Today the fam and I took to our fine city for some of its quiet delights. To get the day started, we stopped for the best cup of Joe I’ve ever consumed, from ROAST, Inc. (615.585.4441) in Crieve Hall. CRIEVE HALL, PEEPS! I’ve done a little investigating and found the secret to owner/roaster-extraordinaire Lesa Wood’s (lesa@roastinc.com) brew is that she roasts the beans herself, a process she seems quite taken with and will describe to any curious customer. By the by, new beans are roasted every few days by Lesa herself, so you’re ALWAYS getting the freshest beans around.

Caffeine consumers are urged to sample a sniff of the freshly roasted beans from glass jars on the counter. Your choice bean (My fave’s the Bolivian. You know what the say about Bolivians… actually, I don’t have any idea what they say about Bolivians. I’m sure they’re a very kind lot, otherwise this coffee could not be so dang good) is then ground before you and … syphoned. 

I’m not gonna lie; that syphon do-hicky looks a whole lot like a huge bong from some movie like Knocked Up, when Seth Rogen’s character Ben Stone (yes, “Stone”–that Judd Apatow is super silly) rescues his beloved bong from the impending earthquake.

You know, bong before knocked-up girlfriend, that’s what I always say. (That’s not true–at all.) Ah, the power of vices. Speaking of vices…

Back to ROAST, Inc. All I can sincerely tell you is that it’s really terrific. Clearly, I’m doing a poor job of describing the coffee concoctionary (a real word? no) process of syphoning, so just do yourself a flavor favor and go getcha some, Nashville.

All kidding aside, I actually think about a cup from ROAST days after drinking it. Either I’m whackadoodle crazy or it’s just plumb good. Maybe both.

After the coffee IV, we were off to Radnor Park for a perfect walk ’round the lake. Beautiful stuff. However, I was distracted from the gorgeousness of nature, because all I could think about was my next treat from …

Fleur de Lis Flavors! I went to the Nashville Farmers’ Market today and enjoyed some delish Cajun food, all the while keeping my eye on this:

Yep, I sat eating with my real goal in sight: the mighty snowball the likes of which all other snowballs wish they might one day be, but they won’t. Boo for them. Yeah for me! 

Today I went for the mix of black cherry and tamarind (divine as per usual), and was delighted to chat with owner Tanisha and her lovely brood for a bit. I told you if we were all lucky the boys (and her hubs, too) would be there, and guess who rang up my bill? Those boys are too cute!

Did you frequent THE home of frozen delights? If not yet, check out FDL’s new and longer (yeah!) hours:

Monday – Friday: 11:00-4:00

Saturday: 9:00-5:00

Sunday: 11:30-5:00

Do it, Peeps.

While frequenting our city’s market and noshing on your FDL snowball, you can also take in the sights, and there are some to be seen.

How fun is it to see pumpkins in our midst again? And the funky white version, too?

All the produce looked yummy today, a fact I could actually take in due to the less-than-sweltering morning. 

There were also these strayered (is that the right term?) eggplant. So pretty. Observe:

Check out the purple bell peppers. Purple Peppers People (EATER)! Too fun. Imagine how great they’d look in a salad.

How about these gold zucchini-looking squash? They’re weird and strangely wonderful.

The pic doesn’t do them justice. They were bizarro!

What I didn’t see at the Farmers’ Market were any of these … the “SlimCado.”

That’s right, an avocado engineered to be “light.” Now that’s kinda off, fo sho. Unlike whackadoodle women who shop for produce and take pictures of it along the way. Now that would just be all kinds of strange. I do what I can, folks. I do what I can.

Perhaps what I’m most excited about are these:

Mums get me stoked for autumnal goodness–and remind me of my cutie-patootie little Grandma Morgan, as her daughters called her, “Mum.” She would’ve enjoyed these. Maybe I’ll have to take them in on her behalf.

Go love on somebody.

Peace out and Amen.