Halen's Mexican Fiesta

Last weekend we had a group of musicians over for dinner and as much as I love having people over, cooking for a large group intimidates me.  My dear friend Halen shared with me her 'go-to' large group meal.  I added in a few local food items - Rico's tortillas and Ruby Snap Bakery's Mole Cookies (both can be purchased at Rico's Local Market).  I can't help but think this would be the perfect Super Bowl feast!

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Ginger White Chocolate Blondies

What are your plans for the weekend?  I hope to have a relaxing weekend, filled with lots of good cooking, of course, plus movie watching and several walks with the pup.  Maybe we'll make some breakfast and fresh squeezed juice from the tangelos we received in our Utah Food Co-Op box last week.  Or maybe we'll go to brunch at one of my favorite Salt Lake brunch spots.   Its rare for us to have a 'normal' weekend but when we do I try to take full advantage of it.  I might even make another batch of these Ginger White Chocolate Blondies that I became addicted to a few weeks ago.

 I have made these blondies 3 times this year already and they've been a hit anywhere we have brought them.  They are perfectly gooey and spicy with a fun touch of chocolate.

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My Partner in Crime, 12 weeks

I remember this day...we had taken a long walk and then he just sat beside me on the porch bench while I read.  He couldn't stand to be even a few feet away, still can't. It's good to remember his sweet moments so I don't go crazy when he's disobedient now. 

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Best Thai in Salt Lake City, Chanon Thai Cafe

What qualifies as a good Thai restaurant? Besides the food of course, it needs to be a little quirky with random decor, badly translated menus, handwritten signs, and waiters whose English is patchy at best.  All of this makes this 'hole in the wall' experience a gold mine for local Thai restaurants.   

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Salt Lake Sundance Dining Guide

Have you been to a Sundance film yet this year?  If you want to skip the crowds, I highly recommend staying in Salt Lake and snagging a few tickets to one of the Salt Lake showings.  You can buy tickets still at Trolley Square Mall.  Sundance is one of my favorite Utah events!  I wrote a dining guide for those who are planning to hit up Sundace in Salt Lake on VisitSaltLake.com.  On the guide you will fine restaurants near to all of the film venues.  I hope you'll take full advantage of this great festival and have a nice dinner too while you're at it!

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Legends Bar and Grill at Park City Mountain Resort

Its the middle of ski season, yet I feel like I haven't jumped into my boots enough this year.  I love skiing and have my favorite places to go around Utah.  I feel fortunate to be surrounded by so many ski options living in Salt Lake.  I love the fact that, while living downtown, I can ski in the morning and work in the afternoon. How amazing is that?!  I just hope I don't fail to take advantage of all that Utah has to offer in the winter.

A couple of weekends ago, we did get to go to Park City Mountain Resort and dine at Legends Bar and Grill for lunch.  I had some of the best nachos I have ever tasted, topped with mango chutney and fresh seared ahi tuna.  Only in Park City are there such exquisite embellishments on top of such a traditional American dish.  Josh's Kobe beef burger was graced with goat cheese and crispy onions on top of a huge bun.  Now this is legit ski food, no hot dogs or overcooked chili.

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H-dawg 7 weeks old

It looks like He's got some food in his beard, he's kind of a sloppy eater.  Please ignore the band t-shirt I'm wearing, it's my weekend uniform.

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Artistic Mixer: Dinner at Eva & a Concert at Rose Wagner Theater

Hello dear friends!  I wanted to let you know that our second Artistic Mixer is coming up on February 5th.  We'll be hitting the downtown scene, starting out at Eva for a fun tapa-style dinner (at 20% off thanks to Eva management), be prepared to try several dishes and experience a more European style of dining, then we'll be heading to the Rose Wagner Theater to see the performance of my husband along with Johnny Cowan and Levi Rogers.  I am excited to share with all of you my husbands music as well as a experiential-type meal and just a fun night out.

Here are the details:

When: Meet at Eva at 5pm
Where: Eva is located at 317 South Main Street
Tickets: Buy your tickets for the concert in advance here at Arttix.  Use the discount code:  INSIDE for 10% off.
Who can come: Invite your friends, promote through social media outlets, anyone is welcome to come.
RSVP: Help us out by letting us know if you're coming so that we can make a reservation at Eva. Reply on this post or on twtvite here.

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Healthy Artichoke Dip

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  I thought we'd start the week off right with this healthy White Bean and Artichoke Dip.  It is a new favorite at our home.  But first things first, I wanted to announce the winner of two tickets to Josh's concert.  Selected at random, BSmith is our big winner!  To everyone else who would like to come, there will be discounted tickets offered in a post later this week. 

When two food bloggers get together to cook you get better food, better photos, and lots and lots of dishes to wash.  Maria and I got together a while back and lingered in the kitchen for several hours cooking up some of our favorite dishes to photograph.

This recipe is Maria's healthy version of artichoke dip. It's perfectly creamy yet without the main ingredient that makes dips creamy, cheese.  After the holidays many of us are avoiding the dips all together knowing that many of them contain way too many calories to be consumed on just a snack.  However this dip is your friend, filled with hearty white beans purred and a kick of spice from red peppers flakes, with the familiar flavor of artichokes.  I can't get enough of it, and I don't feel guilty when I do!

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Half-Pint Henry

I decided to start posting a photo a week of our furry friend Henry.  Maybe then you'll believe me when I say, I really do enjoy other things besides cooking!  

Since I haven't posted many shots of him I decided to start from the beginning.  He is about 4 weeks old here. 

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Utah Winter Day Trip to Midway

After getting gipped on a white Christmas this year we decided to find our own Winter Wonderland and take a little day trip to Midway, a little Swiss community about one hour from Salt Lake City.  We made a fun day of it and decided to drive first to Provo for breakfast at Communal (one of my favorites).  Completely satisfied and overjoyed by my baked eggs with Italian Sausage and a crumbly blueberry muffin, we got back in the car and headed to the charming town of Midway.

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Josh Rosenthal in Concert February 5. Win free tickets here!

As many of your know, I am the lucky gal married to a very talented musician whom I like to call Joshy, JRose, or Henry's dad, but our marriage certificate knows him as Josh Rosenthal.

He is performing at the Rose Wagner Theater on February 5th.  You can buy tickets online at Arttix.  Or if you leave a comment on this post, you'll be entered to win two free tickets.   Here is a description of the show:

Singer/songwriter Josh Rosenthal will be performing at the Rose Wagner Theater, Salt Lake City, Utah on February 5.

Rosenthal, originally from Texas, now calls Salt Lake City home and writes many of his songs to and for the people in this city.

If you like good music, poetry, stories you don’t want to miss out.

Singer/songwriter Johnny Cowan and poet Levi Rogers will join Rosenthal for the evening. Rogers writes poetry with both energy and softness exploring the relationship between the guttural and spiritual.

Also, there is a super fun video that you can watch that tells you more about the show.

See you at the show.

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Austin, Texas

After attending the wedding of the year in Austin a few weeks ago (with over 500 guests), we had some time to explore more of this fun city. We've been to Austin several times and it always seems like there is more to explore. Like Portland, Austin is filled with independent restaurants, shops, and just some incredibly interesting people! We loved walking down Congress peaking in the stores for hours. And we are never tired of the food in Austin..barbecue, Tex-Mex, plenty of ethnic food choices, and lots of classic local spots. I am hungry just thinking about it. Austin is also on the rise to compete with Portland in their number of food carts. Just drive around the city streets and you'll see plenty of options for street food. 

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Football Food from the South: Beer Cheese Chicken and Biscuits

This week we hope to catch as many bowl games as possible.  As we do, we like to enjoy some of our favorite comfort foods:  beer, cheese, chicken, and biscuits.  This is basically chicken and broccoli in a beer and cheese sauce, with a side of beer, and another side of beer biscuits.  My mother cooked me this meal growing up and I bust it out every once in a while when I know those around me won't be offended by fake cheese and cheap beer.  Just trust me, this recipe is so tasty.  It's the perfect pairing to any game you might be planning to watch. 

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The Best Vegan Cookies: Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies

I've been enlightened to the world of vegan baking.  Two sweet gals, Joy and Jenn, have handed me more than a few vegan sweet treats that really rocked my world. Thus, I was motivated to see if I could return the favor.  The results:  a nutty, sweet, chewy, cookie with a melted chocolate center...a vegan miracle.  I'm still amazed by vegan baking, and consider it a kitchen miracle when I cook up something that is not bad for me and also delicious.  This cookie that could quite possibly be one of my favorite cookies. 

I especially loved the chocolate oozing from the center of the cookies as they were pulled out of the steamy oven.  I used my favorite almond butter from Justin's Nut Butter.  It was actually a maple almond butter, which made the cookies even tastier.

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