It's been a hectic week, and we're only two days into it. G's music effects company released a new product; we've both had enough work and other commitments to keep us scrambling. Over the weekend I baked cupcakes from a couple of recipes, one being Shuna's fantastic one for yellow cake. I then brought them in to school so that the kids in my cooking class could make delicious frosting from scratch and thereby have a revelation about never using frosting from a can again, hopefully ruining Sandra Lee's career or at least her product endorsements.
But the normal work week is already over for me; today I fly out for another conference, this one in Nashville. I have an exciting task: I'm co-facilitating a Writing Marathon for folks from any and all of our 180 member sites, along with my friend and colleague Richard, the Writing Marathon Guru of New Orleans Fame.
November is the month of conferences and travel for me, at least for the last several years. Last time I was in Nashville, 8 years ago, I stayed in the deeply frightening Opryland Hotel, the largest non-gambling hotel in the world. There are five glass-covered lobbies. A "river runs through" one of them, and you can take a "boat ride". Every time we tried to get a taxi into town, we were told by the nice (read *Stepford*) people at the desk that there were 16 restaurants and lots of shops right in the hotel -- no need for us to leave or go anywhere else. Ever. A couple of years later I read Siri Hustvedt's vivid and gorgeous novel, What I Loved, and found an extremely threatening passage set in the endless hallways of this hotel. I shuddered in recognition.
This time I'm in a thankfully more pedestrian Marriott, but I will venture out, at least at night, in hopes of pan-fried chicken, biscuits, and maybe even barbecue. Anyone have restaurant suggestions for Nashville?
Make sure to eat a Goo Goo bar. It's a candy that is native to Nashville. It has no major preservatives so it's not easily found elsewhere.
Thanks for the great write-up on the cupcakes! Glad to see the recipe getting stained elsewhere in the world.
Posted by: shuna fish lydon | November 15, 2006 at 08:56 PM
Never spent time in Nashville but I would think you'd find plenty of great pan-fried chicken and biscuits.
Posted by: Tanna | November 16, 2006 at 06:30 AM
Arnold's Country Kitchen and Prince's Hot Chicken Shack are good bets according to John T. Edge.
Posted by: Lisa (Homesick Texan) | November 16, 2006 at 09:14 AM
You know, check out the fine website for the Southern Foodways Alliance, www.southernfoodways.org, and try posting your question there. Fantastic people there (I'm a member, and the wonderful John T. Edge is one of the main engines of the place) and they should be able to steer you towards some very good eating!
Posted by: Stephanie | November 16, 2006 at 10:23 AM
Alas, I have no advice for Nashville, but if you take Shuna's advice and find yourself longing for Goo Goo Clusters once you get home...Economy Candy sells them, both the 'regular' (peanut) version and the 'supreme' (pecan) version. Sometimes they even sell them by the case -- not that I would recommend that you buy an entire case of Goo Goo Clusters, no matter how well they freeze. Ahem. ;)
Posted by: Bakerina | November 17, 2006 at 11:12 PM