Category Archives: Utah

Christmas Dinner 2009

Posted on December 25, 2009 | 1 comment

We’re on our own this year, with frigid temperatures and no new snow. I’ll make breakfast, of course, bacon and eggs and probably biscuits, tea and juice.

For dinner I ordered a rack of lamb. I plan to make a paste of garlic, thyme, rosemary and olive oil and let it marinate for a while before cooking it in a hot oven. Scalloped potatoes will be made and served, as well as baby carrots and green beans. As for an appetizer, I made some of Jim’s parents picked and shelled TX pecans for a party last night and our home still smells like curry! Dessert will be pastry chef Mary’s cookies.

We’ll probably see Avatar or another movie this afternoon, and make Zoe wear her new green velvet jingle bell collar for a while. Zoe doesn’t need a gift, she has new boots from grandma! I’ll take a picture when it’s light out and I have all four booties together. Margie designed them after my Hunter wellies of the same color. Along with Jim’s lined bathrobe that he loves, she made me a “keyboard cozy” of embellished denim, to keep dust off my keyboard.

Perhaps I’ll play a few Christmas songs for Jim on piano and/or guitar when he awakens much later this morning. Two hours ’til dog walking time. Perhaps a nap is in order. Merry Christmas!

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas, Utah

Deli

Posted on December 23, 2009 | Leave a comment

I just bought myself “Save The Deli” by David Sax. Checking up on recent Amazon orders, tracking packages, I was sent ten top cookbooks by Amazon and had to check them out. Especially since it mentioned there may be one good deli here in Mormon Country.

Deli was not what I grew up with, in a small village in upstate New York. It was after college that I learned about bagels. I read about how they were made and know the feel and taste of a really good one. I also knew when our Irish assistant bought “bagels” for our legislative committee that included several NYC Jewish bagel experts (she also bought a bagel slicer, laughingstock of the meeting) I told her they were not bagels at all but rolls with a hole in the middle. I explained the water bath process yet she insisted on serving them for breakfast. What did they say? “These aren’t bagels, they’re rolls with a hole in the middle!” ‘Nuff said.

I did get to Dairy Planet in NYC once, for pierogies. Stage Deli, Carnegie Deli. In Texas I had to go to Katz’s every couple of months for a hot pastrami on rye and one latke. Sour cream and applesauce. Once I made matzoh ball soup with a NYTimes recipe that called for 1T vodka. I’ve tried for 20 years to find the recipe again as those were the lightest matzoh balls I’ve ever had. Very delicate. No luck.

Digressing from my story as I become more excited and hungry for deli foods I’ll tell you that my first adventure into smoked meats was in Montreal. My mother grew up there, and Ben’s was their favorite Deli. There are family stories of sweethearts meeting there for the first time. It was a big deal in the Depression (the 30’s, not this one). Smoked meat was a treasure my dear Aunt Joan used to buy and make at home for us, steaming it until just warm and serving it on good rye bread with deli mustard. When I was old enough I’d go to Ben’s when visiting and add a Molsen Ale to that order. The book I just ordered, when it arrives, may tell me more of the smoked meat tradition in Canada (Montreal) but I find it much more delicate than pastrami or corned beef.

Now a funny bit: a lady asked the butcher at a local grocer for corned beef for her father-in-law who was visiting. We’re talking Utah! Even in TX they sell corned beef “kits” to cook at home, plus mesquite brisket that I miss terribly. The butcher couldn’t think of a source around here for good deli meats. Hot pastrami, rye bread, deli mustard, a pickle, a latke. I can almost smell it. My husband got a car for Christmas. I got a music book. Perhaps he can find me a sandwich… Cheers! Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

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Morning and Christmas

Posted on December 21, 2009 | Leave a comment

Morning in the mountains, sunrise during or after I walk Zoe. Sometimes I rush home just to get the camera. We don’t have a tree. Jim’s allergic so we’ve never had one, so this year we have a red and gold jingle bell wreath in the front hallway and an evergreen wreath on the front door.

Our front door is at least 9′ tall and made of knotty alder. Beautiful! Don’t worry, we didn’t put a nail in it! We got an evergreen and pinecone wreath from Whole Foods and decorated it with just a few ornaments. Ornaments were always sacred in our family. We each got one every year then when we left home we got our own in a box to take to college or work thereafter. I’ve tried to get themed ornaments for Jim and me over the years, starting with wooden painted stockings, right up to the Scottish ones I bought while we were there. Everything is in storage. Thus the wreath.

When we first came to Utah earlier this year, we had no idea how long we’d stay or where we’d live. Early on we passed a gift shop with all kinds of Utah items and I found ornaments. Since Jim has actually gone fly fishing, he’s the moose on the trout, I’m the bear on the sled. This weekend we found one for Zoe and one for the family. Zoe’s is a hand-knit mitten and ours is a star made of recycled glass, both from the Swaner EcoCenter down the road.

I know you always love photos, and I haven’t been taking many lately. As for wildlife, I’ve seen a few geese over the past few weeks, nothing else. As long as we’re here, I’ll keep an eye on the Preserve and perhaps get you a photo of moose or elk. Cheers! Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

My Kind of Shopping

Posted on December 21, 2009 | 6 comments

Big buy this weekend, snow tires for Jim’s “new” car that arrived last week. We’re supposed to get another snow dump tonight and tomorrow and the tire store was not crowded with holiday shoppers at all! It took me 20 minutes to drive two miles home, however, because cars were lined up for a mile to get to the outlet mall nearby. Jim wants a boot for snow, but we’re not going near Columbia or Bass or Track & Trail until AFTER the day after Christmas.

With the frig and freezer full to bursting I’ve taken to keeping mineral water and some juices in the garage. Imagine a one-car garage filled with eight all-season tires and other sundry items and adding refrigerator items? It’s time to shop the refrigerator! There are no traffic jams between my desk (the dining room table) and the frig.

On Saturday I made a comforting cauliflower-cheese soup. We had a cup of it with dinner Saturday night and it was the mainstay of last night’s dinner. There’s a new bakery down the street and I bought a sliced loaf of gorgeous Pumpernickel bread. My Friday delivery included a package of Dietz & Watson smoked Black Forest ham. And I had some extra-sharp Vermont cheddar on hand. I sliced the cheese thinly, put a very thin layer of butter inside the bread with some grainy mustard, and placed the cheese on both sides of the bread with two slices of ham in between, buttered the outside and grilled it until it was all toasty and melted. It was great!

I told Jim I’m going to come up with some new soups and we’ll do an interesting soup and sandwich combo for dinner one night a week, at least during the winter months. The mountains look gorgeous up here, and ski season is nearly in full swing. We’re thinking of trying cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. There’s a six-foot wide trail right at our back door and it’s not plowed during the winter, it’s groomed, so XC skiers glide by during the day and it’s a sight to see. We wouldn’t glide at first, we’d probably be on the ground or trying to prevent ourselves from falling down! I’m thinking snowshoes might not be a bad thing to have around when it comes to walking Zoe in new snow.

Jim has two days off this week (yea!) for a four-day weekend. We’re spending Christmas Eve with friends and Christmas Day together. I’ve ordered a rack of lamb and will make a simple meal. With my family, I was always too busy to go to a blockbuster movie during the day, but my brother and sister always found the time… This year we make our own traditions and decisions. Jim got a car and snow tires for his birthday (the 23rd) and Christmas. I still have a “cranberry tree” and some hors d’oeuvres to make. That said, I can’t wait for the new movie “Crazy Heart” to come out nationally, as it’s now in NYC and LA. It may inspire me to get back to the guitar. Jeff Bridges already has a Golden Globe nomination for portraying a down and out country singer. Can’t wait!

In the meantime I have taken out the guitar not to practice but to figure out a few Christmas tunes and find easier chords for Edelweiss for the nieces as that song has been requested by my brother-in-law. I’ve also been toying with the keyboard. We gave the girls my first guitar, which they’ve already opened, and they have yet to see the Yamaha keyboard (same as mine) that we mistakenly sent to their grandparents house so they’ll get that in a few days, finally a surprise!

Music and cooking, holiday spirit, and lots of snow. We miss our families and old friends this time of year, in this new place. Wishing you well, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas, Utah

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Gloria In Excelsis Deo

Posted on December 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

Last night my husband and I had the good fortune to attend a holiday concert ably performed by the University of Utah Singers under the direction of Dr. Brady R. Allred, conductor. It was held in the beautiful St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church down the road apiece.

Now this is what a choir is supposed to sound like! I only made it through two years of high school chorus and we didn’t sound anything like this. My favorites were an interesting amalgam of Lo, How A Rose (from the traditional hymn) and The Rose, the song popularized by Bette Midler. Also, Three Nativity Carols (The Holly And The Ivy, This Endris Night, and Wonder Tidings).

The cookies were wonderful and the brownies, sinfully delicious. I didn’t get to the cocoa but it certainly smelled heavenly. Thank you, U of U friends, for inviting us to this concert that would have put even old Ebeneezer in a holiday mood! Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

Fragile

Posted on December 14, 2009 | 1 comment

Yesterday

We’re learning about how fragile life is up on the mountain. Jim assembled a winter “kit” for me at Wally World yesterday (jumper cables, flashlight, food, blanket, tow rope) only to have it snow again today and steal my car to get to work down the hill. Our absent neighbors’ pipes burst the other night and flooded two homes, thankfully not ours.

Jim needed better shoes/boots for the weather and I wanted to get to the local outlet mall when it opened because of the holiday shoppers and weekend craziness. We didn’t arrive until after eleven but due to heavy snow, the place was empty. No luck on the boots. Our dog didn’t know how to do her “business” in the deep snow, so just bounded through it and had a blast.

We’ve been in good and bad corporate housing. Several things distinguish where we are now from past digs. We’re used to the four cups, four forks… routine. This place has a vase, covered butter dish, sugar and creamer china. Games for rainy and snowy days. We have become comfortable here and I feel safe in the snow. I’d feel safer with all-wheel drive and snow tires (my car) but that situation should be fixed by the end of the week when Jim’s AWD vehicle arrives.

Take care in the winter weather. Don’t drive like a crazy person in the mall parking lot trying to get that last toy on sale! Try to spend more time with your family on Christmas day and less time slaving over a hot stove. Stay warm. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

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Serious Weather… in Paradise

Posted on December 12, 2009 | 2 comments

We’ve had more cold than snow so far, our first winter out west, but that’s about to change later on today. We’re living in a townhome that is partially contiguous to one next-door neighbor who inadvertently started a flood yesterday that seriously damaged the interior and walls of two townhomes. We arrived home to find water dripping in front of both garages. I called the management company and e-mailed them, to no avail. Later on I called the Homeowners Association. The management company sent a couple of guys out to pour salt (a few hundred pounds) on the driveway and shovel. Then finally one of the hired hands/shovelers took out his cell phone and took a photo of the exterior damage and presto! The big dude was on the scene.

Apparently the heat was off or too low for safety. Most of our neighbors are not in residence except for a week or two per year. Our neighbor’s maid came in yesterday came in yesterday and it was freezing so she turned on the heat, which, later on, burst pipes that ruined the interiors of two expensive ski properties. We wish we’d had an emergency number to call, because it was several hours before anyone came to check on the problem. It is certainly not the maid’s fault that the owner didn’t have the heat high enough to prevent the bursting of pipes. Don’t worry about us. We keep it (too) warm in here and the hot tub, drained for summer and now filled and at 68 degrees, was maintained just yesterday. It’s just a reminder of how scary the weather can be out here.

I just finished checking on a couple of relatives and friends in the Northeast, where the Thruway is closed in part of NY State and conditions are terrible. Jim took my car a couple of days last week, in the snow and it was filthy so I had it washed today. Even though the washer fluid is full, it won’t spray, so I had to Windex the windshield and back window inside the unheated garage just to be able to see to drive it to the car wash! Yes, I always get the undercarriage wash, as we keep our cars for years and I know what road salt can do to a car.

On the plus side, we’ve read about this BBQ place and tried it last night, first BBQ since we left TX earlier this year! Jim had the brisket and I had a pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw. Yummy! We’ll be back! I should probably get some food before we’re snowed in here for a few days. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

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Balaclavas and Boots

Posted on December 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

When I was a kid, of course we lived up on a hill where the weather was colder than town. So, 4-6 weeks before the other kids were dressed for winter, my sister and I were in hand-knitted balaclavas (think what deer-hunters would wear, thanks Aunt L) and shoe-boots, where you place boots on over socks and take your real shoes to school in a backpack. Jackets and hand-knitted mittens, probably with yarn keeping them in our coats.

Today I went out in my bright yellow Hunter boots. They don’t even sell them in the UK anymore but this company is based in Scotland (dear to my heart) and of service to the Queen and make the original “Wellies” or Wellington boots that any Brit gardener wears. Top that off with silk long undies, jeans, 800 fill-power Marmot down jacket, Scotland-purchased navy shell with hood, polartec headband and driving gloves…

I was the “Michelin man” and felt like the little kid all bundled up for my first day of school! A grocery shopping, package delivering, driving fool I was in my new Wellies. Many years ago in grade school, fellow students laughed at us for our winter gear that we needed when the bus dropped us off 1/4 mile from our house to trudge through the snow. They also laughed at us because our bus was a 1/2 bus because it only picked up kids out in the country so our commute was at least 1/2 hour to get three miles to school.

Today I sported my bright yellow Wellies with pride. I’m not afraid to have dry feet and make a statement at the same time, even that it’s the fact Overstock had these boots on sale. As for the balaclavas, sorry Aunt L, I appreciate your efforts and that you kept us very warm in hats and mittens in our formative years but don’t know if I’ll wear one again. Your beautiful hand-knit scarves, that’s another story.

A neighbor wore a sheepskin-lined hat that covered her ears the other day and was embarassed. I said “whatever works” as it’s probably below zero outside. We’re going to a concert by the University choir together next week, at a church in our neighborhood. Pippi Longstocking is alive and well and living on my head. I can’t wait to bring “her” into the local knittery where I’ll have my first lesson after my fingers stop cracking and bleeding from lack of humidity in the air.

We’re getting the few gifts sent out that we’re giving to youngsters in the family. Perhaps Jim and I can find someone to take the dog and we can regroup for the new year and take a few days off. One year without a day off gets tired and stale and we don’t want that in our lives. May your holidays be about family and togetherness. From being made fun of by other students to my irrational fears of not being accepted over the years, I’ve created a home and family and culinary niche. If someone doesn’t like my winter gear, so be it. I’m like the ducks here in the Spring, the insults just roll off my back like water. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

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Music in Your Heart

Posted on December 8, 2009 | 1 comment

I took a few weeks off lessons, a good thing as the lack of humidity up here is shredding my fingers. But I miss it. Not the pressure of practice, the sound of music. I just pick up the guitar and ask my husband to name a song and I try to play it. Without the pressure of having to learn a song or try a technique, my mind is free to imagine the music and play at least chords.

Yes, I am definitely a work in progress and need many more lessons. Today, I stopped by the shop for a couple of items for a holiday gift. I gave greetings to some of the Conservatory staff and as I headed out I heard my teacher’s voice. I went into the office, gave him a hug and he asked what I was doing there. I told him and he said “You’re giving the gift of music.”

As I thought about it I said to myself what I did not say to Korky. My teachers, over the past six months, have given me the gift of music that I’ve missed for decades. While I’ve a lot of work ahead of me before I even play for family, it is incumbent upon me to share that gift of music with our family so that’s our gift this year.

I gave Korky a holiday gift and he said he had nothing for me. That’s not true. Today I pass on a gift of music that was instilled by my grandfather, my father, my music teachers in grade school (one just sent me a cookbook about grapes) and is present in me. Throughout life, my music teachers have been my salvation – I just gave them up for thirty years! Giving the gift of music encourages a budding musician and encourages the giver when s/he sees the gift grow.

Do I have a food analogy? Of course I can find one. Most cooking schools teach amateurs a dish or meal to serve for Valentine’s Day or whatever. They don’t teach techniques. If you know how to braise and what to braise, you can braise any appropriate ingredient. Learn the basics (see my cookbooks list) then do your own thing. Same with music. Know the rules then when, and how, to break them.

Yeah, I’m a dangerous gal now. Politics, cooking, music. PDXknitterati, do you REALLY want me to take up knitting and have sharp objects in both hands? Think about it. Happy holidays, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Utah

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Liverwurst and Buttermilk… and Grapes

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

Isn’t that what Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney had at that lovely Vermont inn, home of the General? Danny Kaye did “choreography” and Bing sang his most illustrious holiday song…..

I want a sappy Christmas movie! Or at least a song on the car radio that makes me break down in tears and be thankful for all my blessings. My blog has snow (must have initiated itself because somehow I asked for it last year). It’s pleasant but the real stuff is falling and Jim’s car spun out this morning and I tried like heck to have him switch cars and take my AWD with brand new snow tires down the mountain. He made it there and back, thank goodness. There’s something to be thankful for.

Yesterday, two of Jim’s colleagues and their children came over for lunch and video games (Star Wars). She brought a nice bottle of Chianti and five pounds of black, seedless grapes of variety I’m unfamiliar. They look like Concords but are twice the size and oblong. She must have read my blog about the grapes!

So, we can’t eat them all and I’m thinking of a grape pie from the new cookbook my grade school music teacher just sent me, or a grape crumble I found from the grape growers’ website, and perhaps schiacciata con a’l uva, a grape pizza of sorts.

Thanksgiving is not the only time to be thankful. I’m thankful to have my dear husband, and to know that most of my family is alive and speaking to one another. Jim’s family is doing well with some losses this year and more babies we didn’t get to meet on turkey day. And every day we’re alive and living in a winter wonderland is precious and should be cherished. With All Wheel Drive. And snow tires.

The coolest thing is that six-year old Michael, upon exiting our home yesterday, said “We’ll be back tomorrow!” So I guess we have to be thankful that we’re not old fuddie-duddies like we thought we were.

Hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and not stressing too much. Cheers! Dee

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Posted in Education, Utah

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