Grant Glewwe

My canned chili of choice is Wolf. I used to eat their delicious (but fatty) regular with no beans. About 7 years ago, my wife got me switched to thinking a little healthier, and I started buying Wolf Turkey (no beans). Wolf wasn’t available in Tennessee, so on trips to visit my parents, I would buy a couple of dozen cans to take home. Many times my parents have delivered chili to my door. Mmmm. They have done the same for my brother Greg in Maryland. Last year my parents move to Nashville to be close to their young grandchildren (Megan was just over one at the time, and Michael was on the way). There goes my chili connection. We still have dear friends in Dallas, but with two small children, that trip is no easy feat. Imagine my delight yesterday to find my local Harris Teeter stocked with Wolf. They didn’t have Turkey no beans, but they had Turkey with beans. Good enough for me! Woo hoo! I’ll talk to the manager about special orders eventually. I’ve bought everything they had twice now.

On another product note, McCutcheons in Frederick, MD has become our supplier of choice for jams, jellies and apple/pumpkin butter. A Whole Foods Market opened in Nashville in Hill Center last week, and I was surprised to find Apple and Pumpkin Butter on the shelf (on sale no less). Delightful! Whole Foods’ sale price was actually lower than McCutcheons price. Whole Foods offers complimentary valet parking (tip your valet) for shoppers just outside the front door. We haven’t used it yet b/c of the kids, but we might soon enough.

On the same note, the new Hill Center is also home to a Zoe’s Kitchen, a Pei Wei, a Merrell store (shoes; comfy, comfy shoes) and Swoozies. Swoozies is a “girly” store in my estimation selling among other things personalized note cards, stationary, etc. Sandra was very happy when I said “Order what you want.” I wasn’t so happy when I accidently saw the receipt in the van. Ugh! That will teach me to look. Hill Center will also be home to a Five Guys burger place that we first went to in Frederick with my brother. Yum!

See the blogroll for more pictures of my kids. Here we are in Pinkerton Park in Franklin on the fire engine.

My nephew Gareth is in town this week. We went to Spring Hill to play paintball on Sunday at Middle Tennessee Paintball. We paid $20 each plus $40 for a box of paint to share. Neither of us are paintball enthusiasts, but it was great fun. The guns are Tippmans, but they worked fine for us. Of course, there were six paintball heroes on site with expensive guns, lots of gear, special paint, and lots of attitude. Most of the “heroes” were 10 to 16 I would guess. Lucky for us, a group of 15 adults had booked a birthday party. We played with them mostly and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Playing with the “pros” is a little daunting. They have guns that “ramp” up electronically to fire 15 balls per second. I think the Tippman basic guns might shoot 3 per second if you were really good. The “heroes” always said they would “one ball it”, but it was obvious some of the kids got excited and did whatever they felt like it once on the field. I felt a little bad for the kids that nobody wanted to play with them after they spent a couple grand on equipment a fees, but I didn’t really care enough to want to play with them. They were great shots, and I would rather play with people on my level.

Try out the field for a little paintball fun.

In downtown Franklin, TN, The Cocoa Tree  provides delicious truffles and chocolate treats. I enjoy the Mayan Hot Chocolate (cayenne)!

They just started a new offering including music:

Back Porch Dessert Theatres at The Cocoa Tree

Cost for each show is $10 in advance with reservation or $12 at the door plus tax.

Tickets include one slice of our truffle cake, caramel cheesecake or peanut butter pie and an intimate outdoor concert on our homey back porch. Doors open a half hour before each show.

Here’s our Dessert Theatre Lineup:

• Saturday, August 4 @ 8 p.m. - Josh Womack and “So As To” (Cost for this concert is $15 as it benefits Keep Williamson County Beautiful) www.myspace.com/soasto
• Saturday, August 11 @ 8 p.m. - Anna and Tyler Smith
• Saturday, August 18 @ 8 p.m. - Joe Scutella and Friends (www.myspace.com/joescutella1)
• Saturday, August 25 @ 8 p.m. - Rachel Pearl (www.myspace.com/rachelpearl)

Space for Back Porch Dessert Theatres is limited, so please call 599.1989 for reservations or email jenni@thecocoatree.com