The Great Wine Performances

Ever been served a glass of wine by a famous character? Do you love to sample different wines of the world? Well, if so, the Great Wine Performances at the Playhouse on the Square in Memphis may be the perfect evening out for you.

The Great Wine Performances puts you in the center of  it all. With ten wine stations spread throughout, and famous theatrical characters describing wonderful wines, guests will enjoy a theatrical wine tasting with a chance to test their trivia skills for a slew of wonderful prizes. Don’t worry about not knowing too much about the theater, you can buy clues from the ‘co-stars’ roaming around who really want the title of ’star’.

The event takes place on Tuesday, August 17th from 6 pm to 8 pm. For $50 in advance ($65 at the door), you can experience a wine tasting with a theatrical twist. What can be better than an evening of trivia, great wine, and fun with  your friends!

What do you like to do to hang out during the week?

photo credit: Wikipedia

Hula Hoop the Pounds Away!

Okay, this just sounds fun. When I was a kid, I loved to hula hoop! Whenever we had Field Day in elementary school, the hula hoop contest would always be the first event that I chose! One year, I tied with a classmate for first place because our match lasted WAY too long. I’m still proud of that. While this kind of hula-hooping may not win you any blue ribbons, the hula hoop fitness classes offered at the French Riviera Spa are sure to get those hips moving!

Instructor Nadia Sophia, who is also a fire performer with Memphis’ Fire Tribe, brings the joy of “hooping” and its added benefits of weight loss to others. Never learned how to hula hoop? Nadia will be sure to teach you and get your hips shimmying in no time. Maybe these instructions will help:

“Put one foot in front of the other, bend your knees and move pressure from one foot to the other, holding the hoop on a straight plane,” she said. “The minute it starts swirling, shift your weight. If it starts to fall, bend your knees and push harder. If it drops, pick it up and try again.”

~Nadia Sophia, courtesy of Commerical Appeal.

When it comes to the hula hoop workout, most women boast that they don’t even know that they’re working out; they’re having that much fun. Isn’t that essentially what you want; a workout that you enjoy going to? This definitely sounds fun, and a great way to shed some pounds from your mid-section. I know I’m trying it out. Are you?

The classes meet at 9 am on Thursday mornings.

Get A Taste of Bluff City!

Hey Bailey Creek! Are there any residents out there who are new to the Memphis metro area? If so, I’m sure you’re exciting to taste and see all that the Memphis/Collierville area has to offer, and trust me, it’s a lot. Besides music, food (more specifically BBQ) is the heart and soul of Memphis. The City Tasting Tour of Memphis wants to introduce you to this, with a sampling of great food from local restaurants.

One of the most popular of the city tasting tours is the BBQ ‘Cue Hopping Tour’. You’ve heard of bar hopping right? Well this is ‘Cue’ hopping. On the tour, you’ll be visiting all of the restaurants that serve BBQ around town. You’ll not only be eating your hearts out with BBQ, but you’ll be right in the heart of town; Beale Street, the home of the blues, and the birthplace of Rock n’ Roll are all at your fingertips. Enjoy the sounds of local musicians as you tour the restaurants.

What kind of food can you look forward to? Well there’s: authentic southern style dry rubbed ribs, wet ribs dripping with sauce, spicy pulled pork, barbecued brisket, barbecued shrimp, cornbread, baked beans, and coleslaw.

This tour is Thursdays only at 3 pm, so it’s perfect for your summer free time. The cost of the ticket is $62 plus tax and well worth it. This will be your perfect introduction to the Memphis area.

Are you hungry yet?

Let’s Go Back to the Future @ the Orpheum!

Hey Bailey Creek! What is  your favorite old school movie? One of my favorite 80’s movies of all time is ‘Back to the Future‘. Apparently, other people love the movie as well, as it’s being featured at the Orpheum for their summer movie series, this coming Wednesday, July 21st.

So you know what that means? Yep Bailey Creek, it’s time to go back to 1985.  The movie will show at the matinee (10:30 am) and the evening showings (7:15 pm). This is not your ordinary movie screening. There’s a contest before hand: all you have to do is dress like your future self. I’m not entirely sure what your future self will look like, but I’m sure you have an idea.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for kids. They have a good assortment of other movies playing for the rest of the summer, so you should check them out if you get the chance.

Okay, This Is A Little Weird

We’ve all seen different takes on the first pitches in Major League Baseball games. From Presidents, to celebrities, to business men and women. Some were good, some not so great, some awful, and some just downright weird. Do we see the same kind of…creativity at Minor League games? Well, if you’re a Memphis Redbird fan and just happened to be at the game on May 13, you would have seen something out of the ordinary. A T-Rex threw the first pitch of the game. Sounds crazy right? See for yourself.

That’s one way to incite excitement.

Are Banana Cream Pies one of Memphis’ Great Desserts?

A few people seem to think so. Have you ever tried the Banana Cream Pie at McEwen’s on Monroe. Apparently, it’s delish. (I haven’t had the pleasure of trying it). The “world famous” pie bears no resemblance to it’s country cousin, banana pudding, which I am an extreme fan of.

Here are the ingredients and design:

The graham cracker crust has mashed bananas in it. The custard includes heavy cream, corn starch, sugar, butter and egg yolk, but no bananas, she said. She adds a layer of custard on the crust, then a layer of bananas and, finally, another layer of custard. A chocolate drizzle tops it off.

If you would like to get a slice, it’s priced at $5.25 a slice at lunch, and $7 a slice at night. A whole pie is valued at $38, and if you want a whole pie, be sure to order ahead.

Do you like Banana Cream Pie?

photo credit: Michael Donahue

Breakfast Biscuits

I’m a sucker for a good sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. I like the homemade version way better than McDonalds’, simply because I like the homemade biscuits better. But if I’m in a rush and I don’t have time to bake up a batch, I’ll just head over to Bryant’s.

Service is normally pretty quick on weekday mornings, but I haven’t really gone in the afternoons so I can’t comment on that time. The biscuits are really good, but the sausage is the kicker. It reminds me of  homecooked meals on a Sunday morning at my grandmother’s house.

If you want a quality sausage biscuit, head over to Bryant’s on Summer (Memphis) to get a quality meal.

Have you ever been to Bryant’s? Would you rather make your own breakfast/biscuits at home?

Expand your horizons! Attend Africa in April!

The Africa in April celebration has become a big deal around these parts. If you’re looking to expand your cultural awareness, then I highly recommend this event.

If you can’t wait for authentic African food, fun, and displays, you don’t have to wait too much longer because the event begins tomorrow! The weekend’s free, family-friendly activities that take place primarily on Beale Street and in Robert Church Park, honor Nigeria.

The parade to kick-off the celebration began today at 10:30. It’s actually going on as I write this. In case you’re missing it, the parade features Shaka Zulu, a Mardi Gras Indian from New Orleans, will do his renowned stilt dancing, as well as Nigerian dancers and quite possibly a Zulu float from New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. How exciting!

The Africa in April poster unveiling will be held at 6 p.m. at the National Civil Rights Museum.

I can’t stress how great of an event this is. Be sure to check out the events if you can!

Have you ever been to the Africa in April festival?