Friday, July 30, 2010
Open Thread Weekly Open Thread Just Discovered Sweet Potato Butter
Posted by Nicki Wood on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 6:51 AM
Cunningham Farms sweet potato butter is just organic sweet potatoes, apple cider, cinnamon and cloves, but that doesn't do it justice. It's good on everything: toast and pancakes, a thin layer on a ham sandwich with spicy mustard, glazed over grilled chicken. As a substitute for carrots in carrot cake, in blond brownies, as a souffle, paired with aged manchego. And it's just $6 for 10 ounces, which is pretty reasonable as handmade, small-batch products go.
It's made in Hancock County, which provides jobs in that economically challenged area of Appalachia. It's a super-double good thing.
Share your food finds and other news here on our weekly open thread.
(Hat tip, tastingtable.com)
Comments (26)
Showing 1-26 of 26
A friend and I tried to go to Allium for lunch Monday (should have checked the website first) and since it was closed, we went to Nuvo Burrito. I'd heard it was good, but didn't realize it was any different from the other burrito places. Wow, I was wrong. That place is awesome. I had the Berkeley burrito and it's one of the best-tasting Mexi-ish things I've had in a long time. Since Los Rosales closed, I'd say. My friend got the 90210 quesadilla that can come with tofu. Neither of us could finish our lunches (the portions are generous), but the leftovers were so good that they didn't survive until the next day's lunch. Highly recommended. Particularly on Mondays when you're not battling Marche patrons for parking spaces.
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i bought a bottle of dark chocolate cabernet sauce at a specialty store in philadelphia some time back, and i sure wish i could find or replicate it today. the wine was present with a punch, and that stuff tasted good on just about anything. or, you know, straight from the spoon.
hosting out of town guests this weekend and trying to decide on a dinner spot tonight. among the group is a vegetarian, a toddler and an eleven-year-old. i have my work cut out. recommendations welcome!
@hungryhippo That's a diverse group. If you're up for Vietnamese, I'd recommend Miss Saigon. It's kid-friendly (as in, you can bring food in with you for the kids and there are usually other kids around). Also, Amerigo, Carrabba's, Lucky Bamboo, Pied Piper Eatery (the kids will definitely love it), and so many others I can't even think of right now. Depends on what area of town you're thinking about.
hungryhippo: Try the award winning Las Palmas. Everybody loves Mexican and they have vegetarian dishes and a kids menu and a fun atmosphere, not to mention those crowd pleasing margaritas. There's one in your neighborhood.
Las Palmas is shit. Don't eat there.
If you want good Mexican try Las Americas, La Hacienda or Las Maracas.
La Hacienda is not great, I really don't understand why they get so much fan boy attention. I've yet to see any actual Mexicans in there eating besides the people that work there. You want good Mexican, hit up the taco trucks on Nolensville.
I will agree with Las Americas and I would also suggest El Mirador next to K&S on Nolensville.
I frankly don't understand why Las Maracas gets so much love. What are y'all ordering there that's good?
thanks, everyone. i'll refrain from the Mexican restaurant banter.
@lesley - our family has eaten at miss saigon many times, though i'm not sure if this group will be up for that adventure. i steered them to fido for lunch today while i'm working, and that was a hit. so at least i'm one for one right now.
@hungryhippo How about J. Alexanders? For your vegetarian, they have a made-in-house veggie burger that is a treat, a veggie plate, awesome sides, and kids are always present when I visit the West End location.
I was only being a wise ass about Las Palmas because they're advertising about winning Nashville's best Mexican restaurant for a zillion years in a row when everybody knows they're gawd awful.
For good Mexican we go to FOGATAS.
Am I the only who noticed the new Bites logo? I miss the gross dude eating the sandwich with shit all over his face.
LOL, David. Went to the beer tasting at 1808 Grille on Wednesday night. Three 3-oz. flights of 3 beers each, with an app, entree, and dessert. The shrimp and yucca chips were refreshing; the Jamaican short rib, while heavy for such a hot day, was a home run; and dessert was a trio of DIY mini-beer floats. For $30 a head, a good value (and a quick way to get buzzed in an hour and a half). It was our first time, and I can't wait to go back and try the regular menu.
Beer seems like a verboten topic with this crowd. Anyway, is anyone going to brave the first session of the Brewer's Festival with us?
thank god they finally got rid of the gross mustard guy. why did it take so long?
"La Hacienda is not great, I really don't understand why they get so much fan boy attention. I've yet to see any actual Mexicans in there eating besides the people that work there."
Hmmm ... and every time I go there, the non-Hispanics are definitely in the minority. Maybe the dinner/weekend crowd when I usually go is different from the lunch crowd.
I get r-e-a-l-l-y tired of the "my Mexican restaurant is more obscure and authentic than yours and therefore I'm a superior foodie and human being" game here and elsewhere in town. Same with BBQ. Just eat and enjoy people, eh?
@hungryhippo Try Pie In The Sky or Mafiaozas. They both let the kids play with the pizza dough and have lots of options. Just be prepared to wait a LONG time for your food at Pie In The Sky.
@wls1119 Not everyone loves Mexican. I only eat it when forced to with others. *Most* everyone loves Mexican. Otherwise I'm staying out of the heated debate regarding which Mexican restaurant in town is good.
Every Taco truck in Nashville uses La Hacienda small corn tortillas. Little puffs of heaven IMHO. By the way, the quickest way to get on the wrong side of the Fox lady is to diss her beloved Mexican joint. Full disclosure: never been to La Hacienda, but I sure have had my share of wooden chunks of carnitas from the 10 or so different "La" and "El" joints at all corners of town. But them damn trucks are so consistent as to amaze. Except Taco Sunrise on Dickerson. Keerap.
Sallaboutme: It should have been "everybody I know". All six of 'em. How come I never hear/read anything about Garcia's in Franklin? Has anybody besides me been blown away by their fish tacos? They were serving them before fish tacos were cool in Middle TN.
My favorite food find this week were the onion rings at J Alexander on West End. PTL.
I can't see a post about sweet potato butter and not give a shameless plug for my hometown - Vardaman, MS - Sweet Potato Capital of the World. Oh yes. In the center of this 1-mile square, 1000 resident metropolis is Sweet Potato Sweets, bakery of all things SP. Here is the website - and they ship anywhere in the country. www.sweetpotatosweets.com
hungryhippo: Maybe try Eastland Cafe. I've been there many times & always see children. They have really good food, nice atmosphere, and pizza & burgers on the menu for the kiddos. www.eastlandcafe.com
@Scaveola I hope we don't give beer the cold shoulder here on Bites -- we love beer. In fact, my husband is one of journalism's foremost connossieurs of the hop. Maybe there just aren't as many beer-oriented events as there are wine and liquor events.
Pie in the Sky is pretty good. Kid friendly too.
Unless they've improved drastically, Mafiaozas is evil putrid horseshit.
@Scaveola: Though I'm currently obsessed with learning more about wine, I too love a good beer, especially of the dark, malty variety. I wish I could get Yazoo stout year-round. Anyway, I recently enjoyed the draft beer at Village Pub & Beer Garden. They have 12 beers on tap, and the waitress was quite knowledgeable about the flavor profile of each. (They have 11 more beers in bottles or cans -- or should I say can. It's mandatory to sell PBR in any restaurant in East Nashville, and that's the only aluminum-clad brew on the list.) I reviewed Village Pub & Beer Garden in the current issue of the Scene: http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/ne…
Though it is a solid half-hour drive from my house in South Nashville, I did make the trek to Village Pub last month to catch a Saturday afternoon soccer match. Had a great time. I appreciate the beer selection (pretzels don't hurt, either... I bought some lye recently and made "real" pretzels for the first time last week). There aren't enough places like this one. Since it truly is a neighborhood joint, and a first-rate one, I don't see us being able to venture back there regularly.
Nashville needs more places like this. Jonny's up the road from me is just plain unsafe, not to mention a smoking-permitted policy that makes going there unbearable.
thanks, all. we ended up at Firefly Grille. they encouraged parties with children, and service was exceptional. i do wish the decor was a little less distracting - the food was absolutely delicious and deserved to be served in a lovely setting. we tried that cake Bites was all over last week - with the fudge and caramel. holy moly.
