Utah Locavore 100: Tomato Soup at Trio

Today's post is VERY appropriate. I could absolutely go for some warm soup since it is snowing here in Utah. People it is April 30! Why am I wearing boots and a jacket?

Well, I'm puttin' right along this Utah Locavore list!

Last year on my birthday I finally tried Cafe Trio's {locally} famous tomato soup. It definitely didn't disappoint. I wouldn't say it was the best tomato soup I've ever had...but it sure was good.

I was more impressed with their rosemary flat bread that came with warm goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers and caramelized onions! I'd go back just for that.



Cafe Trio was a cute restaurant and I loved the atmosphere outside. It was so cozy and comfortable with pretty hanging lights. Perfect for an outside birthday dinner.

Have you tried this local favorite?


Cafe Trio
triodining.com
680 S. 900 East, SLC -- 801-533-8746
6405 S. 3000 East, SLC -- 801-733-6600

Click here to read about all my other Utah Locavore adventures!

My protein drink of choice

This is my protein drink of choice.
It's made by Tahitian Noni International.

and I love it!

My favorite flavor is chocolate.
(it honestly tastes like stephen's gourmet cocoa! probably because he also created it!)

here's the specs
protein: 20g
fat: 3g
carbs: 7g
fiber: 3g
calories:130

I never have clumps of powder in my shakes cause I either use my magic bullet or a blender bottle!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chockablock Cookies

I really haven't had a cookie or any baked good for that matter cause more confusion or discussion as this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick: Chockablock Cookies.

These cookies are loaded, or rather, overloaded as Dorie says with dried fruits, chopped nuts, coconut, oats and chocolate! I swear I added like 4 cups of mix-ins at the end. They were unbelievably thick.



Since there are just the two of us. I pulled my usual routine and packed some up for both of our coworkers and some family members. This batch made 44 cookies for me.



One of my favorite parts about sharing goodies with our friends and family is the feedback. It is so much fun to see how people liked (or disliked) each treat and hear what sticks out to them.



Here's what my people had to say:

"These cookies are kind of good because you have to hunt for the different flavors."

"They're something different about these cookies. Almost a bitter, yet addictive taste."

"I'm loving these healthy cookies!" (spoiler: these cookies still have butter, sugar, eggs, nuts, and chocolate! ;)

"These cookies make for a great breakfast!"

"These are the power bar of cookies!"




And what did I think? I liked them. I'd make a few adjustments: like only adding one type of dried fruit...probably just figs. I found that a combo of figs, craisins and raisins just got confusing. However, my friends liked it.

I also liked the molasses application. It made these unique. I also think I'd toast the coconut next time...just to mix things up a bit and possibly add a bit of refinement.

You can snag the recipe from Mary's blog, Popsicles and Sandy Feet. And please check out my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie baker's blogs to see how they liked this funky, chunky cookie.


One last thing...

Next week is MY pick! I can't believe it. After two full years of this glorious weekly baking group it's finally my turn to host! We'll be making Burnt Sugar Ice Cream on page 432. People...it is good!

I can't get enough of this chocolate ice cream!

I seriously can't get enough of this chocolate ice cream that I've been making as of late...
and I've been making a lot!

It's not just any chocolate ice cream though, it is special. It uses some of my most favorite and locally-produced ingredients:

Amano Chocolate
- I usually just use Madagascar, but this time the guys at Amano insisted I try making some with their beloved Dos Rios bar. I did...and wow! It was so citrusy and fragrant!

Blue Cattle Truck Mexican Vanilla
-My go-to vanilla that is also produced in Utah County! It's got the best flavor and produces fabulous results in ice cream, frostings, whipped cream and of course, cupcakes!

Winder Farms / Meadow Gold
When I buy milk for baking or drinking it's one of these two brands.

Go Utah! Support local!

I made this ice cream (among other goodies) for the Utah County Food Bloggers Bake Sale on April 17. I just posted my recap and recipes on my other blog, Utah Loves Cupcakes. Check it out!

My Husband and Beef Stroganoff

Have I ever told you my husband is a great cook?

Well he is. A darn good one.

One thing we both enjoy is Cook's Illustrated. We are both fascinated by the in-depth articles that help us both become better and more informed cooks.

We have a goal to cook at least three recipes from each issue. The most recent recipe Adam tried was Beef Stroganoff!

My oh my, it was so delicious! Adam made it perfectly. The whole point of the article was to come up with a better beef stroganoff recipe using steak tips...and obviously a lot more that I've now forgotten. All I remember is that it was delicious.

The recipe seemed a bit labor intensive, but not crazy. I don't want to post the recipe cause I think you should buy it...but your going to google it anyway so find it on this blog. It has step-by-step pictures!

Again, I can't tell you how much I love Cook's Illustrated. You can subscribe to it here!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Sweet Cream Biscuits {with Agave Peach Raspberry Jam}

Biscuits. Oh dear me, biscuits!

The memories that I have of biscuits include complete rejection at the county fair during my 4H days. Sadness.

Mine weren't flaky enough.

I didn't let those judges critiques get me down too much. And I even redeemed myself the next year by winning a blue ribbon with some brownies. But now, even as an adult, biscuits still scare me.



I haven't given them the time, really. Mostly because I'm afraid to be rejected. I know I can master these "quick breads" if I practice. It's just a matter of doing.

So going into this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Sweet Cream Biscuits, I wasn't expecting much out of myself. I really just wanted an edible product to share with my family. And okay, I really didn't want puck-like disks or biscuit coasters as my husband would call them. (Need reference? See my delicious yet flat-as-an-11-year-old-girl sweet potato biscuits.)




I tried to do just what Dorie recommended to have perfect biscuits. I didn't "overwork" it...to my knowledge and I even place the biscuits alongside each other on the pan.

I don't think I had disastrous results. But I'm in no way boasting about my success.



I think it will just take time. And luckily, Dorie has lots of biscuit recipes in Baking: From My Home to Yours.

The one thing I will boast about was how delicious these were! I loved them! So tender, warm and mildly creamy. I found the texture pleasing and the hint of sweetness right on par. They were perfect paired with a bit of butter and some homemade agave raspberry jam. (Wish I could say I made the jam...but I didn't. Props gos to the MIL. This jam is the BEST!)



If you'd like to try your hand at this recipe, check out Melissa's blog: Love at First Bite. Also, head on over to see what the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers made, here.


Next week: Chockablock Cookies (I want to resist, but I just know I won't be able to. They have molasses and oats in the dough!)

Utah Food Bloggers Bake Sale (TOMORROW!)

The National Food Bloggers Bake Sale is tomorrow! Gosh, I can't stand it I am so very much excited! It has been in the works for months and I just can't wait to support a great cause, meet other food bloggers, readers and just plain have fun. Oh, and well....eat some sweet treats of course!

The bake sale is raising money for Share Our Strength (SOS), a national organization fighting to end childhood hunger in the United States. I feel so blessed to be able to participate in a great cause. It amazes me and makes me extremely sad that many children in our country are hungry. I just can't imagine that pain. So here I am, trying to help these little kiddos one cupcake at a time. I hope you'll join in the fun!

Utah is having TWO bake sales tomorrow, one in Salt Lake City and one in Orem. I'll be hosting the Orem location and my friend Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod is heading up the SLC bake sale. I have to give major props to Maria, she is the one who got me involved in this and I've had such a fun time working with her. If you don't know her or her blog. Get to know it now! :)

Here are the details!

The bake sales are being held from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m tomorrow, Saturday April 17th.

Salt Lake City location-at Dan’s Market (1360 S Foothill Blvd)

Orem location- at Shirley J’s (15 East 400 South)

Thanks to Dan’s and Shirley J’s for hosting our bake sales. We really appreciate your support!

Now listen up...big time! You want to get there early. WHY? Because....



THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE CAKE BITE (and SWAG!):

The first 100 people to purchase a baked good at each Utah sale will get a FREE cake bite from The Sweet Tooth Fairy.

The first 50 people to purchase a baked good at the Utah County sale will get FREE CUPCAKE CERTIFICATES and FREE COOKIE CERTIFICATE to the SWEET TOOTH FAIRY, Cupcake Chic, Cutsie Cakes and Dippidee AND a free chilled milk from my favorite local dairy Winder Farms! (Don't worry chocolate lovers, we'll have chocolate milk for you too!)

If you live in Utah, please come out and support our bake sales. Share Our Strength is a fabulous organization and with your help we can help end childhood hunger. Plus, you don't want to miss out on all of the fabulous goodies baked by Utah's finest food bloggers. There will be cookies, cakes, cupcakes, breads, rolls, etc. We look forward to meeting our readers too! It will be a fun filled day!

If you don't live in Utah or can't make it to our bake sales and would like to help us raise money, you can donate money here. Thank you so much for your support!

A BIG thank you to all of the Utah food bloggers who are baking for this event. It would be impossible to make this happen without you. Thanks so much for your talent and support!

Bakers for the Orem Sale:

Becky (me) Utah Loves Cupcakes and Project Domestication
Traci -www.healthydealsnsteals.com and www.burntapple.com
April – Sweet Life in the Valley / Crazi Beautiful
Becca - Baking Becca
Catherine – Fahrenheit 350*
Jen – Delightful Delicacies
Deborah – Taste and Tell
Sarah – Red Head Recipes

Bakers for the Salt Lake Sale:

Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod
Tiffany from Food Finery
Barbara from Barbara Bakes
Dara from Cookin Canuck’
Becky from Vintage Mixer
Krista from The Double Dipped Life
Frieda from Lovin’ From the Oven
Cristie from The Table Runner
Vanessa from She Craves
Gabi from The Feast Within
Alicia from the Kitchenista
Laura from Rather Be Baking
Connie from Connie’s Cookies
Ginny-she doesn’t have a blog, but is baking amazing cakes for the sale:)

I'll be making goodies like lemon cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, a cheesecake (we'll be selling it by the slice), muffins, ice cream and a variety of cookies like world peace cookies, honey-wheat cookies and chocolate chip cookies!

I'll be using local ingredients where possible. I'm most excited about the Amano chocolate I'll be using for my ice cream and chocolate cupcakes! Ahh it's the best. I'm also using Lehi Roller Mill Flour, Winder Farms and Meadow Gold dairy products and Blue Cattle Truck Mexican Vanilla!


PPS...I'll be wearing my Utah state-shaped necklace and cupcake earrings! :) Not so sure why I'm so excited about that cause I wear them almost everyday. It just sounds fitting!

Fun Cupcake Birthday Gift Idea

I love giving cupcake-themed gifts. It's always great to give a cupcake to eat, but when I was planning my little sister's birthday gift last summer I thought, "Why not give her cupcakes she can also make!" It's kind of the whole, "gift that keeps on giving" concept.




So here's what I did. I made her a batch of her favorite cupcakes, red velvet. I am a fan of the Sprinkles Red Velvet cake mix, so I made those. Then I decorated them in various ways, brought them on a shiny make-shift cake plate/platter. Then I added some other fun aspects to the gift.



A cute cupcake sparkly card. I think I got this at Target or the BYU Bookstore.



I was able to reuse the empty Sprinkles cake mix tube by putting some lipstick and other girly gifts inside.



I really wanted to make this gift custom. So what better way than to stick the birthday girl's face right on the cupcake! I made a custom cupcake topper with a picture of the birthday girl (and other cupcake flags from Your Heart Out's free download)



This was such a fun gift. I had a blast decorating each red velvet cupcake differently! This little toadstool-inspired cupcake was my favorite!

Precious Photo

I just ran into this sweet photo that my little sister took. Gosh, how did I miss it?

Oh, and you locals should know she is running a spring special on her photography sessions.

Check out her blog!

Tuesdays with Dorie: {Grapefruit} Coconut Tea Cake

I forced myself to make bake less this month. Sometimes you just have to say no for the sake of balance in your life. I had to decide between the coconut tea cake and the mocha-marbled bundt cake. It was hard. The coconut tea cake won.

I'll admit, I was a bit worried because so many of the other TWD bakers ended up with what they called a dry and sub-par cake.

I'm happy to report that mine was anything but that. And I have to thank all of the other bakers because through them I discovered that my cake would most likely finish early...and it did a whopping 15 minutes early. I also decided that I would put a light glaze on it. Yum!

This cake was delicious. My husband (sorry for telling everyone this) loved it so much that I swear he has eaten like three-quarters of it. :) It was incredibly moist and had such a wonderful yet subtle coconut flavor. The coconut comes from the coconut milk and the toasted coconut inside. I also opted to toast even more coconut and put it on the top.

Instead of using making it plain or using one of Dorie's playing around suggestions, I just went ahead and added grapefruit juice and zest. I figured since she suggested lemons, limes and oranges that the grapefruit would be good too. I also made a grapefruit glaze on top.

I was able to use my brand new bundt pan I got for Christmas from my husband. It worked like a charm and I loved how golden and shiny the cake was!




I loved this cake and hope you'll give it a try.



Check out Carmen's blog, Carmen Cooks, for the recipe. Be sure to head on over to the other Tuesdays with Dorie bloggers, they've got some great variations going on like black sesame seeds, lemon, lime and spices.

Next week: Swedish Visiting Cake

McMamma's Recipes: Texas Sheet Cake

It's Monday, and I've got a great recipe that comes from my mom!

My mom has several summer desserts in her repertoire and this chocolate sheet cake is one of my favorites.

This cake is a winner,
with seven kids in the family I'm sure my mom loved that this yielded a ton of cake.

And it was perfect for summer barbecues because she usually served it with some vanilla ice cream.

Confession time. I actually haven't made this cake yet myself. I snapped this pix last time my mom made it. But I'm sure it's pretty foolproof just by looking at the recipe and seeing my mom make it for years!

One thing I'm noticing in these recipes from my mother is that they commonly use margarine. I seriously need to do some research about my mom's generation and margarine...anyone else agree that it was the go-to a few years back? I'm sure you could sub butter in the recipe, but I'm all about trying recipes how they were designed. Then if I feel they need adjusting, I'll make the changes the next time I make it.

Here's the recipe, enjoy! Love you, Mom!





CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE

Ingredients:
1 ¼ C. margarine ( I use Blue Bonnet)
½ C. unsweetened cocoa
1 C. water
2 C. flour
1 ½ C. brown sugar, packed
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. salt ( I use less, ¼ t.)
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 C. confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
1 C. chopped pecans (opt.) ( I leave out)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In saucepan melt 1 C. margarine, stir in ¼ C. cocoa then water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat. ( I do this in my microwave, cover and watch closely.) In large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon and salt. Add cocoa mixture and beat well with hand mixer. Stir in 1/3 C. sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour into greased 15x10 inch pan (jelly-roll). Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool only about 15-20 minutes and then spread on frosting.

Frosting:

Melt ¼ C. margarine, stir in ¼ C. cocoa and remaining sweetened condensed milk with hand mixer. Then stir in powdered sugar and nuts. Spread on warm cake. Cool before cutting. Serves anywhere from 24 large – 36 medium size pieces. Delicious served with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

3 kitchen items I can't live without right now

1. Wilton Stackable Cooling Sheets
I have made way more cookies in the last year than I would have ever imagined. These cooling sheet shave saved my hiney one too many times. I also use them for cupcakes, cakes and really anything that needs cooling. They save so much space. And believe me…I need more space!

2. Silicone Spatulas and Spoonulas from Williams-Sonoma
I don’t care how much you say brand doesn’t matter. These spatulas are the best quality. I’ve had so many other brands that just didn’t last. I have them in all sorts of fun colors. My favorite? Yellow.

3. Beater Blade for 5-quart Kitchenaid Standmixers with Tilt-head
I’m sure a handful of you already have the beater blade. I am late on the train. But man, if there were ever a kitchen gadget that changed my life it was the beater blade! It’s the bomb! I really think my cupcakes and frosting are turning out better because of this blade!