Salt Lake love: Good eats

Oh, the eating we will do. This is how I think about any trip out of Wyoming. Salt Lake and Denver are the closest major cities, but though we may get there fairly often, I try to never eat the same place twice. Too many good choices!

This trip we discovered Ruth's Diner in Emigration canyon where the biscuits actually pleased the biscuit connoisseur (as did the homemade raspberry jam). The freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice made me pretty happy, too.

Everything there was wonderful, even the phone booth we had to cram into because the waiting room was full.

While Jack was entertaining folks at the IDOS convention, I found gems like Frida's Bistro:

Where this guy stared at me while I ate. 

Mazza, yummy Middle Eastern fare

(notice I also like eating at odd times when I have the place nearly to myself):

And then there was this gourmet grocer, Liberty Heights Fresh, where the cheesemonger helped me select a local chevre that had been mixed with apricot preserves and honey. I dipped two dates in it for dessert. YUM.

Oh, how good food makes me happy. Like the fresh (this morning) egg omelet with caramelized onions, spinach and feta my honey made me for breakfast today.

His and hers vacations: day one

Jack and I spent the weekend in Salt Lake City, though his tale of his time there is far different from mine. We did what many like us (meaning in love but with our own set of interests) do when traveling: divide and enjoy.

We were there for the International Dutch Oven Society's World Championship Cook-off, where Jack was the on-site entertainment, spouting poetry to draw crowds into their corner of the International Sportsman's Expo, where the IDOS event is held.

The first couple of years we went I stayed, but I'll confess the folding chairs, camo-clad crowd, taxidermy decor and excruciating testosterone level were not my idea of a good time. They aren't for Jack, either, but for him the cooking and the Dutch oven bonding made up for it. For me, staying meant no time to appreciate being in the city.

So Friday morning I dropped him off at the back door and went off on my merry way. Stop one: Horse Crazy to find some breeches that weren't eight sizes too big. So sorry I didn't take a picture of the corgi puppy they had in the store. She was precious. All ears and feet. Scored a great Ariat vest from their consignment section. Exercised great restraint in the tack and footwear departments.

A store full of English riding apparel, tack and accoutrement? Not even in Jack's alley.


Stop two: Shopping. I know most women would probably use exclamation points for shopping, but I am NOT a fan of trying on clothes. I do what I have to do. For 15 years I have been shopping in the same store. Buying the same brands. I'm quite at a loss now, but I have to have new clothes. Nothing fits. I tried on approximately eighty-six thousand items and bought four.

I ask you - does your husband enjoy clothes shopping with you? I didn't think so.


That chore done, it was on to the fun stuff. Consignment stores! The treasures Joan at for the love of a house finds inspired me to do some of my own digging. In case you are ever in SLC and have the same predilection, here are some places to try: Now and Again, Secondhand Chic, and Vintage Butterfly.

As for Jack's day? He brought a woman to tears (of laughter) with "The Bra", noshed on the competitor's fare and bonded with Dutch oven celebrity Cee Dub.

Good day had by all. :)