Memphis on my mind

BB King’s

BSP visited Memphis, Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. Other than a work trip years ago, it was my first real visit and I have to say, the food and music were pretty great.

Imagine Cafe offered up incredible vegan food (salivate over the picture below of a po-boy and “chicken” fries), and Butterific Bakery supplied all that missed dairy with pillowy and creamy banana pudding, a caramel-y pecan tart, and luscious chocolate chip cookies. I even got in on the barbecue action with veg-friendly red beans and rice at Rendezvous, with chess pie for dessert.

Seeing the Lorraine Motel, and visiting the National Civil Rights Museum, was a somber highlight. I also listened to dozens of rootsy songs at the Blues Hall of Fame and spent many pleasant hours on Beale Street, listening to the Blues Trio at BB King’s, and a band I never got the name of at an outdoor stage across the street (the singer’s name was Rockstar but at least 2 other singers popped onstage, and Rockstar played the drums for awhile). The next day I saw a younger artist, @goslowtre (IG) at an empty barbecue restaurant, playing and singing his heart out.

  Imagine Cafe

The city felt more Midwestern than Southern in some ways, and there’s an art gallery in the Cooper Young area I’ll avoid (the owner drilled us with questions and launched into a monologue that felt like a verbal assault). But most everyone else, from the Blues HOF to Butterific to the made-in-Memphis store, was friendly and kind.

I hope to go back sometime and spend some time listening to hip hop bands and eat more creatively delicious food. 

 

a most happy veg: an origin story

I've been a pretty happy vegetarian for the past seven or so years.
Hey! Calm yourselves! I'm not about to embark on a lecture.
But I do want to say something about why.
The original decision was made gradually, evolving concerns over health risks (after my Mom passed) and the inhumane treatment of innocent animals. Not to mention the environmental impacts of factory farms.
I started eating only humanely raised meat, and let me tell you, my meat consumption--amount and frequency--plummeted. That sh*t is expensive!
And I realized, I didn't really miss meat all that much.
And, I honestly haven't missed it much since.
What I have developed is a taste for vegetables.
Wow, are vegetables good. (Except for onions. Onions are Satan's stink bombs.) Vegetables are amazing, especially in season. I mean, really really so good.
For me, farmer's market or farmstand veg is the best--it smells fresh, of the earth, and needs only the gentlest of preparations to make it delicious. But a close second is veg from your local grocery store, the more local the better.
Summer in the 206 was a riot of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and of course fruit: melons and berries and peaches. I like to think my body thanked me every day for the deliciousness and the nutrition.
This week, as fall deepens and chills, I am fortunate enough to scored some cauliflower--both purple and yellow--as well as rainbow carrots and Yukon Gold potatoes. I can't wait to toss it all in some olive oil and salt, and let the oven do the rest.