Communal starts breakfast service

Starting today, Communal serves breakfast.  You might ask, what is Communal and why is this a big deal?  For one, breakfast is my absolute favorite meal of the day and two Communal is one of my favorite restaurants around Utah. I first visited Communal for lunch months ago and have been trying to find an excuse to go back since. Now, I had the perfect excuse, breakfast. One of the top chefs around giving his best shot at breakfast foods makes for a magical morning.

Herb omelet with creme fraiche, steel-cut oats with house dried bananas, and fresh Italian sausage were just a few of the dishes that filled our table with happiness.  

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The Rose Establishment in downtown Salt Lake City

After hearing great things from my coffee-snob friends (including my husband), I ventured over to the newest coffee shop in Salt Lake, The Rose Establishment.  Coffee connoisseurs will agree that Salt Lake has less than a handful of places to get a great cup, if you are not looking for the sweet stuff.   And besides a really outstanding cup of coffee this cafe has a great location, right by the Gateway Mall in the old Big City Soup building, plus lots of comfortable seating if you're looking to stay a while.

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A Covering

In Salt Lake on Tuesday we had the most powerful snow storm that I've seen here in a long time.  The winds were strong and the clouds looked fierce, but after the storm settled there was a peaceful, pure covering over our city, both the beautiful areas and the blemished parts.  This year, I'm thankful for distress ending in peace like today's storm.

Thankful for...

fresh starts 

renewal in relationships

pure peace

forgiveness and mercy 

new mornings

quietness

hope

provision

 abundance

Sometimes a good powerful storm is just what I need to remind me of this. 

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Thanksgiving Recipes

I want to share with you a few dishes that are one my list to make this year for Thanksgiving.  (And since I haven't made them yet, I had to borrow a photo.  Thank you Joy the Baker for the beautiful photo.)

Only a few more days until one of my favorite holidays of the year.  I look forward to it, of course because of all of the fun cooking and delicious eating, but even more so because it is a holiday stripped of consumerism and any flashiness.  Thanksgiving is all about family and friends gathering together to remember what is most important and to celebrate each other by sharing a feast of a meal together.

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving.

Parker House Rolls
Cranberry and Tart Cherry Compote
Butternut Squash Soup with Hazelnut Cream
Corn Bread Apricot Dressing with Rosemary
Snap Beans with Caramelized Shallots and Wild Mushrooms
Caramel Walnut Pie with Dried Cherries (oh how I love dried cherries!)

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Thanksgiving Table Scapes

by the little red house

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year, as are several of my friends for their families.  So I wanted to share with you some beautiful Thanksgiving tables that have inspired me.

by the little red house

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My Grandma's Chess Pie made the Salt Lake Tribune

pictures by Leah Hogsten of The Salt Lake Tribune

The Salt Lake Tribune is featuring several local cook's pies and My Grandmother's Chess Pie Recipe was selected. This pie is a family tradition and no Thanksgiving would be complete without it.  You can check out the recipe for My Grandmother's Chess Pie here and view several amazing pies on the Salt Lake Tribune here.

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Moroccan Chicken with Chickpeas and Spicy Avocado

When you think of Moroccan cuisine, what comes to mind? I think of my time in Granada, Spain, and the Moroccan/Moorish influence in that city.  I think of the Moroccan restaurant that we tried there, where we ate outdoors under a canopy and had one of my favorite meals of all time.  I think of spicy food with a hint of sweetness.  I think of dried fruit, tagines, couscous, and exotic spices.

At first glance, this doesn't look like your typical Moroccan meal because of the added avocado but the Moroccan tradition is found in the quintessential spices.

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Weekend in Colorado

This weekend we are visiting to Buena Vista, Colorado, as Josh plays music for a retreat.  Everything is just perfect here.

Go to the next page for more photos.

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Dining at the Salt Lake City Art Institute

A three course lunch for $12 plus the experience of a trying of food from culinary students is just twenty minutes away in Draper.  From now until December 8th you can be a dining guest at Salt Lake City's Art Institute.  I wrote an article in Taste of Salt Lake all about our adventures dining there, which you can read here.  I hope you'll go out and support the next generation of culinary creation for Salt Lake. 

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Vegan Dessert, Peach Crisp with Hazelnut Pecan Topping

Good friendships drive you to do crazy things.  Not necessarily bad things just abnormal things.  I have a very sweet friend who is vegan and night-shade free, who also shares with me a love for cooking and good food.  Gladly, we have now made several meals that are vegan, all of which I have really enjoyed.  It is refreshing to have a meatless, cheeseless meal a couple times a week, plus it caused me to branch out and learn about some new-to-me vegetables, like rutabagas or celery root.

The most fun, of course, was taking on the challenge of making vegan desserts.  We have found some genius recipes for super tasty desserts that the whole crowd enjoyed, vegan or not.  This is my favorite thus far:

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St. Regis Deer Valley, a Utah destination you should know

We have a St. Regis Hotel less than 45 minutes away from Salt Lake City known as the Deer Valley location.  There are only 11 St. Regis locations in the U.S. and one is right at our doorstep. A beautiful drive up Parley's Canyon and a 90-second funicular ride up the mountain gets you to one of the most glamorous hotels around, with a celebrity chef-owned restaurant, J & G Grill, and glorious views of America's number one ski resort, Deer Valley. It's is the perfect recipe for a fairy-tale evening.

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Lunch at The Metropolitan

I'm always on the quest for fun lunch spots in Salt Lake.  Recently, some ladies and I met up at The Metropolitan for lunch.  They have a grilled goat cheese sandwich served with fresh pressed tomato soup that is definitely worth trying!

You can read about the food and company we enjoyed  at Taste of Salt Lake.  There are also lots of photos  of the lunch items we enjoyed.  I will be occasionally writing for this blog and will keep you up to date on those posts here on The Vintage Mixer.

For a full review of dinner at The Metropolitan check out this post.

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Peach Apple Sauce with Roasted Apples

In efforts to eat seasonally and fresh, I bought an enormous amount of apples from the Salt Lake Farmers Market and Sun Flower Market.  Ever since I bought them they have been staring at me, calling me to make something delicious.

My Southern roots told me I should make apple sauce, so I listened.  I used a few peaches plus some peach nectar leftover from making fresh peach jam about a week ago (the leftover liquid from skimming the bubbles off of the top of the peaches while they cooked).

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