Channel 13
I am bravely making a case for candy corn, Fall In Review, very good meals had and TV watched
LUCKY Channel 13!! Here we go, happy Tuesday, welcome to November. I’m happy to be with you all again, here nearing the end of the year. From where and when I write this, Lunchbox is curled up next to my feet on one of the first truly cold days of fall. I bought a new pillow at Target, the literal biggest one I could find, and I’m most of the way sunk into it on Mega Couch. And on the TV is a crackling fire, which every once in a while makes a big crack and wakes Lunchy up with a start. Things are cozy wozy round here partner.
This week we’re talking a bit of Fall In Review, including some very good meals had, great TV watched, and music listened; first, I have to start by making my case for candy corn.
Little Js
Peanuts and candy corn. Tis the season: peanuts and candy corn, utterly boring on their own, combine at a 2:1 ratio to become magic. Tastes like a Payday, looks cute sitting in a bowl at a party, is cheap, is lowkey very filling. I’ve had about 2 pounds of it so far this fall. My pro tip (and to be clear, I am a a pro when it comes to this snack): it’s even better when you can find the candy corn that has the chocolate stripes in it.
Mood boards. A couple of my girlfriends came over last month and we put together mood boards using magazine scraps. It was so much fun and we made little lists of things we wanted to do this fall and for me at least, 3 of the things on my list already happened!! How fun is that. Making things is underrated and so is setting real silly little goals!
Morning fog + autumn leaves. What an unbeatable combination. The leaves here in Nashville are peaking, and they’re peaking right when the temperature swings make for dense morning fogs. Shout out to my daily morning commute halfway to Kentucky for giving me a great view.
Very Good Fall Restaurant Run
I love food, it’s all so good, and eating is amazing. If these seem like obvious statements to you, congratulations on always having had a totally normal relationship with food!! This fall I had a great run of amazing meals, which I’m grateful for, and I’m grateful too that I got to truly enjoy every second of them.
Waterbar San Francisco
When I travel, I love to eat by myself. I mean I love to travel by myself for starters, but also when I travel for work, I like taking the opportunity to eat a meal or two on my own. It’s not necessarily better than eating in the company of friends, it’s just a different experience altogether, and I like mixing it up. One recent such opportunity cropped up in San Francisco, where I took myself out to dinner at the bayfront Waterbar for a steak dinner. I had 2 glasses of wine and a sherry (which the bartender gave me, along with my dessert), a perfect steak, and some vegetable situation that I don’t totally recall. It doesn’t matter because I was just staring out the window the whole time.
Gyro Fries
I love Fair Food of almost any kind–I have the North Carolina State Fair to blame for that, they have the best food, I will never forget the Methodists’ ham biscuits. Although the Nashville Fair didn’t have quite as much to offer, it came through with something called Gyro Fries, which was simply: a pile of fries covered with gyro meat, tzatziki sauce, and feta. I’m not lying to you when I say it was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. It was one of those food items where you go nonverbal after bite #1, and I did.
Cúrate, Biscuit Head, Leo’s House of Thirst
Asheville has a phenomenal food scene. This is not new news, but I’m just reminding you. On a recent weekend trip, some friends and I hit a few heavy hitters that (on the opposite end of the spectrum as my San Francisco meal) highlighted the joys of meals with friends. One was Curate, a tapas restaurant we waited for about 2.5 hours to get into, where we feasted on various breads and oiled items and cheeses. Another was Biscuit Head, where we went the next morning, a perfect breakfast joint that always surprises me with its fresh OJ. And last was Leo’s House of Thirst, which offered among other things a beautiful Caesar salad and a deviled egg with caramelized bacon on it. We went other places too but this was my holy trinity of the weekend.
5th and Taylor
My Nashville my restaurant literacy is embarrassingly underdeveloped. I still haven’t been to Bastion or Locust, for example, despite those being around for years and widely considered the two best restaurants in the city (as of publishing they’ve just won the city’s first Michelin stars). But sometimes it’s hard to be motivated to try a new spot when you have a place like 5th and Taylor serving consistently delicious, comforting, hospitable and elevated meals. I went recently and I won’t even tell you about my main, which was to die for, nor the appetizer I shared with my sister, which we had to actively pace ourselves through; I will just tell you that I haven’t stopped thinking about their damn MASHED POTATOES since I had them! I really respect that.
Fall In Review
Reading
Do Tell - Lindsay Lynch
Watching
Twin Peaks (Paramount+)
I’m watching Survivor (yawn) and because I currently have a Paramount subscription, I decided to throw in a first watch of Twin Peaks as well. Holy SMOKES! I love this show! I haven’t quite finished it yet but the first 16 episodes (all of season 1 and first 8 of season 2) are some truly remarkable and incomparable TV. Still figuring out my way through the tail end of season 2, and unsure if I’ll venture into the “Season 3” remake.
^ The 5 Spot in Nashville hosted a live playthrough of the Twin Peaks soundtrack, coincidentally, right as I was bingeing this show
Taskmaster Season 20 (YouTube)
It’s Taskmaster so it’s always worth a watch, but this is probably my least favorite season in a while. I don’t think anyone likes each other very much? And I also don’t totally care about anyone?
Survivor Season 49 (Paramount+)
Yawn. Are we all just waiting for season 50? This is an unbelievably boring season of Survivor.
Great British Bakeoff (Netflix)
Jasmine I’m rooting for you!!! I’ve loved this season, as I seem to love every season of this show.
Death Becomes Her (Netflix)
O Brother, Where Art Thou (Disney+)
It’s time to ask: is this a perfect movie?
Listening
Portrait of a Gemini - Penny Goodwin
A Court of Wings and Ruin, Dramatized - Sarah J. Maas
These Days - Emily Hine
Shout out to phenomenal local Nashville radio station, WNXP, for putting me on to Emily Hines. I am really enjoying this album. It gives me some of the same feelings both sonically and production-wise as For Emma, Forever Ago. Perfect for those foggy mornings and fall leaves if you know what I mean!!
That’s all I have for y’all this week. Hope to see you again a few more times throughout the holiday season!! I am already scheming my Christmas decor, for one.