I occasionally receive press releases and will post those I think might interest you- this event is already underway:

Fall Dine O’ Round: September 11th-27th, 2009

Downtown Dining and Dynamic Deals

Salt Lake City- Thirty-one of Salt Lake City’s best restaurants extend a special
invitation to enjoy dining at an exceptional price during the 7th annual Fall
Downtown Dine O’ Round. In addition to the regular menu, participating restaurants
offer a three-course dinner for $15 or $30 per person; some also offer a two-course
lunch for $10. The program has become increasingly popular during a downturn in the
national economy, with some restaurants reporting a 25 percent increase during the
Spring Dine O’ Round event.

“With more than a dozen new restaurants opening in the past few months, dining in
Utah’s Capital City has never been more dynamic,” said Jason Mathis, executive
director of the Downtown Alliance. “This Salt Lake tradition is a great way to enjoy
restaurants like the New Yorker, Squatters, Metropolitan and Bambara while sampling
new spots like Donovan’s, Gracie’s, J. Wong’s, Tipica and the Sandbar Mexican
Grill.”

Asian, Italian, Lebanese, American, Austrian and Mexican cuisines-and specialty
restaurants featuring seafood, steak and vegetarian fare-provide savory selections
to satisfy any world traveler and cuisine connoisseur, all in downtown Salt Lake
City. Indulge the frugal foodie in you during Downtown Dine O’ Round…it’s an ideal
way to explore new restaurants or enjoy old favorites. There are no coupons, no
punch cards and no strings attached.

Venues to Visit

Bambara

Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano

Caffe Molise*

Cedars of Lebanon*

Christopher’s Seafood and Steakhouse*

Donovan’s Steak and Chop House

Este Pizzeria*

Eva*

Gracie’s*

Iggy’s Sports Grill/Downtown*

J. Wong’s Asian Bistro

Lamb’s Grill Café

Lumpy’s Downtown

Market Street Grill*

Market Street Oyster Bar*

Martine

McGrath’s Fish House*

Metropolitan*

Red Rock Brewing Company

Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana*

Squatters Pub Brewery*

Star of India

Takashi

The Garden Restaurant at Temple Square

The Melting Pot

The New Yorker*

The Sandbar

Tin Angel Café*

Tipica

Tucanos Brazilian Grill*

Vienna Bistro*

*Offers Dine O’ Round lunch special.

More information, visit www.dineoround.com.

Presented by the Downtown Alliance and American Express. Supported by Model Citizen,
Muir Copper Canyon Farms, Nicholas & Co., Stone Ground Bakery, Sysco, US Food
Services and City Weekly.

The Downtown Alliance is dedicated to building a dynamic and diverse community that
is the regional center for culture, commerce and entertainment. For more
information, visit downtownslc.org.

I know this is a cheat- I didn’t cook this- but it’s the best takeout around- my idea of the best last minute meal in Salt Lake. After a long road trip today it was great to pick it up and take it away home for a quick satisfying meal. It’s a roast smoked turkey breast sandwich with really great BBQ sauce and the best restaurant baked beans I’ve ever had. Where can you get it you ask? The answer is The SugarHouse Barbecue Company- if you come to Salt Lake don’t miss it. I must say that I think a Hornsby’s Hard Cider is the perfect accompaniment to this meal.

And writing of things not to be missed… Rick surprised me with the idea of a trip to the International Sheepdog Championship at The Soldier Hollow Classic. It was a grand day with a trip in our Jeep about an hour up over the mountains by freeway to Heber City, Midway and finally Soldier Hollow. Soldier Hollow is where the Biathlon was held for the 2002 Olympics. This weekend they have a big sheep herding course set up for the sheepdogs, some Splash-dog competition in the water, a Navajo Rug sale, various dog related attractions and more. We really enjoyed watching those amazing dogs and their trainers. It’s still on through Monday so do go if you’re in the area.

Here are some of the Splash-dogs. Some didn’t want to jump in and some couldn’t wait…

The sheep dog course is a bit more complicated and situated on a giant hill with gates where the sheep must be located, collected and then herded through three gates and then cut out into groups of three and two sheep, put back together and finally penned into a corral at the bottom- all in a time trial. These dogs are amazing and I can’t even begin to fathom how their trainers get them to control those wacky sheep using whistles and calls from the bottom of the course. When a run is over there are plenty of helper dogs to get the sheep out of the way if necessary too. Most of the dogs are Border Collies and I have even more respect now for how hard they work and how smart they are. Sorry the pics aren’t great I didn’t have a telephoto lens and it’s a big hill.

Here’s an adorable little cowboy sitting in front of me in the viewing stands and watching so intently.

And after all the wonderful events we finally left -deciding to take an unpaved road known as Guardsman’s pass over the summit of the mountain and down the other side to Salt Lake City through Big Cottonwood Canyon…

This is looking back down into Heber Valley.

These are some of the Aspens in the forest along the way.

This is the summit of the mountain looking back towards Heber over that far mountain.

This is where you hit paved road heading down towards Brighton Ski Resort and Salt Lake through Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch National Forest. Still many more miles of beautiful country to go through before you open up into the Salt Lake Valley.

Well that’s enough of a travel log for one day- think? Thanks for coming on our journey with us- we hope you enjoyed some of it.

xo

Earlier today, I took my Mom on a little road-trip in my Jeep up Highway 89 towards Brigham City to the Willard, Utah  fruit-stands. I forgot my camera or I would have been able to show you a beautiful “Mayberry” type of country.

 We bought two half-bushels of locally grown peaches, some corn in the husk, green and hot peppers, a local melon and some jarred preserves and then we headed over to Woodyatt Cherry Farms for some Montmorency tart pie cherries. They sell various size tubs of pitted pie cherries with sugar (these make the best cherry pie ever!), dried cherries, jam and cherry juice. Of course being such a cherry fan- this is my idea of heaven. I used to go up to the farmer’s co-op to buy the cherries but it has since gone defunct and from my conversation with Mrs. Woodyatt, it was evidently so unprofitable for the fruit growers that I gather most of them took out their cherry orchards and replaced them with peaches. I am so grateful that the Woodyatts didn’t pull their cherry orchard out because I would find the world a distinctly less lovely place without their cherries.

These are the dried cherries- the picture doesn’t do them justice.

After we had finished making our haul we had a fun dashboard lunch at the drive-in at Maddox including some of the best peach milkshakes we’ve ever enjoyed.

I came home a bit tired and decided that a grill up would be the way to go for dinner.

Earlier this Summer, Marie at Proud Italian Cook, one of my all around favourite bloggers, posted a pork tenderloin that she filled, tied and grilled. I have been wanting to make one ever since. She stuffed hers with olives and mustard and I decided to try using Chevre, sun dried tomatoes and pesto in mine. It was so easy and delicious.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chevre, Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes ( along with grill peaches, corn and baked potatoes)

• pork tenderloin, rinsed and patted dry
• Chevre
• Basil Pesto
• Sun-dried Tomatoes
• olive oil
• garlic
• salt and pepper

 Place the rinsed and patted dry tenderloin on a cutting board and cut into it vertically and then horizontally to open it like a book. Place a small portion of Chevre in the center and top with pesto and tomatoes. Close it up and tie with kitchen twine so all of the stuffing is encased. Put a minced clove of garlic in some olive oil and rub the tenderloin and then salt and pepper. Heat your grill and rub with a little oil. Grill on all sides over medium heat until the internal temperature of the meat reaches just under 160F. Remove to a platter and tent with foil to rest while until ready to serve.

Meanwhile remove the silk from some fresh corn- leave the the husk on but rinse both the cob and husk. Sprinkle with a little chile powder and salt and pepper.  Pull the husk back around the cob and grill for a few minutes on all sides just until al dente. Remove the husk or tie it back for a handle if you wish. Brush with butter and squeeze a little lime juice over and serve.

Grill some peaches. Wash them and halve and pit them. Brush with a little olive oil and place cut side down on the grill over medium low heat. Heat through and serve with a  drizzle of balsamic vinegar- or plain. Mm-mm.

The baked potatoes are served with a scoop of Fage 0% fat Greek yogurt and some chives. They were delicious.

I’m guessing I’ll have lots of peach and cherry recipes for you soon.

Hope you enjoy!

xo

I Love New Orleans! I even wrote a love poem (I won’t bore you with it) for her after the storm of Katrina left her in rags. I know she will rise again because she has a huge heart and the soul of an ageless survivor!

There are a few cities I have visited that have had a certain rythym all their own, where the very air  thrums with a hidden heartbeat and a strange perfume that is a mix of the city’s age, culture and vitality stirs the senses. For me, New Orleans is the Queen- the Grand Dame of this certain “Je ne sais qua!”

In celebration of the biggest party of them all tonight- Mardi Gras in the pearl on the crescent I give you  Rick and Gabi’s Red Beans and Rice.

Rick and I spent an afternoon last week in the kitchen together making Red Beans and Rice. We love this dish and had been anticipating making it for a while. We froze the ham-bone from our Hickory smoked Christmas ham and waited. (When I originally baked the ham on Christmas day I used a Bourbon, dry mustard and brown sugar glaze. It was succulent!) And- we left a relatively large amount of meat on the bone just for this dish.

For a little atmosphere, we threw on some Squirrel Nut Zippers -”Hot“,

an absolutely smokin’ foot stompin’  album (I particularly love the songs “Blue Angel” and “Hell” )and then we went another direction (but no less hot) with Harry Connick Jr.’s new album “Oh, my Nola”.

 The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a Delta Jazz band out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and of course Harry Connick, Jr.is my personal favorite native son of New Orleans, Louisiana.

So, go on, throw on some tunes and cook up a big ole pot of this just for the love of it! AND while you’re at it give a little consideration to making a donation to help New Orleans recover- there is still much to do. Here’s a list of agencies that are still helping there. Or donate to Make it Right a fund to rebuild housing for those who lost everything.

Red Beans and Rice – our style

• one large ham bone from a smoked and glazed ham with plenty of meat left on it
• one pound Andouille sausage, sliced (D’Artagnan‘s is good)
• one large ham steak (about a pound), cubed in 1/4″ cubes
• 2 Tablespoons bacon grease (keep a jar in your freezer and you won’t be sorry)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 lbs red beans, cooked until tender and drained- or you could use 4 -14 oz cans of organic red beans, drained and rinsed if you’re in a huge hurry
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 4 ribs of celery, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce- (I like the Chipotle smoked version)
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• water or chicken stock to cover
• salt and pepper and a little cayenne pepper to taste
• Cooked white fluffy rice or even sticky rice to serve

In a 6qt or larger heavy bottomed pot, saute the “holy trinity” of onion, pepper and celery until they are translucent and cooked through. Add the garlic and cook until it is soft, being careful not to burn it. In a cast-iron skillet or other heavy pan, melt  2 Tablespoons of bacon grease and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add the ham steak and Andouille sausage. Fry until the juices start to carmelize a bit and you get some browning. Add the meat to the vegetables and then the red beans, bay leaves and Tobasco and Worcestershire sauces. Cover with water or chicken stock and add the ham bone. Bring it all to the boil and then either transfer to a crockpot on high heat for a few hours or lower the heat to a low simmer and make sure you stir fairly frequently so it doesn’t scorch on the bottom. It will thicken just slightly as it cooks. Remove the ham-bone and pull the meat off of it into the pot. Serve over white rice to soak up all the gravy. MMMM.

So let the good times roll-again! With love!

xoxo