another thanksgiving extravaganza at our place

it was time for another trash talkin turkey bash at our place! the usual gang of suspects was present along with a few special guests! we had the pleasure of sharing the festivities with karen-jared's girlfriend, tanner-alix's boyfriend and linda & mike flew in from california to witness the debaucle first hand! a big round of applause to alix and linda for taking all of the photos-the thought honestly never crossed my mind...can you say pie overload?

also new to the festivities, two men in a boat. we added beer butt ducks to the menu. here they are with the appropriately placed beer cans in their aluminum boat waiting to go grilling.

the grill is heating up just for them

smoking the day away

the two men, all smoked and ready to rest before the carving

also new this year, wild mushrooms. our shiitakes made it into the stuffing but up the street, a neighbors tree was covered in oyster mushrooms. the gang hiked over and came back with these beauties.

a close up of the oysters

darry preparing them for the grill

mmm, yummy mushrooms

the turkey pit. we actually got the turkey going first and did all of the other stuff while it was roasting. the stake and the ground are foiled and ready to receive signals...

the bird is hung on the stake and a probe is inserted. the probe is insulated with foil and buried under the ground to prevent it from burning up

the trash can is placed over the bird

darry lights the fire

let the waiting begin...

luckily, the probe and the remote are working. we could keep track of the internal temp of the turkey without removing the trashcan. our 21 pound bird took about 3 hours to cook

so what to do whilst we wait? we toss a ball around

and around...

we talk a lot

we watch other people toss a ball around

we talk some more

we tend the fire

and before you know it, the alarm chimes out: your entree is ready! (in a creepy female robot voice)

and there it is, one trash can turkey!

the spread-the turkey was displayed in what else, the lid to the trash can, fitting! we had such a wonderful time. the weather wasn't great but at least it wasn't cold or raining(or snowing for that matter) and we had a chance to enjoy the company of some of our most favorite people for a truly delicious meal. hope you all make it down for next years bash, who knows what we will cook, but it will be fun!

heirloom pumpkins at the farmers' market

a recent trip to the nashville farmers' market

frosty weather is persimmon picking time!

wild persimmons in nashville

green baking

a bakers dilemma; how to be green in the bakery.

sparkle cupcake company

a review of a south nashville cupcake bakery

acme kitchenware

a review of one of nashville's best kept culinary secrets.

time for sweet potato pie

bake a sweet potato pie with freshly harvested sweet potatoes from the nashville farmers' market.

it's apple pickin time!

the latest info on pick your own apples in nashville, my latest article for examiner.com

Be your own Cake Boss

learn how to decorate cakes like a pro by reading my latest article for examiner.com

egg facts

get the latest on double yolks, bloody yolks and how to handle eggs by reading the latest article published on my examiner.com page

Accurate oven temperatures are one of the keys to successful baking

the latest article for examiner.com is up and it is all about the importance of accurate oven temperatures. read all about it by clicking on the button to the right or by clicking here.

examiner.com, it's where i'm at...

So, i've been neglecting this site for a while but have no fear-i'm still here just a little busy is all.
recently, i began writing for examiner.com as a nashville bakery examiner. my articles are mainly reviews of bakeries in nashville but i also write about topics that bakers will find interesting. below is a series of links to all of my articles and i encourage everyone to log in to the site and become a subscriber.

Apna Bazaar-a review of a local ethnic market

Foxy Bakery-a review of a local baker

Nolensville Feed Mill-review of a local shop that features amish goods

prebaking pie shells

fresh picked berries

supermarket bakeries-a review of publix fresh baked breads

national peach pie day

perfect cheesecakes

La Espiga Bakery-a review of a latino bakery

long time since...

it's been a long time since i have posted anything here. i could blame it on the holidays, a hectic schedule, or the book that i was working on; all would be true so take your pick. it's not like we haven't been out to eat-we have and we have found some real tasty places to go. so what could possibly have me sitting at the desk clacking away at the keyboard? a new farmers market, that's what!

we live in south nashville and this part of town is just not so trendy, it's suburbia man, deal with it. things are changing slowly for us, 12 south is paving the way and it is slowly spreading. we do have berry hill and if you look closely, nolensville road is chock full of great places to shop for ethnic foods as well as restaurants ranging from ethiopian to mexican to thai and indian. but we have always lacked the ability to find local produce in our own farmer's market until now. last week was the first run for the new woodbine farmer's market.

it was hot and blindingly sunny but we braved the elements and wandered our way over. parking can be tricky but be patient, people come and go quickly. it's small, about 15 or so vendors and to be honest, each one is not exactly loaded down with products. we were a little disappointed that first week and left empty handed after walking around for 15 minutes.

even so, we have decided to make this a regular occasion and yesterday, we headed over to the market in the search of what ever looked good.

darry loves chevre and couldn't resist talking to the folks at noble springs dairy. he tasted the chevre and the feta, both made with goat milk from the goats they raise on the farm. this time, we weren't leaving empty handed, darry bought a piece of the chevre.

fellow naba member, ed johnson, has a booth at the market to sell his honey.

again, it was hot so we stopped to have some lemonade. this booth sells it with flavors, we chose basil lemonade and it was refreshing.

we are suckers for a locally roasted coffee, especially dark roasts and the humphreys street coffee company was stocked and ready to go. darry talked to the roaster, luke and we walked away with a bag of freshly roasted indonesian bali blue moon, a dark roast. this small company is actually a non profit company that specializes in mentoring young men. by teaching them the ins and outs of a business, they offer inner city boys an alternative to crime.

this little booth was selling fresh baked cookies and cinnamon rolls as well as flowers by the bouquet.

what an interesting group of vendors! we will continue to go every tuesday and hopefully watch this grow into something big. Well done Woodbine Farmer's Market, see you next week!