Nashville Events on my List

I recently had a long lost friend come into town for the first time for a conference.  A lot of the conference was going on downtown Monday through Saturday.  She assumed it was because of the conference that there were people mulling around and going out in downtown Nashville.  We informed her it is just that way all the time (maybe not Sunday 1st thing in the morning except during Titans Football) with natives and tourists alike going out on the town.  Even in the middle of winter, there are people going out in downtown Nashville to restaurants, honky-tonks, shops, events, and festivals.  The vibrant downtown area is something I love about Nashville.  Every week and weekend there are events and festivals open to everyone (some free, some with and entry fee).  Here are a few events that I will want to attend in the coming week.

My local food writer pal Chris Chamberlain recently got his book "The Southern Foodie, 100 Places to Eat in the South Before You Die" published.  In the book, as I have heard, are stories about 100 restaurants/joints in the South and a recipe or two from each one.  There is one Chris told me about from Monell's (local to Nashville) that actually didn't have as much butter in it as I thought, so I will be getting 2 servings corn pudding next time.  I have yet to make it at home because why mess with a good thing, and I will just hop over to Monell's and "get me some" of the corn pudding.   

Chris is having a book signing event this week, and I plan on attending.   I missed the big Nashville book signing last week because I was home with salmonella/flu like symptoms.  I think Chris, guest and fan appreciate that I did not attend in the condition I was in.  I was so disappointed I could not make that book signing.  BUT, as fate has it, I am going to try and attend a better book signing with some of the recipes in the book available for tasting from Chef's Market.  Yes, Taste the food and hear Chris talk about his book and sign my book all at  the same time!  Here are the details:

Chris Chamberlain The Southern Foodie Book Signing

Thursday Oct 4th 5 pm - 8 pm

Chef's Market

900 Conference Drive

Goodlettsville, TN 

We live in a really awesome neighborhood on Nashville right now.  When we 1st moved here about a decade ago, it was a bit rough around the edges, affordable, and close to work.  When we decided to buy in our 'hood, our 'hood became the "it" 'hood, or the "desirable" 'hood and prices skyrocketed.  So, we bought a little 3 room house (no basement, no shed, no garage), and we got to stay close to neighbors we had known and loved for about 7 years.  In our 3 room house, there is no pantry, no room for an extra fridge or freezer, and basically no room for storage.  But what we do have is room under the dressers and beds for canned goods.  Yes, if you lived in a small house (by USA standards) you too would be creative in figuring out storage.  So, I have recently been exploring fermentation and canning preservation.  I have gone to a Sandor Katz (the USA authority on fermentation) talk before, and I want to go to another one to keep learning.  At this point, we have made our own red wine (which lives in the corner of the closet), red wine vinegar (which lives on the shelf in the laundry closet), yogurt (from a mother in India), wet/salted preserved duck eggs, and wet/salted preserved lemons.  I have been getting non-GMO locally grown soy Tempeh from 2 friends of Sandor.  I have yet to make kraut because there are a few steps involved, and I am missing the steps.  We also attempted our own charcuterie dried sausage which was also a bit of a fiasco.  Anyway, luckily Sandor Katz is coming to Nashville again, and I can learn more.   Here are the details:

Sandor Katz offers hands-on Fermentation Workshop

Saturday Oct 6th 1pm - 4pm

Age Level: Adults

5911 Old Hickory Blvd

Ashland City, TN

$25 checks payable to Friends of Beaman Park

Learn how to make kraut, kimchi, yogurt and more!

call or email and make your reservations now

615-862-8580

beamanpark@nashville.gov

FREE AND OPEN TO EVERYONE!  There is one celebration that is dear to my heart and it is the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival (Celebration of Cultures) annual event.  When this event started in 1995, it was small, sweet, little home grown event sponsored by the Scarritt Bennett Center (SBC).  SBC is dedicated to racial equality,  cross cultural understanding and empowering women.  What better way to support cultural understand than to have a festival!  Well, after about a decade growth of the Celebration of Cultures, the walls were busting out of the SBC and the celebration had to find a new and bigger place to go.  So, a few years ago, Nashville Metro Parks took over the celebration and now it is Celebrate Nashville!  This is free and open to everyone!  There will be music, dancing, traditional cultural dress, booths with cultural information, games, and food (at an extra cost).  I have been to the Celebration of Cultures every year since the year I moved to Nashville, and it remains one of my favorites. The food available is always fun! Last year I got American, Columbian and Ethiopian foods to try.  There should be about 40 food vendors representing food from all over the world. Here are the details:

Celebrate Nashville

Saturday Oct 6th 10 am - 6 pm

Centennial Park

2600 West End Ave

Nashville, TN

http://www.celebratenashville.org