Sunday, November 27, 2005

Long weekend

No cooking for me. This may be the first Thanksgiving since I was 19 that I didn't cook at all. Well, I went from house to house making proper gravy, but otherwise, no mashing, no probing, no stuffing, no sauteing. It's really kind of sad. I'm thinking of having a make-up turkey dinner soon.
Weekend was full of correspondence, writing, seeing the very very bad (bad in a good way Act, 1, bad in a bad way, Act 2) Mamma Mia and eating at the delightful Martine. Why doesn't every meal out consist of 7 little dishes? I love to taste things. When I move to Napa, I'm going to eat at the French Laundry every day. Also, this will happen when I win the lottery. But, if I do win the lottery, maybe I'll start my own French Laundry in Salt Lake. I'll call it the Mormon Clothesline to avoid charges against copyright infringement. I'll serve tiny gallettes of funeral potatoes, bread cubes ala sacrament, ambrosia salad--one marshmallow, one cubic centimeter each of madarin orange, grape, pear and peach, deep-fried chicken wing atop inch of mashed potato & cream gravy, ahi tuna casserole--seared ahi, homemade potato chip, mushrooms in cream sauce (aka, can of cream of mushroom soup).
Now I'm hungry. On Wednesday, Erik and I did cook. We made green chile sauce from anaheims from the last farmers market and 1/4 of a habenero from my garden. Too spicy to eat. Today, I mellowed it out with a can of tomatoes. Now, it's red chile sauce. Still hot, but not killer-death hot.
Tonight, I'm driving all the way out to the south Trio for dinner with cousins. And, considering my last Trio experience, I'm not too excited.
I also must go to the Avenues Bistro for a pity dinner. Terrible review in the Tribune by the new food critic. She was absolutely right. Maybe this town's restaurants will get in shape if someone kicks them in the butt a bit. I can't help. I feel sorry for all those chefs.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Salt Lake City Restaurants

I like to go out to eat. I like to cook too but I get a lot of my ideas for what to make from restaurants. Since this week was my birthday week, I happened to go out to many restaurants--from cheapish to expensiveish. Plus, I made a dinner of Striped bass with balsamic reduction, beet reduction, spicy turnip greens and swiss chard on a palette of diced sweet potatoes (mucho butter involved).
The best dinner:
Bambara. Scallops with truffle butter reduction, fennel slaw and pureed parsnips--all my favorite foods together and I didn't have to cook it. Much wine. $$$$$$$
Worst food:
Trio. Usually good but this time Trio Club with absolutely no flavor. Dry chicken, dry bread, dry tomatoes. Even the bacon was dry. Yuck. No wine. Sad. $$$$ (for what it was).
Mediocre food, best time:
The pub. Cheese enchiladas. (Felt guilty eating that much cheese but covered them in super spicy salsa, which let's me believe I'm "cutting" the cheese with spice. Oh the way I can wish away calories. I wish I was lactose intolerant) Just Erik & Zoe & me and great conversation about San Bernardino. 2 glasses cheap wine. $$

Which meal was BEST? On the one hand the scallops haunt my palate. Each flavor perfectly balanced--sweet and savory, buttery and sharp. On the other hand, the relaxing atmosphere of the pub and the easy conversation made for a great night. And we saved a lot of money. How to value these things? When I go out next time--go for the unique and complex flavor or comfort of our go to place?

The saddest part is that Erik & I drove all over the city looking for a new, fun place to eat. We found nothing. We can either spend $$$$$$$ or go to the pub. Perhaps I'll save my money for Wahso in Park City--featured as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world according to Fodor:


Nov. 7, 2005Park City restaurant named one of best 10 eateries in the world By Debbi TaylorStaff Writer One of Utah's most unique restaurants has been named as serving some of the world's best in the Fodor's Choice Winter 2006 list. Fodor's says the Park City restaurant Wahso offers a "not-to-be-missed experience." Wahso, one of five restaurants owned by Bill White, joins a list of top 10 restaurants in the world that also includes Bukhara, Delhi, India; Casa da Feijoada, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Casa Picasso, Ambergris Caye, Belize; Chef Mavro, O'ahu, Hawaii; Chez Pascal, Antigua, Caribbean; Findlerhof, Zermatt, Switzerland; George's at the Cove, La Jolla, Calif.; Hunter's Vineyard Restaurant, Blenheim, New Zealand; and Per Se, New York. http://www.slenterprise.com/topnews.html

Friday, November 04, 2005

Trista's Right



This site needs more pictures. I worry about people tracking down Zoe and stealing her. But I've decided baby-theft is more an impulse buy than a premeditated investment. Plus, since she's disguised here, I don't think I run too much risk.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Don't need a weatherman

Winter is coming--eventually. Even with global warming, it will still get cold and snowy for at least a couple days this year. Egg and I spent all day winterizing the backyard. We mulched plants and dug up sunflowers. I'm going to make habenero salsa with the beautiful orange peppersI salvaged from the impendng (we hope) freeze. The mums were red and some weird flowers Erik planted were orange to match the peppers.
When I came inside to save Zoe from the Cleo dog who knocked the baby over in her bouncy chair, there was a wasp buzzing around. A bee in November. Ah well, the peppers will get hotter, the tomatoes more red as the summers get longer.