The Beehive Blog Visits Park City for a Day Away

The Beehive Blog took a break from the blogosphere today and shot up to Park City.  And it was SO worth it.  I am a few months new to Utah (and loving it) so this was my first visit to the infamous Park City of the Sundance Film Festival and the Winter Olympics which is the only reason that I knew about Park City.



Sadly, I do not ski - sadly for my future orthopedic surgeon because I would be sure to end up in a cast and pay for a doctor's lovely Easter getaway.  No Thanks.  This Queen Bee will be quite happy to wander around taking pictures, talking to the folks up in Park City and taking in the sites.  And what great sites!

We wandered Main Street and enjoyed the steady snow flurries, popping in and out of businesses along the way.  Evidence of the Sundance Film Festival was all around as today was the last day.  Unfortunately, we missed Robert Redford and Paris Hilton (ok, that is not really that sad) and Tommy Lee Jones and Marissa Tomei.  Next year, The Beehive Blog will have to make sure to get up there and stalk check out some celebs.




Since The Beehive Blog is also Foodie oriented (please join us at our other blog Foodies Unite), we were interested to see the restaurant offerings and well, there are tons.  We sampled some yummy potato leek soup at Flanagan's Irish Pub and Restaurant to warm up a bit.  Multiple trips are in the planning simply to go back up and EAT at all the tantalizing places that we saw.



The Beehive Blog would love to hear from you as to what our target restaurants should be in Park City!  Leave a comment or tweet us and give us the buzz  on Park City's foodie and other offerings are your favorites!

Before we left Main Street, we fell prey to the amazing smell coming from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  We followed the smell and were greeted with the hugest pile (there really is no other way to explain it) of rice krispie treats in production that we have ever seen.  Samplings included a giant dark chocolate peanut butter cup, a caramel and chocolate dipped pretzel and some homemade cookie dough ice cream.  The Beehive Blog verdict?  The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is the Bee's Knees - they can do chocolate for us anytime!





The day wrapped up with a leisurely drive up Empire Pass and we had a peek at the site for the new Montage Resort (opening Dec 2010 with a 35000 sf SPA!).  It is a breathtaking area and the views from the resorts that I could anticipate as well as the talk of the spa under construction makes it a destination for 2011.


You can see images from the day at Shakti Womyn Photography's flickr account.

Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

Inspired by the Back Burner in Hockessin, Delaware - my Mom adopted this recipe about 25 years ago and it has quickly become become a family tradition, especially in October and November months.

• 2 TB butter
• 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms (or more if you would like )
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 TB flour
• 3 cup chicken broth
• 2 cup pumpkin (canned pumpkin can be substituted!)
• 1 cup cream (half and half works well too!)
• 1 TB honey
• 1 TB curry (or more to taste)
• S&P
• Sour Cream
• Croutons (NOT package - make your own!!)

In soup pot, saute mushrooms in butter and then remove.
In same soup pot, saute onions and then stir in broth, flour and pumpkin and bring to a boil.
Add honey, curry, S&P.
Return mushrooms.
Add cream and then heat on low to medium heat.
Serve with spoonful of sour cream in center and croutons.

Re-Thing Barbecue - Any Good Sauces?

Yesterday, as we watched football, we decided to do some beef ribs and pork chops on a nice slow cook.  Add coleslaw and homemade oven baked steak fries and yummmmm!





Here is my issue - I never liked barbecue.  I love grilled anything but barbecue always turned me off because I never liked the sauces.  I am not a huge ketchup person and the sweet of most sauces just turned me off.

I picked up a bottle of the Bull's Eye Guinness barbecue sauce to try and it was ... ok.  the sauce - the ribs were great but we just used a regular spice rub with light sauce, more to be added by each person.



Now, I really thought Guinness anything would be good and it was better than most sauces but still SWEET SWEET SWEET.

I love ribs - I love the slow cook and I make a brisket to weep over and now I want to do the same for ribs ...

Who has a good recipe?  I will test it and feature it here on www.foodiesunite.com ...

Let me know what you have!!

Scenes from Utah

Utah is all about the landscapes compared to alot of the macro photography that I did.  Big mountains, sprawling lakes, breathtaking vistas ... I have it all here right outside my door.  We get a full four seasons here as well and the winter can get coooold and there is snow!  But the snow is this awesome powdery glittery creation instead of snow sludge like in the northeast. 
Z-man got to see snow for the first time and after tromping to the bus stop in it a few times, he was not as enthralled as I was.  Thankfully, snowball fights seemed to improve his enthusiasm.  As well, we moved to our little home directly across from the school so no more cold waits in the dark at the bus stop.
   

Pink Scarf for the Wasatch

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The peaks here top off at about 12,000 feet and Provo resides at a comfy 4500 feet.  I do not mind the elevation at all until I decided to bake something at Christmas time.  You know all that small print on the baking boxes?  No - me either.  So my cookies tasted great and looked like elephant ankles.

High Altitude Baking

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So here are some of the wonderful vistas that I see everyday in my new home ... summer has been wonderful but I am ready for the fall and the leaves changing.  I arrived in Utah right at the end of October so I did not get to see the change last year.

Provo, Utah

Utah Lake looking towards Provo

moon rise in the high meadow

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Moon Rise Tonight over the Timpanogos

The Wasatch mountains are in the east so at sunset, the sun is dropping down behind the lake and the western mountains.  As the sun sets, on some nights, the light hits the peaks and turns them into red rock.  The light and colors of it are stunning!

Snow on the side of the road

 

off road - Park City, Utah

And YES!  There are dragonflies ... tho not as many which makes them even more of a blessing!

Eight Spotted Skimmer in Utah!

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Four Spotted Skimmer in Utah!

 

Most Googled Recipes of 2009

2010 is here and it is a whole new world of food and drink!  But what were we googling in 2009?

According to Restaurants & Institutions,  the top 10 most-Googled recipes of last year were:

1. Chili
2. Meatloaf
3. Cheesecake
4. Banana bread
5. Pancake
6. Salsa
7. Hummus
8. Lasagna
9. Apple pie
10. Meatball

Read more: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/01/the-top-10-most-googled-recipes-of-2009.html#ixzz0oa6TGtZS