Heber Valley Life

Tag: food

The New Oakley Diner

“I have a magical vision in my head of live music or music playing from juke boxes, with the windows open and the late summer breeze blowing in, and laughter. I just can’t wait to sit there and hear those sounds.” Leentje Klingensmith, the Marketing Director for the newly restored Oakley Diner, shares her vision for how the fresh space is going to feel. The historical Oakley Diner, formerly known as the Road Island Diner, has resided in Oakley, UT since 2007. Recently, the diner closed its doors in 2020 and went up for sale.

When Steve and Jana Smith purchased the property, they had a big vision for its future. The couple wanted it to be a gathering place for locals and tourists alike. Steve was born and raised in Kamas. After various adventures outside of Summit County, Steve returned to this area that holds a special place in his heart; calling it home once more. The Smiths put together an incredible team of people, and began renovations and plans for a new, fun community hub.

One of the key players on their team is Chef Eric May. Eric has overhauled the menu and helped with hiring a new staff. Leentje shares, “Eric’s […] been involved in the culinary scene here in Utah […] well over a decade. He has worked at the Blue Boar Inn for years and years, as well as Sundance, […] he has passion for the culinary arts, and has the same vision that Steve and Jana have.” Eric wants to offer classic diner food — but have it taste better than you can imagine — and has been instrumental in taking a vision and bringing it to life.

Guests at the Oakley Diner can expect delicious traditional breakfast fare served from 7:00 – 11:30 a.m. daily. There are plenty of ways to please your palate with options like Cowboy Benedict, Cinnamon Swirl Brioche French Toast, or the Breakfast Burrito. Lunch and dinner options are served until 9 p.m. and include salads, burgers, and sandwiches, as well as some pasta options. And not to worry — they haven’t forgotten to satisfy your sweet tooth: pie, cake, sundaes, and of course traditional and specialty milkshakes are all menu offerings. The menu also includes gluten-free options and a kids menu to please younger eaters.

Leentje says, “We’re so excited to be offering all of the diner classics that everybody loves, but also some more elevated options as well [like avocado toast], just to mix it up a little bit.” Leentje describes herself as a ‘breakfast-all-day-kind-of-gal’ so she’s excited that a few breakfast items, like waffles, will be served all day. She goes on to say, “But what I’m really excited for is the burgers and the shakes.” Leentje describes the burgers — two smashed burger patties piled on a housemade potato bun. Many of the bread items that will be served will be made in the Oakley Bakery which resides on the lower floor of the building. Lita May, wife to Eric, is heading up the bakery and has also been involved with hiring and rallying the team. The bakery will have pastries and other goodies. You’ll be able to grab a classic donut or something a bit fancier like the blueberry pancake donut with specialty toppings. The lower level of the building will also be home to a FiiZ Drinks and Oakley Roasting Company. There will be space inside to sit down and enjoy freshly brewed coffee or you can grab it and go at the drive-thru. “It’ll be fun to have those things right there in Oakley,” Leentje expresses.

Renovating the diner hasn’t come without some challenges. The diner was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August of 2009. As a historical landmark, the project team has taken great care to preserve it. Leentje shares one obstacle they were mindful of: “Trying to make sure that we did justice to the history of the diner, and that we were keeping that in mind, and really capturing that essence of what it was like in its heyday back in Rhode Island.” The heavy and long winter has also caused some setbacks with construction. Leentje laughs as she says, “It’s kind of one of those things; like if you wash your car, you’re almost guaranteed it’s going to rain. If you start renovating a diner up in Oakley, you’re almost guaranteed you’re going to have a heck of a winter I guess.” With construction delays, they’ve had to push back the opening date a couple of times. The team has persevered through the disappointment knowing that the end result is going to be worth the wait. “It’s important to us that we really knock it out of the park. We want to make sure that people have a phenomenal experience when they walk through those doors,” Leentje shares.

Many people in the valley have experienced the diner in its former days. So, what changes can be expected? Patrons can get excited for a new menu complete with classic favorites. An expansion off of the back of the diner allows for far more seating. There will be outdoor seating as well. While sticking with its classic styling, the diner will also sport a new look. Leentje explains, “As cliché as it sounds, I think people are going to be really blown away when they step into the diner for the first time. It is just spectacular! They have done such a great job of capturing that classic Americana diner feeling. We have the red bar stools and the black and white tile, and it feels like stepping back in time without being cheesy. […] I think that experience and that nostalgia is just going to really blow people away.”

As Leentje has been involved heavily in preparations for the grand opening, she has had lots of conversations with people who cannot wait for those doors to open again. She knows of families who have made the diner part of their family tradition as they visit the valley during the summer. Leentje had the pleasure of speaking with a woman who was recently engaged. The woman shared that while she worked as a waitress at the diner, a certain ‘guy’ would come in often to grab a cup of coffee just so he could see her and talk to her. And, they just got engaged! Many more fun memories and moments are sure to be had in this historic yet new space. “It’s just like this little piece of magic that I think can bring the community together. I just really love that!” Leentje says. She continues, “I look forward to having the diner be a big part of the community and participate in things that make the community better and somewhere that people want to come visit; making it better for the locals and everyone in between.”
September 4, 2023
Little sprouts, big dreams

Sierra Prothers grew up skiing in New England, but when those mountains were no longer big enough for her, she made her way to the Rocky Mountains, eventually landing here in Wasatch County. Sierra’s travels and outdoor experiences fostered an interest in food sourcing and production; having space to plant a garden was an important factor in looking for a place to live. Sierra shared, “My partner and I found a lovely place in the town of Charleston right on the border of Heber. We were lucky enough to find a piece of property that was large enough that I could start a garden as soon as we moved in.”

Excited by the opportunity to grow her own food, Sierra jumped in and started trying to plant right away. She shared, “I had some success and a lot of failures, and I learned a lot. I didn’t have a background in horticulture or anything. I just knew that it was really important to me to not only grow my own food but use our land in a way that we felt was productive.” Sierra began attending conferences, researching, and learning as much as she could. She spent a year and a half taking a lot of soil samples and amending the soil in the most natural and organic ways possible. Sierra explained, “If you don’t have a healthy soil system, it makes it really difficult to grow anything.” She also realized that in order to grow certain produce like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and other plants that need a long time to germinate and yield fruit, she would need to extend her growing season. And so, Sierra built a 1,000 square foot greenhouse. Sierra laughs as she recalls, “That first summer I grew primarily in that greenhouse, and I grew way too much food! I was giving it away to friends, family, and neighbors. I didn’t realize how much I could grow. I was doing a lot of inter-planting and succession planting so that none of my beds were ever empty and so that I was using as much of my space as I could.”

After realizing how much she could grow, Sierra would spend her time, while working at an office job, daydreaming about gardening full time and growing even more food! She loved the feeling of being able to share what she grew with others and said, “I decided to make it a business and to share my knowledge and our food with our community. I felt that it was pretty important, especially with what was and is going on in our world.” When deciding on a name for her new business, Sierra wanted to honor the history of the original owners of her home and property — the Caspers — and Casperville Creations was born.

Casperville Creations is truly all about community and giving back. Members of the community can volunteer to help out on the farm by weeding, picking, and helping get products ready for the Midway Farmer’s Market or the farm’s CSA boxes. Those who help will generally leave with several fresh veggies as a thank-you for their time and efforts. Sierra shared that one of the most rewarding parts of running the farm has been the ability to donate fresh produce to families in need within Wasatch County. “The amount of food that we’ve been able to give back has been pretty amazing. A lot of those families end up coming and volunteering on the farm, so that is really cool.” Sierra works closely with The Christian Center and posts a sign-up sheet during summer and fall for families who could use a little help supplementing their meals with fresh vegetables.

The main component of Casperville Creations is their Community Supported Agriculture shares, which is a partnership between the farm and individual community members. CSA members pay a one-time fee and receive 16 to 18 weeks of fresh produce every week. Members also receive a fun reusable canvas tote to carry their vegetables in and have first choice of add-on items such as fresh cut flowers, microgreens, Oak Haven Honey, farm fresh eggs, goat milk soap, homemade tea, spice blends, and other homegrown or handmade products. Memberships can be shared, and if a CSA member is unable to use or pick up their weekly portion, they have the option of giving that week to a family member, friend, neighbor, or donating that week’s produce to a family in need. Sierra shared, “With the amount of CSA members last summer — we were able to donate over 30 weekly shares of food to families here in Wasatch County.”

Casperville Creations works with several local restaurants and attends the Midway Farmer’s Market and a few in Park City. If you can’t make it to one of the farmer’s markets and a CSA share is not for you, Sierra says that individuals can call and see what produce is available that day or just stop on by and visit her at the farm. If you are looking for something specific, you can also call and pre-order. “We don’t have a lot of ‘you pick’ opportunities like some farms, but we do have large volunteer opportunities. I think what has been the most fun for people when they come to the farm is learning as they go. I’m right there working with everyone and answering questions — it’s a great chance to pick my brain.” Education is important to Sierra. She shared, “We hold workshops based on questions people have. Recently, I’ve had a lot of inquiries about my soil. So, last year we hosted a two-hour workshop here at the farm about how to create a healthy soil system, deciphering what a soil sample looks like, and where people can get soil samples. We’ve had workshops on raising chickens and even held a ‘Yoga at the Farm’ series.” Sierra is looking forward to creating a two-day intensive workshop and a flower workshop as well. For those who prefer, Sierra also offers one-on-one consulting, which can cover anything from planting advice to irrigation systems. Speaking of water — Sierra strives to keep her footprint as small as possible and is very conscientious of water usage. Everything is on a drip irrigation system which means that Sierra can monitor and dial in how much or how little water each bed needs and receives.

One question Sierra gets asked often is whether or not her products are organic. Although the vegetables grown at the farm are not certified organic, Sierra stated that “[…] what we practice is probably at an almost higher level than what it means to grow organically by government standards. Everything grown in our fields is grown in an organic discipline: green manures, crop rotation, non-GMO or chemically treated seeds, and no chemical herbicides, pesticides, or washes. I want to educate people on what that means because purchasing organic food can be pretty costly. I think that if you learn how to grow your own food, then you can cut out a lot of those extra costs.”

Always looking to the future and for ways to help more people, Sierra shared, “A neighbor of ours graciously offered us close to an acre of additional land to grow on. So, we are excited to get the process of prepping the soil to be ready for planting next year. […] The newest addition to the farm is what I call the Sprout House – an insulated and heated shipping container I use to grow all of our starts and microgreens year round. Microgreens are the main produce we supply to restaurants. This will also allow us to start our tomato plants and everything that is going into the ground between March and April.”

It’s obvious that Sierra has a passion for gardening, but her true joy is found in helping and giving back to those in her community — our community. Sierra says it best, “I saw a need in our community that I could help fulfill, and I want to utilize all the resources that we have. I want to reach more people this year than we did last summer — that is always the goal.”

Harvest in the Hollow

A farm to table collaborative dining experience, offering a local 5 course curated meal, live music, and drinks located at the Nordic Yurt in Soldier Hollow. Join us to adventure, celebrate, and dine under the stars, looking out over the beautiful Heber Valley.

Learn more:
caspervillecreations.com
June 5, 2023
Heirloom Midway Common & Market

In colonial English villages, a Common was a shared piece of ground where neighbors came together to spend time together, share a meal, share their lives and have fun!

Anyone that’s dined on Main Street in Midway understands the level of culinary caliber available for every meal. From fluffy donuts at Judy’s to Northern European-style brunch at Blue Boar Inn to authentic chile relleno and mole at Lupita’s to hearth-to-table cuisine at Midway Mercantile; the bar is high. Luckily, newcomer and dual-concept restaurant Heirloom Common & Market hits the mark.

Housed in the building formerly occupied by The Corner Restaurant; Heirloom Common & Market opened their doors in May and is quickly becoming known for their upscale fine dinning, upstairs at Heirloom Common, and delectable wood fired Pizzas downstairs at Heirloom Market.

Heirloom Restaurant Group owns the restaurant and they know a thing or two about serving up great atmospheres and even greater food. Partners Kevin Santiago and Colton Soelberg have been at the helm of some of Utah’s most prosperous restaurants, chains, and food concepts. Soelberg worked his way up in the food industry from busboy to renowned cook to restaurant owner. Santiago’s entrepreneurial prowess helped ventures like Cupbop, Sodalicious, and Sweet Tooth Fairy become success stories.

“Food is at the heart of what I love to do. I’m all about breaking bread and making memories. I love to sit in the back of a restaurant and hear the clanking of forks and people chatting,” says Santiago.

Heirloom Restaurant Group now owns and operates a laundry list of beloved Utah County restaurants including Pizzeria 712, Communal, Station 22, Black Sheep Cafe, CHOM Burger, and Five Star BBQ. There’s a restaurant for every budget with cuisine ranging from southern to Native American fusion to BBQ and burgers.

So, why Midway for their latest addition?

“My wife and I always loved to visit Midway. It’s a place that many consider an escape. You can play all day in the mountains and then have all these amazing food spots to check out in Midway. We’re excited to be amongst these other amazing restaurants and become a part of the community,” said Santiago.

Currently, Heirloom Commons and Heirloom Market offer several renowned dishes from their sister restaurants. Think: honey garlic roasted chicken from Communal, fried funeral potatoes from Five Star BBQ, and the green chile burger from CHOM. Heirloom will also offer dishes completely unique to the Midway location. “We work with some of the most talented chefs in Utah and want to use Heirloom as a place for them to experiment with new and interesting dishes,” said Santiago.

Wondering which “floor” to visit first? Heirloom Common is perfect for an intimate date night of fine dining or a hearty, classy brunch. Start with a craft cocktail from the full bar and split the mouthwatering hog jowl nachos before moving on to the osso bucco strogonoff and fried trout. Downstairs, Heirloom Market is a prime spot to take the whole family for delicious pizza, live music, and stunning mountain views.

Whichever you choose, you’re in for stellar service and delicious, home-grown food that is truly Utah. Cheers to that.
September 7, 2022
Close To Home

How often do you think about where your food comes from? We’ve become a civilization of packaged foods, freeze-dried, vacuum-packed, hands-off food options everywhere. With just a few clicks on a keyboard, and doorstep delivery, it’s possible to get spices straight from India in the same box as small farm-made jerky from Tennessee. I contrast this with having grown up with beautiful home-cooked meals from my Italian grandmother; using fresh-picked tomatoes, herbs, and zucchini from the garden, I learned to appreciate high-quality foods at an early age. Nothing compares to homegrown and farm-raised.

The Heber Valley is home to several local farms where families and small businesses enjoy the freedom and lifestyle of working with the land and nature to create wonderful foods for locals — without sending their food on a long trip through trucks and warehouses. When we buy local it benefits our economy by keeping money in the community, employing local families, reducing the cost of transporting goods, and the enjoyment of fresher products straight from farm to table in a shorter time. Family farms operate as small businesses where accountability and quality are vital to their success.

Heber Valley Milk and Artisan Cheese

With shorter growing seasons in the higher elevations, Heber Valley is well suited to dairy and beef farming over vegetables and produce. As such, Heber Valley is home to many individual cattle ranchers and a few dairies such as Heber Valley Milk and Artisan Cheese. Farms like this allow the community to interact with and experience this direct source of milk and cheese products. Their website declares their values and interest in sharing the farm lifestyle with others. Providing others with a memorable experience is at the heart of Heber Valley Artisan Cheese. For nearly 100 years, the Kohler family has been producing premium milk. In 2011, the family built a new creamery and began using their farm’s milk to handcraft and age artisan cheese.

This is a great example of what many modern farmers are doing to bring consumers into the joy of farming by providing tours, classes, cheese tasting, and activities that promote quality farming while showing the direct benefits to the community.

Blue Canyon Farms

With a sea of fragrant, purple flowers, Blue Canyon Farms has brought the gift of peace in the form of flowers; lavender being well known traditionally for its ability to relieve stress and anxiety the moment the fragrance meets the limbic part of the brain for both humans and animals. Not only do they sell bunch lavender and buds but also lavender-based products such as bath bombs, essential oils, soaps, and more.

Redmond Heritage Farms

This organic dairy farm is dedicated to supplying high-quality raw milk to those who are seeking the most simple and optimal foods. Redmond tests and tracks the nutritional value of their milk over time, updating data each quarter. “This allows us to make decisions that produce the highest quality milk while balancing sustainability and animal health. Our passion is clean nutrient-rich milk from healthy and happy cows.”

Phil Hinson from the farm stated “We create farm to table consumer goods and have done it for 15 years.” He said he was led to organic dairy farming in order to create sustainable, locally sourced products. “We use only sustainable farming practices that are eco-friendly and try to elevate the human experience. We wish more people knew about our restaurants.”

Redmond has created the optimal model of both farming the product and then sending their goods into the market through their restaurants across the state. They also produce six varieties of raw cheese and hand-gather eggs from truly free-range chickens. In addition, they offer pasture-fed beef and pork products.1 These values are really important to those monitoring animal-based industries and local farms who seem to be responding to public interest. Farmers have the responsibility to provide a high quality of life and simple kindness to the animals that serve them and many have taken up the call to educate the public on just that.

Why Family Farms are Better than Factory Farms

One only has to spend a little time on social media to find many family farms using the medium to reeducate more people about the actual practices and quality of life they are providing for their animals. TikTok users @iowadairyfarmer and @ventureholsteins share daily videos and photos of their farm and challenge other farms to do the same using the #dairyfarmersunited to show their happy, healthy cows.

In the past, farm families have stayed out of the discussion, too busy running the farm; which lead to them losing their voice. Today social media has changed that. Now that more farms are transparently sharing their practices, it is easier for consumers to distinguish between family farms and factory farms, where animal welfare is secondary to profits. Family farms tend to be more connected to their animals and each life matters more as those animals’ lives are directly tied to the livelihood of the family that cares for them.

When asked about this challenge, Phil Hinson of Redmond Heritage Farm replied “Our milk comes from healthy, pastured cows who eat real food. Our cows have constant access to pasture and enjoy fresh green-grass and sprouted barley, dry hay, Redmond Real Salt, and Redmond Clay.” Kohler Creamery also supports this idea stating, “The secret to Heber Valley Artisan Cheese is premium milk – the perfect base for cheese making. These happy and healthy ‘gals’ provide the best-tasting milk because of their superior care. The cows are grass-fed and roam free. The Kohler family has also excluded corn and other GMO feeds from their cows’ diet as requested by their local raw milk customers.” None of the cows volunteered to leave the pasture for comment.

What Businesses Can Do To Support Small Farms

Grocery stores and restaurants can purchase straight from the farm to offer high-quality foods establishing a local trade that keeps more money in the community. Many farmers get involved by simply creating a cooperative relationship with other farms and vendors to help each other get in front of more consumers. Redmond Heritage Farm has purchased a milk truck to bring their farm-fresh raw milk, raw cheeses, pasture-raised eggs, beef, bone broth, raw kombucha, and other products to markets outside the valley as well as for local sales.

As farmers reach out, a responsive community can invite them to bring booths or trucks to their events as well as offer shelf space to local farmers in grocery stores and smaller gift stores.

How Can You Support our Local Farms?

Look specifically for items marked “Locally Sourced” or “Farmed Locally” and make purchases that support both the merchant and the farms to encourage collaboration. Another modern method of supporting small farms is simply to connect and follow them on social media where they can hear about specials and offerings directly from the farmers to expedite sales and move products faster.

Subscription-based farming has allowed many small family farms to create a sustainable and predictable income using the perks of modern Social Media and Content Marketing. One great example of farm-to-table is Ballerina Farm, in neighboring Kamas Valley. They raise Heritage Beef and Pork and provide subscriptions to beautiful Meat Boxes delivered right to your doorstep. In this case, consumers know exactly where the meat was sourced from and the wonderful family that works so hard for their animals and the consumer. Ballerina Farm is managed by its namesake, Hannah Neeleman (Mrs. Utah America 2021), her husband, Daniel Neeleman, and their six children. Hannah creates beautiful video montages of their daily life on the farm and has even won over many professed Vegans who approve of the happy home provided to their animals.

All these farms and the dedicated families that run them are inspiring others to get back to the source and support local small businesses and rural livelihoods in a very direct way. Consider your plate at your next meal and ways that your family can explore more delicious options from right here in our community.

Bon Appetit!
September 1, 2021
The Resurgence of Upscale Dinning

If you were to ask chefs around Anytown, USA, pre-pandemic, how they were feeling — most would tell you, “I’m tired. I’m not sure it is worth it anymore.” Prestigious food magazines such as Food & Wine and Fine Dining have written articles over the past two years expressing the consensus that Chefs have been struggling to fight what we affectionately call “the crush”. The crush is the predominant demand to stay relevant in the ever-changing world of trends and the newest “Best Of” list that seems to take on a life of their own within the restaurant community. I am willing to bet you can ask any chef why they made the culinary arts their career space, and they would answer, “Because it’s fun and it’s the only way I know to live.” Truly, being a chef is one of the only professions you can make a career out of using both your creative and analytical sides of the brain. Chefs are wonderfully enigmatic and delightfully inventive! As we have spent summer getting reacquainted with our surroundings, Chefs have quietly been emerging from shutdown and finding their love of cooking again.

Locally around the Heber Valley, there is a tangible feeling of renewing and resurgence happening. The secret to knowing when a chef is happy is when you see them use in-season ingredients, and with the fall harvest just around the corner (and happening now), chefs are welcoming you back with more than open arms. I took the liberty of matching my colleagues’ ques by quietly visiting their tables to taste their love languages — a gorgeously crafted and tenderly rendered meal.

Autumn in a chef’s kitchen is the most vulnerable time of year where patrons taste the height of technique married to the freshness of Mother Nature. Nothing is truer than the meals I experienced at Afterword, The Lakehouse at Deer Creek, and Midway Mercantile. Let’s get started!

The Lakehouse at Deer Creek is new this year, and Anissa, their front of house, is as inviting as the views. My meal was more than transformative — it has landed itself in my Top Ten Places to Eat — out of any meal I’ve had in the last ten years. I keep a running list, to be sure. I indulged in trying a bit of everything, but Chef Stanger outshines herself by letting the local and seasonal ingredients of her youth do all the talking. The Ute Blue Corn Tostadas and Farmstead Salad were heaven. For the main course, I sampled the Grilled Wild Block Island Swordfish and the Cast Iron Seared Tenderloin. My goodness, please make a reservation immediately and tell Anissa, Heber Valley Life’s Chef about Town sent you. The phrase “dining experience” does not encompass the treasure this place brings to Heber.

Midway Mercantile was a delightful find for me. The unassuming storefront gave me an inquisitive nod when I put this gem on my list, and I’m so glad I did. I spent a fairytale evening feeling entirely “food famous” by sampling their menu. I am confident I could eat their Roasted Bacon Wrapped Dates for any meal by themselves, but the Cornflour Calamari and Olsen Lamb Shepherd’s Pie helped me understand why Midway is considered the “Little Swiss” of Utah. Authenticity probably doesn’t quite do those flavor profiles justice. My main course was sinful, really. The Scottish Salmon with hearth-roasted vegetables was the elevated version of classic comfort food and the Crusted Alaskan Halibut was fusion perfected in its little curry bath. My Heber friends — shake hands with Midway via the Mercantile for date night!

Spending a fairytale evening in Heber is absolutely doable by way of Afterword. Located right on Main Street, Afterword feels like you are walking into a gated backyard of some nostalgic Victorian homestead during the settling of Heber itself. I did not scrimp on my experience here. Being a Southern girl, I immediately and without hesitation ordered the Buttermilk Biscuits, just because. I was not disappointed — so reminiscent of what Papa Pinky (my great-grandpa) used to bake for Sunday supper every week. Their Fire-Roasted Lamb T-Bone Bites should honestly be made into a lollipop flavor; they are that delicious, and combined with the Roasted Beets and Peas Salad, I could have stopped there. For my main dishes, I could not pass up the chance to try the Roasted Idaho Trout, of which I added the Collard Greens and the Niman Ranch Sirloin with barley risotto, in a word, melted — just melted as I tasted every bit of flavor. Chef Harris is a true star in his own right, but I can taste the likeness of Jean Georges technique, and I’m here for it.

Summer is coming to a close, and autumn is ready to take over. Our Wasatch Back chefs are happy and feeling reinvigorated with their harvest. As a chef, changing our menus with the season is like celebrating a romantic anniversary with our culinary craft. We use fall as our hallmark card to ourselves and to you, our patrons. Go celebrate with all your favorite places in town!
September 1, 2021
Chef About Town

Keep an Eye Out For These Meals on Wheels and Grab a Bite This Summer

Cucina Rustico · Taqueria Los Cunados · Yalla Food Truck

There is something nostalgic about eating outside during the summer. Where I come from in the South, bare feet and something in your hand as you run through a park or sit at a ball game is the quintessential, hallmark movie moment that come to life. I think this is what I love most about tasting my way through the Wasatch Back; it reminds me that great food and good-hearted people make a community shine. Come with me as I taste my way through what I have affectionately called “My Heber Food Truck Summer.”

CUCINA RUSTICO.

Frank and his amazing pizza!

If you haven’t tried Frank’s pizza at his Cucina Rustico on wheels, please immediately stop what you are doing and treat yourself. My first experience with the food truck scene in Heber was with Frank. I was new in town and wanted to get something quick. As a chef, I love mixing ingredients and flavors. As a new body in Heber, I had social anxiety over knowing where to go for a simple lunch. I found Cucina Rustico online and instantly fell in love with the array of ingredients I could mix and match on my wood-fired pizza. I ordered The Franco, but added black olives, because who doesn’t love olives, but I tell you — as soon as I put that first bite into my mouth, I was instantly transported to culinary school where my classmates and I would stay late in the kitchens making pizza and scrubbing stainless steel countertops. The power of that bite made me feel welcome; like I belonged in Heber and to the untrained eye, I’m sure I was just another customer that Frank looked at and said, “Interesting combination on your order.” But to me, as I walked back to my office, I had a few tears roll down my cheek, knowing that as overwhelmed as I felt breaking into a new job in a new city, I had a moment of feeling right where I belonged.

TAQUERIA LOS CUNADOS

Authenticity in every taco bite!

A little-known fact about this chef about town (me) is that I was raised by a Cuban stepfather. I can remember at the tender age of three meeting my Abuela (Grandmother) and smelling empanadas and tacos al pastor coming from her kitchen, and how every meal was served with a very strong Cuban Café for my Abuelo (Grandfather). That memory is a reality for me every time I eat at Taqueria Los Cunados! I’m sure they don’t really know me over there, but I know them. My first dish was their fish tacos with lime. You cannot help but feel the spice in combination with the freshly squeezed lime run up into your nose as you take your first bite, and to tell you the truth, that first bite carries on with each one thereafter. Their Tacos al Pastor taste every bit as amazing as my Abuela’s, and that is saying something. Summers in Miami, inside of Little Havana where my grandparents lived, could not compare to the call of this unassuming taco truck, but please know — you can find me there ordering a little of each and every taco just because!

YALLA FOOD TRUCK

I might just be in love!

Give this happy chef a great sandwich, and I just might love you forever. Enter, please, on the scene, as one of the best newcomers to the crowd, Yalla’s Food Truck with their addictive Middle Eastern cuisine. I honestly did not know where to start first when I paid them a visit. I wanted to sample it all. I tend to be a little stealthy when I try new places to eat. I want to experience everything from the food quality to the service to watching other customers order and enjoy their meals. When I first went to Yalla’s, I just people watched. Customers were genuinely enjoying their food, and there was a line to order. I noticed that no matter which side of their truck you were on, it smelled enticing, and the spices drew me in. I ordered the Sabich Baguette and Falafel Bowl. May I just mention on its own a well-deserved shout-out to…the eggplant! Oh goodness, even as I write this, my taste buds remember how delicious and perfect that eggplant was. Delightful! The falafel was tender and aromatic, as it should be — it could stand as a meal itself, but surprisingly I did not need to add anything to these delicious little treats to enhance the flavor. I became so wrapped up in my experience of tasting the food; I truly lost track of time. In this visit, I had my daughters with me, and needless to say, it was a fight even to get enough of a taste to write about it. I think my favorite cap to my jaunt into another part of the world was the Hummus. It was so creamy and refreshing — not overwhelming—all in all, a magical tasting experience for this chef.

IT’S A WRAP!

In the words of one of my favorite mentors in this space, Chef Thomas Keller, “A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” In the words of this chef about town, the chefs at Yalla’s, Taqueria Los Cunados, and Cucina Rustico do just that!
June 4, 2021
Heber Valley Meats: A Cut Above

An Unknown Rancher Once Said, “In Winter’s Chill or Summer’s Heat . . . Farmers and Ranchers Work so the World Can Eat.”

Farms and ranches are more than wide swaths of land used to raise crops and livestock. They are a family’s heritage and future. Jessie Morris and Chad Murdock understand the importance of both heritage and looking towards the future; it’s one of the main reasons they opened a butcher shop right here in their beloved Heber Valley.

Jessie and Chad have been best friends since middle school. The Morris family moved to Utah in the 1980s to raise their family, while the Murdock family was one of the first families to help settle the Heber valley. Jessie grew up helping out in his family’s antique store and shared, “I’ve always had kind of an entrepreneurial spirit to me. I always knew that I wanted to start my own business and . . . things happened in life, and the situation came about where everything sort of aligned right, and I figured it was time to make dreams become a reality. Chad spent his childhood years working on his family’s ranch, “I’ve always been around cows and livestock, and I’ve always been fascinated with meat cutting and processing.” Chad also has a love of history and attended university to become a history professor but after two years decided to take another path. He applied for and received an apprenticeship with Springville Meat Company — and fell in love with the craft. You can hear the joy in his voice as he expresses, “I worked my way up from the bottom and became one of their head butchers. I developed a really really strong passion for meat cutting and butchering and the whole trade in general.”

After five years of discussing plans to open a butcher business together, COVID-19 gave them the push they needed to launch Heber Valley Meats. Chad explained, “. . .
with the pandemic it became pretty apparent that the system that we have in the US is a little bit broken — it’s just a few big companies that control the entire market, and it’s coming down hard on the consumers and the producers. I feel like they’re both not getting treated fairly by these big corporations, and so I figured, well, I’m going to try and do my part and help. Help the producers and the consumers as much as I can and try and bring it back down to the local level. That’s been my dream all along. And so now it’s finally coming to fruition.”

Jessie explained further, “Initially, we are going to have mobile slaughter and custom processing. We’ll go to the ranchers and farmers, slaughter the animal, clean it, gut it, skin it, and then bring it back to our shop to do the processing and break down further. We also offer this same service to those with family farms that have personal animals that they want to eat over the year or sell half a beef to community members and things like that. Having somebody local makes it a lot more convenient instead of driving down to Utah or Salt Lake counties. It’ll be here in town, in Heber, and compared to retail pricing and grocery stores, buying half a carcass or a whole carcass saves you quite a bit on meat prices.”

Both Chad and Jessie say that farmers and consumers enjoy this process. “It’s a better system for the small farmers. We can show up right to their farm and butcher the animal right there. They don’t have to stress if they don’t have a trailer to lease or rent a trailer. It alleviates the stress of loading the animals up and then hauling them for several hours. Then they have to sit in the facility; it’s a lot, it’s a lot of stress on the animals, whereas we can show up to the farm and the pig’s still eating his breakfast, and you know he doesn’t know any the wiser. I think it’s a much better system, so we’re very excited to start offering that to the community.”

Although livestock is at the core of their business Heber Valley Meats also offers wild game processing, a storefront to purchase cut meats, opportunities for local ranchers, and eventually, they will provide local restaurants with home-grown meat.

“There is a lot of hunting and fishing in our valley and outdoorsmen that come to Heber . . . so we’ll be able to process wild game as well. We will also be offering retail sales so people can come in and buy a couple of steaks or hamburgers or small cuts of meat. As part of that, we’re going to be focusing on sourcing local meat from animals raised here in Heber Valley — ideally. And making sure that we have high-quality meat, and that helps the environment. We’re not shipping around meat; we’re not shipping around animals, so there are a lot fewer transportation costs, a lot less fuel, and other things used. It helps the economy. We’re keeping things local. We’re keeping money locally, we’re keeping jobs here locally, and so it helps quite a few different things in having local meat processing available instead of large scale meat processing.”

Chad shared that, “I’m in the process of working with a couple of local ranchers here in the Heber Valley and down in Utah County. I also raise some too, so we are going to try and be able to supply local beef to the community — which I think is awesome, which is kind of a dream come true for me. I think people are excited to be able to know that they’re eating something that was raised just right here, or at least in this very state versus being shipped in from across the country — we’re excited about that.” Chad is also excited about the opportunity to work with local restaurant owners. “We’ve had a few restaurants reach out to us, and for us to sell to the restaurants, we have to do a little bit more paperwork and inspections through the Utah State department of agriculture, so we’re working with the state right now. Our goal is to be able to start supplying restaurants by the end of this year — and that would be really awesome.”

Heber Valley Meats celebrated a successful Grand Opening on May 1st. Both Chad and Jessie shared their gratitude for the overwhelming community support they have received. Customers have been excited to purchase cuts of local beef, pork, and lamb and are raving about the domestic elk jerky! Of course, you can also purchase beef and buffalo jerky. Ranchers and farmers have expressed their delight at having everything from slaughter to cut and wrap available right in their back yard — literally.

For Chad and Jessie, their journey has been about more than just the culmination of hard work and perseverance to achieve their childhood dreams. It has been and always will be all about family, heritage, and the future. Chad expressed it best, “I’ve always had a very special connection with Heber and Strawberry Valley. My ancestors were such good community builders; not only were they building the community with the Mormon settlers, but they were also really great friends with the Indians. In the middle of the Black Hawk war, Joseph Stacey Murdock, my fourth or fifth great-grandpa, made a treaty with Chief Tabby-To-Kwanah. Afterward, they smoked a peace pipe, killed, I think, two or three cows, and had a barbecue right here on Main Street in Heber with the Mormons and the Indians. It’s an incredible story, and I’m super proud to come from that lineage. I have a really special place in my heart for Heber and the area, and of course ranching and beef, and just sharing, sharing the lifestyle with people.”

Chad Murdock and Jessie Morris are proud to honor their family’s heritage and follow in their ancestor’s footsteps. They both agree, “There was never a question, that if given the opportunity to open a butcher shop, that it would be anywhere else but here in the Heber Valley!”
June 4, 2021
Food of the Gods

Chocolate (n.)

A delicious cure for a bad day.

What is it about chocolate? According to Robbie Stout and Anna Davies, owners of Ritual Chocolate in Charleston, it’s a lot of things! The two business partners recently moved their chocolate-making factory and café to the Heber Valley. And they want to invite everyone to experience their unique flavors and chocolate-making process.

The café opened for business in October of 2020 and was the culmination of a 10-year journey. Stout is originally from Midway, UT, and Davies comes from Essex, England, although her mother is American. After Anna finished University she went to Colorado to spend time with her mom. “I met Robbie, and we started talking about chocolate,” she said. “I think really it was just a progression. We had the idea in Boulder, but neither of us really knew much about chocolate.”

Stout shared, “The first motivation was we wanted to start a chocolate company and have our own brand and have chocolate bars — because it sounded like fun. But then, immediately, when we were looking into it, we learned about how difficult the process is to make it, and how important single origin can be, and [the importance of] where you get your cacao from. We could’ve just made a brand and had somebody else make it, but there was just so much opportunity to do something different if we made it ourselves.”

They decided to learn how to source their own cacao and create something totally different from anything else out there. “So, that’s the path we chose,” Robbie explained, “which is the difficult path, because it’s expensive to have the machinery, it’s expensive to make it, and it’s hard to source the cacao from everywhere and trust that supply.”

Anna recalled, “We just started really small . . . in a tiny little studio, we bought some equipment, and we were just making it in our studio. It was really fun in the beginning to just have random beans that we’d mess around with.” They began with a $5.00 budget, and grew from there, eventually renting a small chocolate factory in Denver. A man at the factory taught them some basics about the process and the equipment. They have since modified the experience into their own original process.

Stout and Davies moved to Utah because they both loved the mountains and enjoy activities such as mountain biking, Nordic skiing, hiking, and backcountry skiing. They opened a successful café and factory in Park City but outgrew it. Although the café in Park City remains open and is currently being expanded, Ritual Chocolate has moved the entire production facility to its Heber Valley location, along with a second café.

The chocolate produced at Ritual is shipped to over 800 stores around the country, with about 1,000 bars a day heading out from the Heber Valley. The delicacies include such varied flavors as Honeycomb Toffee, Juniper Lavender, and Pine Nut Chocolate. And for a pure chocolate experience, there are single-origin bars, which allow the different flavors of regional cacao beans to shine through, such as Ecuador, Belize, and Mexico bars. Each region’s cacao beans have evolved into a distinctive taste. The Madagascar bar, for example, has natural “tasting notes” of raspberry, citrus, and peanut. The Peru bar has a floral, herbal, toasted peanuts, and stone fruit taste.

Stout explained why the chocolate tastes are so different. “Obviously cacao doesn’t know national boundaries, but depending on where you are, the local cacao will have had its own history and relationship to people. Like in Mexico, that area was farmed for about 4,000 years with cacao, so there was selective breeding happening just through what people wanted to eat. [They would] pick from that tree and not the others because it tasted better, and [they would] plant seeds from that tree because they tasted better.” He continued, “Over time, some regions got better just because of the amount of time that people were eating cacao. Some of the more wild areas, that haven’t had as much time, still have good cacao, but it hasn’t been through that same process. And there’s been a lot of breeding now through selective breeding. There are hundreds of varieties now.”

The owners work with several carefully selected farms to ensure that they are purchasing quality cacao from heirloom trees. They also are particular about the farming practices, using only those farms that harvest, ferment, and dry their beans properly.

There are only about four companies making 70% of the world’s chocolate. These large companies use high quantity, but poor-quality, beans. To hide the bad flavor, the beans are over-roasted. Any nuances in the beans are then gone, so the companies will add artificial vanilla, cheap oils, emulsifiers, sugar, and milk to disguise the taste of bad cacao. This cacao generally comes from West Africa, and the only thing that matters is the weight. The farms will harvest it early, ferment and dry it quickly, and ship it off to keep the price low. The entire business model is to strip out as much bad flavor as possible using high heat and a lot of processing.

Ritual Chocolate, on the other hand, tries to maintain the flavor of their high-quality beans. “We definitely push to have the smoothest texture that we can. . . . If anything, our process is very gentle because we’re really not trying to take flavors out, were trying to keep it all in and keep the chocolate really smooth,” said Davies. “We barely even roast the beans. It’s more like a light toasting.”

“Our definition of success with the product itself is we want to get as much of that original flavor through our whole process into the final bar.”

“We’re trying to not lose any of that so that people can actually taste what the cacao tastes like — which is the complete opposite goal from these bigger brands,” explained Stout.

The name Ritual Chocolate is a reminder of history. “It was a bit of a call back to the history of cacao, and how it ties into the ceremonies and rituals that the Mayans and Aztecs used chocolate in,” said Davies. The Mayans and Aztecs made a drink with the cacao, after adding spices, maize, and water. “It was considered this really powerful drink that could give you strength and would sustain you all day,” added Stout. “When they used it in ceremonies it was also symbolic of lifeblood.” The cacao beans were even used as currency! The Latin classification name means “food of the Gods.”

Davies and Stout want to share their love of chocolate through the new café and shop. Customers can get coffee, lunch, or a light breakfast for now. “Once Covid is not as big of a threat, we’ll open up our private tasting room here for classes and tours, where we can actually bring people in. We hope that this will be another destination in the Heber Valley for families and everyone from around the area,” said Stout.

“We hope people will come out here to check the café out, because really we want it to be a community space,” offered Davies. “Our vision and our hope is that tours aside, in the summer if people come up here to go to the lake or they have a Saturday free that they’ll pop in and have sort of a different experience. We have fun, different offerings, and this is somewhere people can bring friends. We want it to be a destination for people.”

What is it about chocolate? Head on over to Ritual Chocolate and discover for yourself how it’s a lot of things!
March 7, 2021
Taste The World At Global Grill

In a time when people are traveling less, the Heber Valley has a new little gem providing a huge variety of worldwide flavors. Global Grill is just that — a global food experience unmatched in the area. Their slogan “Come Taste the World” says it all.

The unique menu is listed by the type of food, but also by origin. Patrons can order a bowl from Japan, India, Indonesia, or Cuba. Pasta dishes are available from Italy, Argentina, Thailand, and Mexico. Burritos are listed from four different areas of Mexico: Cancun, Zacatecas, Michoacán, and Sonora. Burgers celebrate ingredients from Korea, America, Mexico, and Persia. And there is a variety of multicultural kids’ meals and desserts too. There are even daily specials to add a little more flavor, from Polynesia, Greece, and the Gulf Coast!

Owners, Rick and Elizabeth Moreno created the concept, and the menu, specifically for the Heber Valley. They looked at what was already available in the area, and they decided to create something entirely different. “I created the menu this way because I can see people two to three times a week,” explained Rick Moreno. “Today, you may want an authentic Mexican burrito, but tomorrow you may want Indian food.” The same idea applies to an office lunch setting. “They come in, and they can get a burger, and they can get pasta, and everyone’s happy,” said Moreno.

The Moreno’s are well-versed in the restaurant business. “I’m a chef,” said Rick. “My background is in restaurant executive management. My family has had restaurants since 1951 back in California.” Moreno also worked for large companies, such as Hilton Corporation, to gain even more experience. He also created restaurants, menus, and bars for casinos in Montana before moving here.

Elizabeth has been working in restaurants since 1999. She was a sous-chef at the former Mayan restaurant in Sandy. In fact, that’s where they met. Rick was creating recipes and consulting for the massive, cliff-diver restaurant.

“[The Mayan] could seat a thousand people, and had three levels of kitchens,” Rick recalled.

One night, Elizabeth was the kitchen supervisor over multiple cook lines. The restaurant was so big that they had eight cooks for each line, so 24 cooks total. The servers were complaining that the food service was getting slow. Finally, Elizabeth went to the cook line, moved all the cooks out, and started preparing the food by herself. Rick shared, “The servers were saying, ‘tell her to slow down. We can’t keep up with her!’”

“They needed their food right away, so that was my mission,” laughed Elizabeth. Originally from Sonora, Mexico, Elizabeth learned from Rick’s mother, who ran a restaurant in California, and shared her recipes with Elizabeth. She has also worked for Chevy’s and Café Rio.

The couple lived in Utah during the 2002 Olympics, and during that time, Rick created the restaurant Guru’s Cafe with two partners in Salt Lake. They eventually had four locations. His original recipes were used at the restaurants. The Food Network even did a show on Guru’s, where they showcased one of Rick’s recipes.

Recently, the Moreno Family was living in Montana until they unexpectedly relocated to the Heber Valley last year. They had planned to move to Texas, moved their RV there, and then went back to Montana to pack. The couple’s older daughter was already living in the Heber Valley, and they decided to stop for a visit on the drive back to Texas. While visiting here, the Moreno’s found their current restaurant location and decided to stay. They created the Global Grill, opened in December 2019, and then the COVID pandemic hit. While it has slowed down the business, Global Grill is going strong. The food is full of variety and flavor, and the portion sizes are huge. Rick explained, “I did [large portion sizes] purposely because I wanted to make sure that, everyone’s getting the value for their money. And most people take part of it home.”

He continued, “We also have family meals. People can call us every day and ask for an Indian family meal, burrito, or whatever. We have two sizes; small is for four to six people, and large will feed ten to twelve.”

“Just like our portions for our bowls,” Rick said, “We made sure that our family meals are huge.” Value for the money is a priority for the Morenos. “I hate to go somewhere and get a little disappointed with the food portions.”

It’s not only the portion sizes that keep bringing people back. The food is all made fresh, in-house. And many of the recipes can be modified for those with dietary concerns. 90% of the menu can be served gluten-free, and 50% can be made vegan. They will also have alcohol available soon.

The food variety found at the Global Grill is unmatched. “Besides our core menu, we feature other countries as specials,” Rick explained. “We do Russia one day, and we do stroganoff, and then we do Swedish meatballs. On Saturdays, we do Polynesian. Every Tuesday is Taco Salad, and Thursdays is the Greek Gyro Platter…Fridays is the Captain’s Platter.” said Rick.

In addition to the meals, the Global Grill has two core desserts; tiramisu and tres leches cake. However, they also have other desserts available, such as chocolate tres leches, cheesecake, carrot cake, and tropical bread pudding. “The main ones are always tres leches and tiramisu, but I change sometimes,” explains Elizabeth. One day, Rick suggested that Elizabeth offer to make whole cakes, and “now she makes so many of those cakes!” said Rick. “It’s like a bakery too!”

The Global Grill also does catering, but not just this menu. “Because of my background in large casinos, I can do anything. Literally, we can do carving stations or whatever. We can do any country and anything that they want,” Rick explained. “I’ve catered from 15 people to 1000 people.”

The Global Grill fills a niche that the Heber Valley has been missing. And the Morenos are confident that the concept would be a success in other places too. They are preparing to create additional locations for the unique restaurant. Rick shared, “Right now, we’re ready to license them. If someone wanted to do one in Park City, or somewhere else, they could.”

“We’re still trying to do that uphill climb because of COVID, but we see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Rick. “We are very thankful for the support they’ve given us here in Heber. Everyone’s responded really well to the food, and the locals here have been good to us. They keep coming in and supporting us, and we want to say thank you. We appreciate that. Especially being the new guys.”
November 20, 2020
Holiday Traditions

The crisp fall air brushes against our mountains, painting them with vivid oranges, yellows, and reds. Cornstalks rustle, and the nutty smell of squash, burning ditches, and cinnamon awaken our senses. Autumn arrives, ushering in anticipation for the Holidays — and the foods that come with them.

Food sustains life and nourishes our bodies, but food also sustains cultures and nourishes our identities. Food is generally at the center of all we do. Foods are symbolic in our religious rituals and associated with specific celebrations. Our food preparation can be sacred, an exact science, a lesson in chemistry, or just some good ole’ fashioned fun — with a pinch here and a dash there! Creating delicious dishes binds friends and families together — or, if you’re on a cooking show, it can turn into a hellish-battle!

Conversations, stories, history, and heritage are shared — traditions are passed down, and new ones are created — all while we gather around food.

As we prepare to enter the Holiday chaos, it might be fun to learn a bit about the foods used in celebrations around the world. We invite you to sit back, relax, read for a moment — or two — then take a deep breath, exhale, and prepare to dive into whatever your Winter season looks like (don’t forget to pack a snack).

While some people carve pumpkins for their October 31 celebrations, residents of Oaxaca, Mexico, are preparing to celebrate Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes). This tradition takes place on December 23 and has been practiced for over a century. Large radishes (upwards of six pounds) are grown and harvested specifically for the event. The radish artists can spend days creating and carving their masterpieces, many of which display nativity scenes, animals, or Mayan imagery. The best radish carver can receive a cash prize worth thousands of pesos (hundreds of USD).(https://www.wvpublic.org/news/2018-12-20/holiday-food-traditions-are-as-much-about-connection-as-eatin)

The week-long celebration of Kwanzaa (December 26-January 1) is full of dancing, singing, gift exchanging, and culminates in a large feast. Catfish, collards, macaroni and cheese, jerk chicken, gumbo, and accras (Caribbean fritters), have become traditional foods used during the festivities. (https://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/Kwanzaa_What_16661.html)

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Southern Italian tradition celebrated on December 24. Whether you’re celebrating in North America or Italy, you won’t find seven specific types of fish being served. Think of it more as a seafood celebration. Typical fish used include: baccala (salt cod), frutti di mare (shellfish), capitone (eel), calamari (squid), scungilli (conch meat) and vongole (clams). Fried vegetables are also a popular accompaniment to the fish. Traditionally, the feast takes place in the morning’s early hours, after midnight mass. “Then it’s time for dessert, which may include biscotti, panforte, pandoro, and panettone.” (https://www.italiarail.com/food/feast-of-the-seven-fishes)

Worldwide, it is Jewish tradition to eat matzah on Passover, and apples dipped in honey on Rosh Hashanah. During Chanukah (Hanukkah), eating traditional oily foods such as latkes (fried potato pancakes) topped with applesauce or sour cream, and sufganiyot (deep-fried doughnuts) or other kinds of fritters, is in homage to the miracle of the oil that burned for eight nights instead of one. (https://www.chabad.org/holidays)

Midnight snacking takes on a whole new meaning if you are celebrating New Year’s Eve in Spain. Apparently, eating one dozen grapes at midnight isn’t just a tradition — it’s a serious superstition. On Noche Vieja (Old Night), it is customary to stay at home until the clock strikes twelve. Families and friends gather around their bowl of lucky grapes (uvas de suerte) and wait to hear the chimes ringing from the Real Casa de Correos in Madrid (broadcasted via television across the country). The bells toll twelve times — one for each month. With each chime, you ‘pop’ a grape into your mouth — and probably try not to choke — or laugh. If you eat them all, you will have good luck in the new year. (https://www.donquijote.org/spanish-culture/holidays/nochevieja/)

This next dish sounds delish! Lechón (Spanish for roasted suckling pig) is one of the most popular dishes in the Philippines and many Latin American countries. The pig is usually stuffed with lemongrass, tamarind, garlic, onions, and chives; it is roasted on a large bamboo spit over an open fire. Lechón is traditionally served whole on a platter at celebrations like weddings and Christmas. It is often served with a thick, rich liver sauce cooked with sugar, fresh herbs, and vinegar. (https://www.tasteatlas.com/lechon) I don’t know about you, but all this talk of food is making me hungry!

If you need to stop reading and make a food run — go for it — I get it! There are a few more unique victuals to share, but then I think we should go to work on creating our own traditional cuisine and get some food in our bellies!

Onward — we go!

In many European countries, you will see processions of girls dressed in a white dress with a red sash, wearing a wreath with candles upon their heads, singing, and carrying Saffron Buns in celebration of St. Lucia on December 13. In Greece, many fast before the holidays, and when Christmas arrives — they go all out — after they break their fast. One of the more popular traditional foods served is Melomakarona, a sweet, honey-soaked cookie topped with ground walnuts. Of course, there’s always the traditional Plum or Figgy Pudding from the UK, Danish Kransekake or Almond Wreath Cake, and all the marzipan, chocolate, red cabbage, and roasted goose from Germany. In Australia, Christmas and New Years are smack dab in the middle of Summer! They celebrate by throwing whatever they feel like on the barbie (grill for the rest of us mates) and enjoying seafood, cold cuts, alcohol, pavlova, and trifle, just to name a few, along with a challenging game of cricket. Here’s an interesting tidbit. According to BBC, for 40 plus years, many Japanese families have gathered around a KFC ‘Party Barell’ for some finger-licking-good chicken as part of their Christmas celebrations — bet you didn’t see that one coming.

Food is an extension of who we are. Regardless of culture or religion, food is an integral part of life celebrations across this beautiful globe we call home. Food unites. Where ever you are in the world, and whatever you celebrate or don’t celebrate, whether you’re honoring a generations-old tradition or creating new ones; this winter season, we invite you to come, gather — eat and enjoy!

Gather your kids, friends, and family to discover different cultures and the food they eat. Try out a few new recipes, and prepare them together. Participate in a festivity you’ve never celebrated before. Eat new foods. Share and create a new tradition!
November 20, 2020

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