Our visit to Temple Square, in downtown Salt Lake, was a real treat. We stayed at a hotel a few blocks away and walked to the Square itself, in time to attend their Sunday morning TV broadcast, with hundreds of people in the audience. The photo above I took before the broadcast started as the choir was practicing. As singers ourselves, we can’t begin to put ourselves on the same level as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They were nothing short of magnificent. Of course, the acoustics in this building were also unbelievable.

Here is one of the buildings in Temple Square. I don’t recall which one it was. And on the right, another view of the same building. The grounds were gorgeous with blooming flowers everywhere, ponds here and there.

I think I mentioned in my previous post that we visited the Mormon history museum, which was fascinating, telling the stories of the many families who wagon-trained west as part of the migration of Mormons from the Midwest.

One of the highlights of our visit to SLC was being able, finally, to meet Kalyn (that’s kay-lynn) Denny. When I first started my blog I wrote Kalyn and asked her a few questions, which she graciously answered. If you’ve never visited her blog, you should – Kalyn’s Kitchen. She’s a proponent of the South Beach Diet. Kalyn picked us up at our hotel, drove us around downtown and the lovely homes that overlook downtown, and took us to her house. I got to see the addition she built on her adorable home where she does all of her blogging – she has a real studio and an impressive array of plates, bowls, platters, silverware, napkins, placemats and other props.

We had a lovely dinner together. My hubby had to just sit and listen as Kalyn and I talked blogging from every dimension. It was such a thrill to meet her – she’s been blogging many more years than I have. Thank you, Kalyn, for our fun afternoon and evening together. I can’t recall the name of the restaurant we went to with Kalyn, but we stayed at the Hotel Monaco, and one night we had a fabulous dinner a block away from the hotel at Eva, a quirky little restaurant that’s well worth going to. They call it a tapas place, but I’d say the portions are more like appetizers for sharing. The warm gooey bread and cheese plate was exceptional. Our hotel room was gorgeous – a real find, I think. I’d definitely stay there again, AND I’d go back to Eva again too. It’s a pet-friendly hotel, so we saw many animals going in and out for walks with their owners.

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That’s the Ben Cook cabin we stayed in, at the Chief Joseph Ranch, just south of Darby, Montana. In case you don’t know, Darby is in SW Montana, quite near the Idaho border, south of Missoula. I’d been to this neck of the woods once before – about 50 years ago – wow, does that make me feel old! – and remembered it’s pretty rolling hills and rushing rivers (the Bitterroot). The cabin had 2 bedrooms and 2 baths; a really large fireplace-centric living room, a spacious kitchen, a table for 4 people, and a small deck.

Some of the time we were there it was chilly. We didn’t use the fireplace as it wasn’t cold enough for that, but we relaxed in the living room, enjoyed the peaceful view outside and my DH read an hour or two out on the deck.

We opted to have breakfast at the main lodge (for an extra charge) and even talked about trying to get our whole family to vacation there next year, but schedules just won’t jibe; we’ll need to find some place closer to home that’s easier for Southern Californians to get to. But if you’ve ever wanted to vacation in Montana, and not at a full service dude ranch, this lovely place might be just the ticket. I loved it here. The owners, Bob and Janet, were very warm and welcoming. They spent ample time suggesting things to do and places to see.

That’s the living room in the main lodge (built about 100 years ago). It’s a gorgeous log cabin – 2 stories high – and full of artifacts of the ranch life from long ago. One morning we had breakfast right there in front of the fireplace; the other morning the owners joined us as we ate in the formal dining room at the other end of the lodge. There are rooms (3) in the lodge too. Our cabin would sleep 4; the other cabin will sleep 10.

There’s another view of the main room in the lodge – through the door at the end is the large dining room. Rooms are upstairs.

I can imagine, in the winter, with snow swirling around, sitting near the huge fireplace would be something very special.

Well, the elk really weren’t “playing,” but they looked like they might. Just after I took that photo they began scattering for the trees. You can hunt elk in Montana, but not at Chief Joseph. Over the years the elk must have discovered this land (where the owners raise hay) is a safe haven for them. They don’t allow hunting on their land. You can see the smoke in the air there, too.

One afternoon, down to the Bitterroot River we went, just across the main entrance of the ranch and set up our folding chairs. This was something I really wanted to do – to be right by the river, to hear the water as it dipped and crackled over the rocks, while I sat peacefully at water’s edge reading a book. I turned our chairs around just to take the picture – there’s my jacket and my trusty Kindle. If you go to my blog’s home page, you can read about the 6 books I read on this trip, and the 2 books we “read” by CD in the car during those long desert driving days from Darby to Reno, Nevada.

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This bruiser was snuffling alongside the highway, about 30 feet away from our car. He was all by himself. And there must have been at least 300 people outside their cars, with and without tripods lined up along the highway taking pictures of him. I should have taken a picture of THEM!There was also a bear way off in the distance. We have a picture of him too, but he’s SO far away I decided it wasn’t worth even showing it to you! We did see moose, elk and deer too.

And here are some more pictures of Old Faithful. It’s an amazing sight, really. Most of the smoke was further south (from the forest fires) and these don’t show any smoke at all. We drove on every highway but one within Yellowstone National Park. A kind gentleman at one of the restaurants we visited told us we needed to go to the NE corner of Yellowstone (Lamar Valley); he thinks it’s some of the most beautiful scenery in the Park. We just didn’t have time. We spent 8 hours driving that day as it was! We spent the night in West Yellowstone (a small touristy town just outside the northwestern edge of the park, in Montana, actually). It’s not a memorable town. Just a place to spend the night after driving all day.

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We’re home from our 2 1/2 week trip, but I have a lot of categorizing and photo cropping and other stuff to do before I bring you the best of the best photos. The above was a small, nearly stagnant river in the Tetons somewhere. You can barely discern the smoke if you look at the furthest trees – there’s a blanket of smoke setting in.

At the Jenny Lake Lodge (cabins) we had these cute (?) bent twig rockers outside the front door. Making those have to be a lost art. When we did sit outside, just before I took this photo, there was a cute little chipmunk who noisily chattered at us from the pine tree just behind the rockers, there, so I took out a few cashews and with great fanfare (so he’d see me) I tossed them out in front of those chairs. It took him about a minute before he ventured near and went to town. Then he walked right up to us and sat on his haunches with his tail quaking and looked at us like “I want more, please.” We didn’t have any more, sadly! He even walked right up to Dave’s shoe and sniffed his shoelaces. Funny! We weren’t as impressed with the Jenny Lake cabins as we’d expected (I was the one who wanted to go there). Dinner and breakfast at the lodge are included in the $625/night fee. The food wasn’t that good, and at that price I expected far better. For dinner I ordered pheasant (there were very few options on the menu and since pheasant isn’t something I get or see much, I decided I should try it). It was tough and dry and at least half of it was inedible. They also served green beans that were so undercooked they could almost have qualified as raw. I like al dente green beans, but not that firm! I complained to the waiter about the pheasant, who took my plate to the chef. She agreed with my analysis, apologized, but still, it was a big let-down. Had we stayed a 2nd night they would have done something to compensate, but I guess there’s not much they can do with one-nighters. ??? So, one more destination scratched off my bucket list. My only other bucket list item is to stay at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

At one of the turnouts in the Tetons, we stopped and walked up the river (the Snake) a ways. It was so beautiful. I love – love the rushing water as it crackles over the rocks. We were at about 8,000 feet altitude, so even a little walk seems almost strenuous!

At several other places I popped out of the car and took photos. Mostly of them were cloudy with smoke and not worth showing you. But this one with a slow-moving stream was pretty. Ethereal, almost.

More photos tomorrow or the next day with some from other places we stayed.

I need to catch up on some things here at home!

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I’m always surprised when I run into someone who’s never had panzanella before. I’ve been making it every summer for years and years. Probably for 20 or so. But maybe some people, when they read it, say huh? Thinking that it doesn’t appeal, or something? I really don’t know. But they’re missing out. Truly!

Over the years I’ve figured out what I love about panzanella: (1) the bread; (2) the tomatoes; (3) the combo of flavors; and (4) the texture of everything. In a way it’s like an unstructured gazpacho, sort of. The most important ingredients are the bread and tomatoes, though. The bread because it soaks up the juices from the tomatoes and whatever dressing you toss with it. The tomatoes, because this dish showcases true summer tomato succulence – the best thing about tomatoes – when they’re big, fat, juicy and flavorful.

A couple of years ago I posted a recipe for a Grilled Panzanella Salad. And it’s a good one – a bit more of a standard or traditional panzanella. This one today, though, veers off to the untraditional because I added a bunch of things that don’t normally go in one – like green beans, corn, arugula, fresh mozzarella, capers and tarragon. And I just LOVED this salad. It’s the best panzanella I’ve ever had. Period. I had my DH grill the bread for it, and he also grilled the corn and the bell peppers. I harvested tarragon, basil and tarragon from the garden to toss in it too.

I had  some beautiful, huge tomatoes which is why I decided to make this salad. What better way to taste the deliciousness of summer tomatoes. I chopped up some hothouse cucumber, scooped in a little bit of capers, a few Kalamata olives (pitted and halved). I added in the grilled corn (cut off the cob after the grilling) and the chunked-up bell peppers. Scoops of fresh arugula was added in along with the mozzarella balls. Then I added the grilled and cubed sourdough bread. I add the tomatoes last because I like the juices from the tomatoes to soak into the bread. Lastly, a wine vinegar based vinaigrette is drizzled over it0. Toss and serve! To raves.

What I liked: every solitary thing about it. Deliciousness with every bite!

What I didn’t like: Absolutely nothing!

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Isn’t that just stunning? As I write this we are staying at a bed and breakfast over on the right side of that photo. It’s right on the lake. More photos later. The picture above was taken on the Mt. Rose Hwy. between Reno and Incline Village (a community in Nevada that also fronts on Lake Tahoe). After 2 days of long driving days we are back in California, albeit up in the northeast corner, sort of. Today we are driving to Placerville to celebrate our granddaughter Taylor’s 15th birthday. It’s going to be 80 degrees here today.

I have hundreds of photos (well, maybe not hundreds but close) to sort through and stories to tell. One about a guest ranch we stayed in, in Montana, that just blew our socks off. I have several photos from there. We drove from the guest ranch to Jackpot, Nevada in one long day, suffering with the intense smoke from the forest fires. Then another long driving day from Jackpot through Winnemucca, an oasis in the desert, to Reno. We stayed at a casino hotel there, where we had two power outages. That’s real fun when you’re buried deep in a casino with no outdoor lights and the power goes out. There were some dim safety lights way off in the distance. The outages didn’t last too long, fortunately. The hotel Internet went out (including TV and phones), so no watching television that night. No blogging either. If you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe, you should.

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What are those flecks on top? Dried lavender. Not in the original recipe, but I was serving these with honey lavender ice cream, so I wanted to tie the two together. These bars are sinful. Indeed. Tasty with ginger – loved the icing on top. Very simple cookies to make.

My stack of recipes to try is so out of control. I’ve blogged about it before, but there are times when I just deeply exhale and say to myself I’ve really got to do something about it. But what?

(1) I could stop subscribing to all the food magazines I get. But darn it, I enjoy reading them all. A lot. So nope, not an option, I’m afraid! What I DO do, though, is when I start reading a magazine I clip as I go. I sit at our kitchen counter when I peruse food mags and in the drawer next to me I keep a pair of scissors and scotch tape. As you know, they come in handy – I don’t tear out the whole page, just the recipe itself. If I were to just look through a magazine (I used to do this) and set it aside to clip recipes later . . . well, the later never comes, I’ve learned. I used to fold down a page corner, but after 6 months I had this big stack of magazines that threatened to undo me. So that’s why I clip as I read. If a recipe doesn’t make it in the first “cut,” then it’s too bad. I try NOT to clip more than 1-3 recipes in a magazine. Sometimes I don’t find any I want. Usually I find a couple. If I’ve clipped more than 3 I try to hone it down to 3 or maybe 2 max. When I’m finished with the issue, I pull a 1-inch tear in the top edge of the cover – that’s my clue that I’ve read that magazine in full and it’s ready for the trash bin.

(2) I could stop clipping recipes out of magazines or newspapers. Read them, yes; clip from them, stop? Nope, I know myself – I can’t do that either. I have a few recipe contributors (like Grace Parisi, who is a regular in Food & Wine) and I often like her unusual combinations. I rarely cook anything out of Saveur, as much as I like the magazine, they’ve kind of gone to a trend-style or the entire magazine is about a particular cuisine (the most recent issue was about Mexico). I may cancel that subscription the next time it comes up for renewal. I DO enjoy Bon Appetit and Food and Wine, though. And Cook’s Illustrated too.

(3) I could stop reading other blogs. No way, Jose! For sure can’t do that one. When I see recipes there I copy and paste them into my MasterCook software – it’s easy to do and that way I don’t have to print anything (less paper = good for me and my house). When I’m researching something to make, I just refer to my internet recipe cookbook I have in MasterCook. They’re sub-divided by type (salads, veggies/sides, beverages, etc.) so I can easily look up just what I want. Easy to see from the title whether it’s something I want to pursue.

(4) Well, I could just stop trying new recipes  except for what I already have – then I wouldn’t need any more new ideas. I must have a couple of thousand to-try recipes in my arsenal. Way too many. This option doesn’t sound viable to me. I wouldn’t get to try some of the new things that keep arriving in our markets, new produce, new combinations that surprise my palate. I have recipe clippings that go back to the 1960’s. Can you believe that? Well, that gives you a clue as to how old I am! I also have about 300 cookbooks. Yikes. And I keep buying more. Crazy me.

So, what do I do about it? Well, just keep truckin’ I guess and hope I have room for everything. I have a stack of recipes to file that’s about 4 inches high. It’s been months since I “cleaned house” on that stack. Some are recipes from my big binders (my favorites, ones I’ve already made) that I use frequently enough and need a hard copy, but they need to be re-filed in their proper binder (yes, I have 5 binders – 3 with recipes I’ve made and 2 very full binders of clippings to try).

Therefore, we get to this recipe. Finally. I’m so glad I got all that off my chest. Now I can go back to my usual routine of clipping and collecting and not worry about it because I’ve journaled all of you about it! Do any of you have this problem too? What do you do about it?

Ginger Crunch Bars came from a recipe I had printed out YEARS ago from Gourmet Magazine. 1999 to be exact. These are from Skibo Castle in Scotland, and the chef made them often for afternoon tea. They would be lovely for that. I may have to make them again just to serve them with tea. (Sorry, you can’t stay there – it’s a members-only club now.)

There’s a shortbread layer on the bottom. Easy to mix up and press into place. I do want to tell you a little about the pan size, though. The recipe says 9×13. I think the shortbread part is too thin using a 9×13. Next time I make these I’ll use that odd Pyrex size, 7×11. I think that would make a little sturdier shortbread (bake it a bit longer AND at 25° lower since glass bakes hotter) and it would hold together better. Made in a 9×13 these cookies are very thin and fragile. VERY fragile. The other little trick I read afterwards on someone else’s version of this was to score the cookies while they’re still warm – they’ll cut cleanly and not crumble so much. Someone else suggested making a foil sling and to remove them when they’re still almost hot – and place sling with cookies on a rack to cool. All good suggestions.

During the last 10 minutes or so of the baking time start making the topping. You really want the topping to finish JUST when you whisk the cookie pan out of the oven. I missed by a couple of minutes, but was able to spread the frosting on with an offset spatula easily enough a couple of minutes later. Part of the great flavor is from the Lyle’s Golden Syrup. If at all possible, don’t substitute – find it if you can. I think it has a kind of buttery-caramel flavor. It tastes nothing at all like Karo syrup. I used dried lavender too – I chopped it up finely with a large chef’s knife – and gently pressed it into the icing. The lavender wasn’t in the original recipe, so if you don’t have that, you’ll still have a fantastic cookie without it.

My DH, who hardly ever eats cookies, couldn’t keep his hands out of the broken pieces and crumbs. He loved these cookies. It also helps that they’re small and maybe just a little bit better for us since you don’t eat all that much of it – unless you go back for seconds and thirds. As I mentioned, I took them to a dinner party and they were well liked by everyone.

What I liked: the ginger flavor. I love ginger, so it’s just a no-brainer that I’d like these cookies. Some people added crystallized ginger pieces to the frosting. That might be good too.
What I didn’t like: really, nothing. A fantastic cookie.

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When we headed north from the Grand Tetons it was still very smoky. In fact the main mountain peaks were almost occluded by smoke. But as we got to Yellowstone the air improved. It certainly wasn’t clear air but it was clear-er air. We did see bear, elk, bison and moose. As you drive through the park, when you see a whole bunch of cars lining the side of the highway you know there is an animal sighting. People are set up near the road with long distance telephoto lenses on every kind of tripod imaginable. Signs and printed material warn guests in the park to beware of all the animals, but particularly the bear and bison. The buffalo aren’t afraid of cars – in fact they will walk near a car (munching grass or gazing into the distance) walking along oblivious to humans just feet away inside their cars. Everyone slows down if they’re near the road, of course. Once two males crossed the road just in front of us. They’re gait is not smooth or graceful, but lumbering and ungainly. Also very slow. It took us over 8 hours to drive the figure 8 highways inside the park. All 2-lane roads with the max speed 45mph. My car has a big, big sunroof and we drove all through the park with it open to the mountains around us.

Below you see the reliable Old Faithful, the geyser that spouts 365 days a year about every 90 minutes do so. To the amazement of hundreds of people.

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Ever since that movie came out a few years ago people all over talk about their “bucket list.” Well, staying here at the Jenny Lake Lodge cabins was one of mine. You read about another one of my bucket list items a year one so ago we we stayed for two nights at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. On this trip one of my goals was to stay at this charming place inside The Grand Tetons National Park for just one night. It’s expensive, otherwise I might have worked in a two night stay. The room rate does include a sumptuous dinner and breakfast (very gourmet from what I’ve read).

We aren’t going horseback riding (it’s also included in the room rate). Dave wasn’t all that intrigued to do it, and I’d doubt the people would want him to anyway. I decided I didn’t want to go without him. So we sat outside on that cute little deck and enjoyed some more of the Martin Lane Syrah (if you are interested you have to buy it from the winery – its a small No. California winery in Ione).

There’s where we snoozed last night in the crisp mountain air. Yesterday morning it was 35 degrees at about 8:30 am. So we snuggled up good under that pretty quilt last night.

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The last two days we’ve been in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Spent all of yesterday with our good friends Lynn and Sue who live outside of Denver now. We talked a blue streak catching up on everything in one another’s lives. Enjoyed a bottle of Martin Lane Syrah which won a silver medal at last year’s Orange County Fair competition. Had both lunch and dinner with them.

This morning we headed north (and they headed east to return home) into the Tetons and as I’m posting this, we’ve settled into our darling cabin at Jenny Lake Lodge. I will write up a separate post about our stay, with photos I hope.

As you can see from the photo at top, there is lots of smoke in the air from the forest fires still raging just east of us. The smoke obliterated much of the pretty views of the Tetons and lakes and meadows in between. We can smell it with nearly every breath, but the fires aren’t all that close to us, really. Tomorrow we head into Yellowstone and will be driving all day so not to miss anything. I probably won’t blog tomorrow. If possible I will write up the post about our stay here and instruct it to post tomorrow.

Written later: After we got home from this trip, our friends Lynn & Sue kindly emailed photos they took of the Tetons the day before we got there. The smoke was not nearly so bad. So, thanks to them, I’m sharing their photos below. First, here’s a beautiful one of the Tetons from a roadside pull-out.

Here is Jackson Lake (below), the largest lake in the Tetons. What a photo, Lynn. Good job!

We stayed at Jenny Lake – but at the lodge that’s half a mile from the lake itself. We didn’t take the hike, but Lynn & Sue did.

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