The tables were awesome, but I couldn’t get a good shot of them — really neat rustic wood with benches.  And then there were these chairs at the hightop tables and the bar:

I kind of wanted to take one home. (I don’t know if you can tell, but there are no front legs until the very bottom. Really unique.)

We all got beer samplers.  I don’t think I have had their beer before. I liked it all, but liked Ruby the best.  She’s their American Red.

Those three all sort of look the same, but it’s just the picture. The one closest to the dark one (“Black Betty”) is the red.

John Michael and I both got burgers and Manda got a Reuben.  I think everyone was very pleased.  My burger had real lettuce (no Iceberg) and the tomato looked like it was out of someone’s garden. And the potato wedges?!  Were real.

sorry about the horrible quality of the pictures. blame the mood lighting.

Their beers are all named after girls, in an 40s pinup sort of way (hence the great soundtrack to our meal).    I was sad that Java Jane wasn’t in the sampler that night, because I think I like coffee porters.  My friend Paul informed me that it wasn’t coffee porter season anyway.  So I guess I’ll have to go back in the winter.

Looks like I’m back to posting about what I ate last! : )

Silo

Last December, my foodie friend Manda and I treated ourselves to Silo to celebrate our birthdays, which are a week apart.  We had wanted to try the new restaurant since we saw it during our Goo Goo Dessert adventure, and our birthdays seemed like the perfect excuse.  We had even heard that they were still carrying the Goo Goo dessert.

Silo is calls their cuisine “elevated Southern” and is known for “Farm to Fork” dining, meaning that everything there– even the tables, the china, the decor- comes from the surrounding area.

Manda and I were fans as soon as we walked in — it was cozy and yet classy, with beautiful Southern touches, like dried cotton plants in a vase at the hostess’ stand and the water served in Bulleit Bourbon bottles.  Add a few other fun touches, like an outdoor extension of the bar that included a fire pit, and we were quite enamored.

We started off with cocktails, but sadly I’ve let too much time pass before blogging about the night, so I forget which ones we chose.  I may have gotten a Winter’s Pimms, a variation of my favorite Pimms’ cup but with wintery touches like brandy.  And I think Manda got the Silo Cobbler, which had house-infused Silo vodka and mulled wine.  But I honestly forget — I just remember we both liked our choices.

For our first course, we decided to be brave and got the deviled farm eggs, three ways.  They have different kinds of deviled eggs based on the day and what is in season.  They were very original, but once again, I’ve forgotten exactly what they each were.  One of them had fig, one of them had sauerkraut, and one of them had pickled cauliflower.  They were all fantastic.  Each one was so different, yet they all were still deviled eggs at heart.

For our entrees, Manda chose the Fudge Farms pork chop and sweet potato mash with jalapeño apple butter.  I think it was the jalapeño apple butter that wooed her the most. : )

I had the flat iron steak and fingerling potato salad, with Asher Bleu cheese foundue.  I had the bleu cheese fondue on the side, since I’m not a huge bleu cheese fan.  But it was pretty darn good.

Of course, the highlight of the meal was the chocolate-peanut butter pie with Goo Goo cluster topping.  I thought it would be fluffy, like a mousse.  But it was quite dense… like a enormous piece of fudge.   I couldn’t quite taste the peanut butter, but it didn’t matter.  A nice touch was the crust — it was more like a shortbread cookie than a typical pie crust.

If it was fudge, you would have eaten one piece and then sworn it was too rich to eat any more.  And yet… we managed to finish half a piece each. : ) (Don’t worry, we both took the rest home to enjoy later!)

Silo gets an A in my book.  Great service, wonderful ambiance, and tasty food that didn’t sacrifice quality for originality.  Their menu changes seasonally, so I’m looking forward to treating myself again before too long!

Happy World Nutella Day

Today is World Nutella Day.  I usually miss it, but luckily this year my sister reminded me ahead of time.

But I still didn’t plan ahead enough to actually make a fun Nutella dessert to celebrate.  So…

Instead of making something delicious, I went old-school and ate it straight up.  Well, with ‘Nilla Wafers.

…And straight up.

The perfect end to World Nutella Day.

Restaurant Week: 2013 Winter edition

Whoever thought up the idea of Restaurant Week deserves a big pat on the back.  Or maybe a smooch.  Or maybe the Nobel Peace Prize.

Restaurant Week, for those of you who are deprived of one, is a week when a number of local restaurants offer a special menu for a set price — $20.13 or $30.13, or occasionally something else (like $13.13 or $25.13).  It’s a great opportunity to experience restaurants that would normally be out of your price range.  It’s also just a great excuse to go out to eat.  Not that I usually have a hard time finding one.

I’ve heard NYC’s Restaurant Week lasts almost a month.  This gives rise to two questions. 1) why do they call it Restaurant Week?  2) why am I not there right now?

Last fall I was only able to go to one restaurant the whole week.  That was unacceptable.

So I made up for it this year.  Seven days, six restaurants.  Yes, I’m poor and fat now.  But boy, was it fun.

I didn’t take pictures of every meal for a variety of reasons.  And then later I was listening to Jim Gaffigan and these words hit a little too close to home..

“‘Hey, instead of enjoying this moment, let’s take pictures!‘  We take pictures of every day life and act like we’re capturing history.  ’Unbelievable!  The cat’s asleep!  Post that on my Twitter.’  It’s because we have the cameras on our phones.  Do we need that?  It’s not like ten years ago we were like, ‘I wish I could take a low quality photo of my dessert and text it to someone who’s not interested.  But I can’t, so I guess I’ll just eat it.’” – Jim Gaffigan, Mr. Universe

Guilty.

Monday: Watermark

No pictures here because the restaurant’s mood lighting was too low. And I felt a little conspicuous taking pictures since the restaurant was so nice.  I’ll stick to taking pictures of my McDonald’s french fries instead.

Watermark had received high praises from my  Restaurant Week veteran friends who go there every year. It’s a very nice restaurant that none of us could afford outside of RW.  I’m already looking forward to going back in the Fall.

There was a choice of appetizer and a choice of entrée, then dessert was chosen for us.  For an additional price, they had also paired wine with all the appetizers and entrées and offered half glasses, which was a nice touch.

My choices:

Appetizer: Hickory grilled baby octopus over Tennessee stone ground grits with ratatouille in a lemon, opal basil and roasted pine nut vinaigrette. (paired with a Spanish red wine)

Fantastic.  I hadn’t had octopus that wasn’t fried since Rome in 2005… and actually, I didn’t eat it then.  So I was kind of second-guessing my bold choice until I tasted it… and it was wonderful.  If you didn’t look at it, you didn’t know you were eating octopus.  The texture was tender and rich … not chewy at all.  A+

Two of my friends got mushroom soup, and the waitress brought bowls of mushrooms — and then simultaneously, two waiters appeared on either side of them and poured soup into the bowls, perfectly choreographed.

Entrée: Amish chicken confit over a black eyed pea and roasted shallot ragout in a cracked hazelnut and fresh thyme jus (paired with another red wine)

I really wanted to get the other entrée (Carolina shrimp and Tennessee stone ground grits scented with lemon in a garden rosemary and roasted pine nut sauce) but thought that might be a little grits-overload.  I’m sad to admit that I chose poorly.  The chicken was good, but I tasted Manda’s shrimp and it was much better.

Dessert: Pineapple upside down cake with brown butter ice cream.

The dessert was a bit of a let-down.  When a restaurant lists its pastry chef on the menu, you’re expecting big things.  It was okay, but nothing I would go back for.  And it was a bit heavy after a pretty rich dinner.  I was hoping for something light and chocolate.

With our bills, the waitress brought a “taste” for each of us, compliments of the pastry chef-  chocolate shortbread.  It was good, but didn’t make up for my disappointed expectations for dessert.

The service was wonderful.  I’m definitely going back in the fall.

Tuesday: Burger Up

Burger Up is a nice burger joint in a hipster part of town.  They’re known for their farm-fresh ingredients, locally raised beef, etc.  That translates into “expensive for a hamburger.”

But it’s definitely worth treating yourself every once and awhile, because they’re darn good burgers.

Their RW deal was two burgers and two beers for $25.13.  Since you might normally drop $18 on one burger and beer there, it’s a pretty good deal.  So on the spur of the moment, three of my colleagues and I decided to head over there for lunch.

I had the “turkey burger” on beef.  I liked the toppings listed for the turkey burger but was craving some good red meat.  Avocado, caramelized red onions, mayo, romaine lettuce and tomato.  I had the seasonal beer, a winter lager, which I really liked.

My burger was cooked perfectly.  I think I should probably take my parents there when they come down in a few weeks.  Mom, you’ll most likely get a hipster sighting as a bonus.

Wednesday: PM

I had heard good things about PM but never ventured over to check it out, partly because I don’t venture into the college part of town very often.  PM is owned by Arnold Myint, a Nashville chef celebrity.  PM isn’t completely out of my price range on a normal night, but RW was a nice opportunity to try it for the first time and have a girls’ night with my friend Rachel.

My choices:

Course One: Crab & Bacon Wontons

Course Two: Salmon Teriyaki w/ Lo Mein Stir Fry

Dessert: Brownie Tempura donuts

All in all, it was a ton of food.  I ended up taking half my salmon home for lunch the next day.  It was all very good, although I would get a different dessert the next time.  Their dessert menu was pretty impressive and unique– American standbys with Asian twists.  These donuts were a little too tempura and not enough chocolate.

Thursday: Holland House Bar and Refuge

Again, no pictures here because of the mood lighting.  It’s really too bad, because the Holland House is such a neat place.  The atmosphere and decor are so fun but hard to describe. To say industrial country chic just sounds weird, but I’m not sure how else to describe it.  Think exposed ducts and lots of wood, chandeliers and two really awesome bars. I wish I could somehow replicate it in my apartment, especially since I already have the concrete floors.  But I’m not sure it would be very cozy to live in a bar.

My choices:

Course One: warm white bean and spinach salad, lardons, honey vin, gorgonzola, almond

This was such a winner.  I want it right now.

Course Two: spicy ginger grilled hanger steak, olive oil smashed potatoes, arugula, pea pods

The steak was a bit chewy, although I guess I should have read the Wikipedia entry beforehand to know I should order it medium rare “to avoid toughness.”  I didn’t really get a lot of spicy gingerness. The potatoes were good but nothing I couldn’t make.  The pea pods, strangely enough, were my favorite part.

Course Three: flourless chocolate cake, dark & white chocolate ganache, mixed berry compote

Goodnight nurse.  This thing was fantastic.  So light yet so rich… I guess this is what I had been hoping for on Monday.  The Holland House won the dessert competition.

If you can’t tell from the name “Bar and Refuge,” the Holland House is probably better known for their drinks than their food.  Like the Patterson House, another favorite watering hole, their cocktails aren’t just drinks… they’re works of art.  They’re also expensive.  Hey, you have to pay for a Raphael or a Degas.  We took advantage of the time of day and ordered off their happy hour menu, which meant drinks were only $5 instead of $11 or $12.  I was boring and got a Manhattan with Weller bourbon, partly because I would like to acquire a taste for bourbon while I’m living down here.

Saturday: Flyte

This was sort of a wildcard.  Manda and I had wanted to try this place but hadn’t gotten a chance, so we decided to take advantage of the price drop of RW.  Neither of us knew what to expect, although we had heard good things.

The interior was not what I was expecting — very bright and open.  They somehow achieved a feeling of warmth, even though it was almost industrial inside.

No pictures here because I had just listened to Jim Gaffigan.

My first impression was good — our waiter was very nice.  And nice looking.

After we ordered, a waitress brought us a “taste” compliments of the chef — pear butter with goat cheese.  It was silver spoon (short handle, big bowl) with just a dab of the pear butter with a tiny square of cheese sitting in it.  One little taste.  And it was wonderful.

My choices from the menu:

Starter: Cauliflower Soup

It was like dessert.  So smooth and creamy.  And it had to be healthy because it was cauliflower, right?

Entrée: NY Strip with Kimchi butter and fingerling potatoes

The steak was perfectly tender.  And the Kimchi butter!?  It really elevated the steak from “hm, that’s a good steak,” to “I’ve never had anything like this.”  It wasn’t the best steak I’ve ever had (that was at Shula’s, for anyone keeping track), but it was pretty darn good and the Kimchi butter was great.

No choice on dessert, but that’s okay –

Dessert: Zeppole with mascarpone cheese, tangerine and blood orange

Two wonderful creampuffs.  Light and creamy and perfect.

Then with the bill came a taste compliments of the pastry chef – a chocolate brownie bite.  It helps sticker shock to get a present when you have to pay the bill.

What really elevated Flyte in my book (besides our good-looking waiter) was the red wine flyte.  They had an enormous wine list, but before I got completely overwhelmed, I glanced at the back and noticed they offered six flytes — three red, three white.  Essentially, each flyte was made up of three glasses of wine grouped together for different reasons.  Manda and I both chose (per our waiter’s recommendation) The Olde Country, which was a wine from Spain, a wine from Italy, and a wine from France. All of the wines were very good, but tasting them next to each other really highlighted different parts of the wines that you might not have noticed otherwise.  Manda and I will be going back soon to try another flyte and to see our waiter again.

Sunday: Table 3

It’s hard to believe I was still hungry on Sunday, but after Mass I met my friend Maria for brunch at a fairly-new French restaurant.  They were having a nice lunch special that was $13.13. Again, I had never been there, and this seemed like a good time to try them out.

My choices:

To drink, a café au lait.

First Course: Potato-Leek Soup with a Gruyère crouton

Second Course:

Croque Madame - Grilled Ham and Gruyére Sandwich with Mornay Sauce and Sunny~Side Up Farm Egg

While the sandwich was very rich, it was also very good.  I think I need to learn how to make it — it can’t be hard once you perfect a béchamel sauce, and I’m pretty sure Julia Child would tell me it was about time I perfected a béchamel sauce.

All in all, restaurant week was a success in my book.

Kudos to anyone who got through the whole post.

And I’m taking reservations at Chateau Joan for anyone who wants to come into town for the fall edition of RW.  Just bring your credit card and your elastic-waisted pants.

Why make cookies today?

1. It’s Sunday.

2. The first reading told us, “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks… for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”

3. I survived the first two weeks of a unexpected transition at work.

I didn’t have chocolate chips. That didn’t stop me.

4. I should be packing for my move.

5. Downton Abbey is on tonight.

6. My goddaughter was at a kindergarten open house today. That is impossible, because her mother and I were just in kindergarten ten years ago.

7. One of my good friends is returning to Poland in a few weeks. And the first reading told me not to be sad but to eat good food instead.

8. If I didn’t do something else, I would sit on my couch and watch old episodes of White Collar again and again.

9. This article was slightly depressing.

10. I wanted to.

11. It’s better to consume baking ingredients rather than move them, even if it is only a move of a few floors in the same building.

I wondered if I went overboard on chips/chunks. I didn’t.

12. They’re called “I Want to Marry You” cookies… and since there’s no one around here whom I want to hear that from, maybe if I bake them a straight Matt Bomer will knock on my door out of the blue.

13. Today is the 200th birthday of Pride & Prejudice.

14. I needed something to eat while I drank Coole Swan tonight.  Adult milk and cookies.

15. Tomorrow is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

 

Perfect. I wish this blog was scratch and sniff.

The Southern

Someday, I’ll have a real blog where I muse about important topics and current events, and I’ll become really famous for my witty commentary and sharp insight.

For now, I’ll continue to blog about food.  And my awesome town.

Have I mentioned how much I love my town?  Did you know that we were recently voted the best city ever?  Okay, well, not quite. But if you check out this poll by Travel & Leisure, Nashville comes out on top compared to most other towns.  And we were rated #1 for friendliest people and #1 in People “Over all”, whatever that means.  It’s such a great place.

After Mass downtown today, a group of us went out to brunch to celebrate the feast and Manda’s birthday.  As I drove through downtown, the streets were bustling with people — it was pleasantly warm, so the doors and windows of the honkey tonks were open and the music spilled out onto the streets.  It was like driving through at TV show.

We went to one of the newer restaurants downtown, The Southern.  A fitting place for our southern belle birthday girl!

They gave us a neat high-backed, round booth, so we had our own little spot to ourselves.  Most of the restaurant was sort of “in the round,” and I loved the country chic decor – lots of wood and really great ceiling fans that were connected to each other with big rubber strips.  Hard to explain… but very cool.

The menus were attached to wooden boards:

And the food was delicious.  Two of my friends got the Southern Fried Egg Sandwich, with bacon, egg, tomato, white cheddar, and avocado.  Manda got shrimp and grits, and Maria and I both got “The Highway,” which was the southern classic fried chicken and waffles.

All washed down with blood orange mimosas.  Our waiter was awesome- very friendly, but not overly so – and even brought Manda a bellini for her birthday.

One last cool thing about the Southern… the sinks in the bathroom:

How cool is that?  It’s just  slab of marble… but the water drains to the back, where there’s a little ditch.  It was really funky.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday, and we all agreed that we are extremely lucky to have such a great community.  At Mass I saw so many people I knew — it’s such a comfort, and something I may tend to take for granted.  It’s hard to remember the days after first moving here — well, really two whole years — of feeling like I knew no one and feeling very alone at Mass.  I always sat in the back, on the side, and tried to avoid seeing people after Mass because I felt so out of it.  What a change from today, when I sat right up front and knew almost everyone sitting around me.  After Mass we all stood on the steps and talked — Father, other young adults, people I’ve taught in the Catechetical Formation program, people from my bible studies — one big Catholic family.

In one beautiful city.

Happy Feast Day!

Happy birthday, Goo Goo

The Goo Goo Cluster is the oldest “combination” candy bar (meaning it contains things other than chocolate) and celebrates a milestone this year: its 100th birthday.

Since Nashville was the birthplace of the Goo Goo Cluster, the city has held a number of festivities to celebrate, including a scavenger hunt and a race (that included eating GooGoos in the middle of the race. ugh).  During the month of October, a number of Nashville restaurants celebrated by offering special GooGoo desserts.

My friend and fellow foodie-want-a-be Manda agreed to the adventure: we would try as many GooGoo desserts as possible.

Unfortunately, due to my crazy schedule, “as many as possible” turned out to be five.  But perhaps that was good — for our waistlines and our wallets.

We should have started off the adventure with a single, pure GooGoo Cluster.  I didn’t realize Manda hadn’t had one until we were already digging into our first dessert.  After all — she’s a Southerner.  I thought all Southerners had grown up with Goo Goo Clusters, just like they all grew up drinking sweet tea.  But I was wrong.

So before we begin, here’s the anatomy of a GooGoo, for those of you who are living an incomplete existence and have never had one:

(photo courtesy of Real Southern Men)

So now, in chronological order, I give you the tributes to GooGoo…

#1 The Ultimate GooGoo Gift at Nero’s Grill

The first dessert was a puff pastry box filled with crushed Goo Goo pieces, drizzled with caramel and chocolate, and fresh whipped cream.

You can’t really tell, but inside that little box is a creamy goo with chopped up GooGoo Cluster.

Nero’s Grill definitely got props for creativity. Many of the restaurants seemed to phone it in with cheesecake and ice cream and pies, and I like that Nero’s tried to do something different.  The dessert was pretty good and seemed to showcase the GooGoo fairly well.

But would I go back to the restaurant?  Nope.  Even though we went at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon, when the restaurant was far from full or busy, they treated us as second-class diners because we were only ordering dessert and coffee.  But if that wasn’t bad enough, our waiter accidentally charged Manda’s credit card for someone else’s meal!  When she looked at the receipt to sign, she had been charged $50.  The waiter rushed to take the charge off, but once he was successful, he brought the card back and explained that she might not see the $50 for a few days, especially since the next day was Columbus Day.  If there was an apology, it was barely noticeable.  Hello?  What if she needed that $50 the next day?  What if she didn’t have the $50?

If Nero’s Grill wanted our business ever again, they should have comp-ed the dessert.  No question.

WINNER: Worst Service

#2 Ode to a GooGoo at ChaChah

(That wasn’t what the dessert was called, but that’s what I would have named it.  The dessert was listed on the website as “Goo Goo Cluster Cheesecake, Candied Peanuts, Toasted Marshamllow, Peanut Butter Anglaise.”  I thought that meant the dessert was a cheesecake with all of that in the cheesecake.  I was wrong.)

Since October wouldn’t be around forever, we decided to try to another dessert a few nights later, even though it was a night I was teaching.  So when I got out of class, I headed over to Manda’s apartment and we started calling around.  Our initial plan was to go Fido’s, a coffeeshop, which would be open late.  But when Manda called, they had run out of their GooGoo cheesecake.  So we needed to find a place that was still open at 9:30 – and would be open until at least 10, by the time we got there – and that had the GooGoo dessert.  Just because they were on the list didn’t mean they offered the dessert every night, or that they hadn’t sold out.

When Manda called ChaChah, the guy said they closed at 10 but would hold desserts for us if we were driving over right then.  So we hopped into the car and raced over there.  The restaurant closed around us, but the waiter and bartender were super nice and didn’t rush us at all.  Like at Nero’s, we each ordered our own (we’re not into sharing when it comes to chocolate), and Manda ordered a glass of wine.

When the dessert came, we found out that it wasn’t just cheesecake — it was an assortment of desserts… an ode to the Goo Goo, if you will.

My apologies about these atrocious pictures– we were sitting on the front porch, which was lit only by candles and the streetlights, so I couldn’t get a good shot.

They gave us half a GooGoo (so Manda got to try her first pure GooGoo), and then a piece of cheesecake (the flower-shaped thing), some candied peanuts, and a homemade marshmallow, all drizzled with the peanut butter anglaise.

It doesn’t look like much, and some people would balk at paying what we did for a few bites.  But it was incredible.

I wish you all could taste the marshmallow.  It was definitely a marshmallow, but more gooey and soft, less sticky and pillow-y.  I apparently need to work on my descriptions before I become a food blogger.  You know how your teeth don’t exactly sink into a marshmallow?  This marshmallow was different — you didn’t need to chew it as much as a regular marshmallow.  It also had a richer taste than just the airy-sugar taste of a store bought marshmallow. It was amazing.

ChaChah is owned by Arnold Myint, a local chef who owns two other restaurants in Nashville and has been a contestant on Top Chef.  So it wasn’t surprising that this GooGoo creation was something that belonged on a Food Network competition that challenged chefs to showcase a candy bar.

This dessert definitely stole the creativity award right out of the hands of Nero’s Grill.  Coupled with the incredible service of the waiter and bartender who were willing to let us enjoy our desserts despite the late hour (maybe these guys know better than to chase two pretty girls away? just a thought), ChaChah was winning every category in the GooGoo adventure.

Above all, ChaChah took the GooGoo and deconstructed it, allowing the components of the GooGoo to sing. A masterpiece.

WINNER: Most Creative & Best Tribute to the GooGoo

#3 Cuckoo for Goo Goo cheesecake at Fido

Four days after ChaChah’s, we decided to drive to a local landmark, the Loveless Cafe, which was offering GooGoo Pie.  We didn’t think to call ahead and decided to treat ourselves to a southern dinner as well.  When we got to Loveless, we announced to the waitress that we were there for the GooGoo dessert.  ”Oh, we’re sold out.”

Phooey.

We decided to stay for dinner anyway — you can’t turn away from Loveless’ biscuits once they’re in nose-shot.  I got BBQ and Manda got turkey, and we reminisced the days when we ate comfort food all the time… fixed by our mom’s.  When it came time for dessert, though, we got back in the car and headed back into town to try our luck at Fido.

Fido is a pretty well-known coffeeshop, so we were sort of hitting two landmarks in one evening.  (When I went to Fido a few weeks later for brunch, I ran into a camera crew — most likely from ABC’s new show Nashville, which keeps popping up around town these days.)  Fido was actually featuring four GooGoo desserts – a cookie, a muffin, a Rice Krispie treat, and the cheesecake.  Manda and I were both looking for the cheesecake.

But what beverage should be paired with the dessert?  Neither of us wanted caffeine, so I suggested a vanilla steamer.  I hadn’t had a steamer since the days when my mom and I were rather addicted to them, so I don’t think I realized how perfect a pairing it was.

We luckily decided to split the cheesecake… because neither of us was impressed.  In fact, we didn’t even finish the piece.

Perhaps my expectations had been too high — I had seen a picture of the cheesecake and was really looking forward to it.  But it was just “okay.”  It didn’t really showcase the GooGoo at all.  It was just a chocolate cheesecake with marshmallows thrown on top.  It wasn’t even that great of a cheesecake.

The steamer, on the other hand?  Was amazing.  In fact, it evoked reminders of that marshmallow at ChaChah – so perhaps it was a bit more of a tribute to the GooGoo.  Manda had never had a steamer, and I think she was sold.

WINNER: Best drink

#4 GooGoo Cluster Bread Pudding at Germantown Cafe

Germantown Cafe has been hit and miss for me in the past.  It’s within walking distance of the parish I frequent, so I really want to like it.  But I once broke up with a guy after brunch there, so while the brunch was delicious, it didn’t have great memories associated with it.  Then I went there for restaurant week and wasn’t entirely impressed by their dinner offerings.  But over the summer I went there for dessert after an outdoor symphony concert and was very satisfied.  So I was willing to see what they were offering for the GooGoo dessert.

It was another late night of teaching, so as I drove to Manda’s I began calling restaurants to see who still might have dessert.  Germantown Cafe said they’d be open until 10 and they had two desserts left.  We took a gamble and headed over there.  As we walked in we noticed a new restaurant across the street- Silo – which was also on the list.  So we figured we’d dash across the street if Germantown Cafe left us hanging.

We took a seat in the bar and ordered two bread puddings and two glasses of red wine.

When they arrived, we were immediately daunted that we had each ordered our own.  But after the first bite, we were both very glad.

While it wasn’t exactly bread pudding — more like GooGoo brownie cake — it was decadent and moist.  Everything a chocolate dessert should be.  Even the sauce was lick-me-off-the-plate-and-don’t-be-ashamed good.

It might not have showcased the GooGoo as well as ChaChah (although there were peanuts hiding in there), it was so superior to our Fido dessert, it didn’t matter.

And once again, the service was great and the waiter didn’t a bat an eye when 10:00 came and went.  We enjoyed our decadence, sipped our wine, and caught up on each other’s lives.  It was the perfect girlfriend night out.

At that moment, Germantown Cafe had won “favorite” in my book.  But they were about to be challenged.

WINNER: Best chocolate & best girls’ night out dessert

#5 Goo Goo Cluster Sundae at Puckett’s

October was coming to an end.  We knew that this would be our last dessert, and we had to make it count.  So this Sunday afternoon, we went all out.

This was no regular sundae.  This was a deep fried Goo Goo topped with vanilla ice cream, powdered sugar, and chocolate syrup, served in a skillet.

Yep.  And we each ordered our own.

(Is there any wonder Obama won the Presidency?  I’m pretty sure at this point in the game, most of the world was fasting in anticipation of the elections.  I was eating a deep fried GooGoo.  *sigh*)

This dessert sound far heavier than it really was.  Not to say I wasn’t in a food coma the rest of the day, but the breading was light and airy — we found out from our waitress that it was actually pancake batter.  It was fluffy on the inside but had a nice crisp sweet crust on the outside.  And it surrounded a wonderfully melted chocolatey goodness that once was a GooGoo Cluster.

Wowzers.   As the ice cream melted over the creation, I knew I had found the ultimate Southern tribute to this Dixieland candy bar.

Puckett’s should put this on their permanent menu.  No doubt about it.

WINNER: Best tribute to GooGoo’s Southern heritage & … my favorite.

I think Manda picked this as her favorite, too.  It’s hard to beat out ChaChah, but this one was definitely more satisfying.  And while Germantown Cafe’s bread pudding didn’t disappoint in any way, if you offered me the chance to have one of them again, I would say the sundae.  And then the next day I’d have the bread pudding.

I’m sad that it only lasted a month — with 4o different restaurants (some offering more than one dessert), it was impossible to try them all.  Prime 108′s molten lava cake, Flyte’s “Cluster’s Last Stand,” and 55 South’s Goo Goo Chess Pie were all on our list to try, and there were others — mousse, peanut butter pie, gelato, and cannoli — that might have given the desserts we tried a run for their money.

But now I’m going to go dream about deep fried GooGoos.

Happy Birthday, Goo Goo!

My Town

Today I realized why I love this city so much.  I was reflecting on it because I had a fantastic weekend — it was packed full of opportunities that I wouldn’t have had in other places.   There’s always something unique to do around here.

But is that just because I live in a city?

So I had to think about it further.  Some of the opportunities this weekend were uniquely “Nashville.”  But some of them could have happened in other metropolitan areas.  I saw a play on Friday, for example, that someone could have seen elsewhere.

So what is it precisely about this city?

I came back to the conclusion I’ve made before — it’s the size.  We have awesome opportunities, but we’re small enough that there’s an intimacy at those opportunities.  At the play, for example, I saw a dozen of people from church, school, and my other social circles.   Same with the music event last night — I didn’t know if I would know anyone, and I ended up running into all sorts of friends and acquaintances- more so than I would in a bigger metropolitan area.

So I repeat… I love this city.

On Friday, we went to a one-man show of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce.  Anthony Lawton adapted the novel and performs it around the country.  The Catholic Medical Association sponsored it at one of the local private high schools (a high school that costs $25,000 a year… so needless to say, their theatre was one of the nicest I’ve ever been to, period) and all the proceeds went to their medical mission to Haiti. But that’s not why Dr Ely brought Lawton in to do the play — he brought him in because he knew The Great Divorce had a message that people needed to hear.  Lawton did a great job, and it made me want to read the novel again.

After the play a group of us went out to Sweet Cece’s.  Because everything is better when finished with dessert.

Saturday I had truly beautiful day.  It began with early morning Mass, because I had a lot of work to get done on my Church history class.  I work best in coffee shops, so I like to get an early start to Saturdays and hunker down somewhere inspiring.  A friend had sung the praises of a new coffeeshop in East Nashville: Barista Parlor.  It was supposedly quite an experience — they craft each cup of coffee individually.  (Which, if you learned to love coffee in Italy, is the way you think it should be.)

It was an experience– from the bourbon vanilla latte to the sausage biscuit (with jam… it was delicious… and the sausage came from the butcher next door!) to the tables clearly made out of felled trees… it was awesome.

A friend who lives in the neighborhood came over for a visit while I was on her side of town, so after two hours of working and two hours of socializing, it was time to head home.  So I went back and read by the pool for three hours.  The weather was gorgeous– one of those beautiful Nashville fall days when it’s 78 degrees and sunny with a breeze.  Then my friend Maria came over for a movie.  A good blend of work, relaxation, and fun.

Sunday I went to the parish downtown for Mass (the oldest standing church in Nashville) and then walked to get coffee with a friend. It’s always funny to be downtown on a Sunday morning when the city is quiet (except for Titans fans walking to the game).  The weather was beautiful, so it was nice to walk.  After the hot summer, it’s a shock to realize you can be outside and be completely content.

Then I went with a few of the Sisters to their retreat house about an hour away.  It’s pretty new, so I hadn’t been out there before and was anxious to see it.  Boy, was I in for a treat.  It’s beautiful (have I mentioned I had a beautiful weekend?) and is almost worth losing Super Bowl XLIV (Sorry, Jim).

Pictures can’t really do it justice, which is why I was so blown away.  I had seen pictures before, but nothing is like being there.

That didn’t stop me from taking pictures.

After we got back to the Motherhouse, I made a holy hour in their chapel.  I need to do that more often.  Mark it under “things I take for granted around here.”

Monday night I had a “only in Nashville,” experience — one that prompted those musings about why I love this town so much — but I’ll save that for my next post.