Once or twice a year, I lead a tour of of 8-10 people through Salt Lake City’s ethnic food markets. We visit stores that are down the street, but feel worlds away in familiarity, comfort, and experience.
Category: Just For Fun
Food, What a Pleasure + A Meditation
I love food. I also love fabric, flower gardens, sunsets and brilliant paintings – mostly abstract and ethnic. There’s just something about the colors, textures, and boldness that draw me in. And when scents and flavors are part of the equation, I’m just sensorily overcome. Sometimes I cook merely to eat. Other times, it’s about…
10 Lessons on Life from a Trail Running Event
If you haven’t been reading my blog for long, you may or may not know that I love to run. I’m no speedy Gonzalez or ultra-runner. Far from them. Instead, I run for the love of nature, the sheer physicality of it, and because it clears my mind of clutter and opens me up to…
Easy Meals for a Solo Retreat
Packing it away is what I’ve been doing well of late…eating more than I should of things I shouldn’t. So, when I took off recently, I decided to only pack good eats. The Grocery List For four days of solo meals, here’s what I packed: 1 pound of ground bison A package of king trumpet…
Fueling your Run and Recovery Without the Grains + How to Make Plantain Chips
Though I’ve been out of a routine the last couple of months, I usually run pretty regularly. In fact, I am planning to run in a half marathon this Saturday in a place called Monte Cristo. The last time I was there, I ran into a moose and her baby. While the thought of seeing…
A Mexican Wedding Feast and 5 Tips for Feeding Groups
Last weekend, I hosted a wedding. The bride, of Mexican heritage, wanted food reminiscent of her childhood. The groom, a meat and potatoes kind of man, has milder tastes in food. As I was in charge of the kitchen, I opted for a happy medium that was gluten and dairy-free, without being obviously so, and…
Enjoying the Fruits (and Vegetables) of Summer
I love this time of year. It brings back childhood memories of running through late-summer orchards, eating ripe peaches from the tree and not caring that the fuzz tickled and that juice was running down my face and neck. My home town was the epicenter of fruit-growing in Utah. The road, two blocks from my…
The Joys (and how-to’s) of Shopping at Ethnic Food Markets
The first time I walked into an Indian grocery store, I couldn’t tell coriander from my elbow. It took years of reading, being introduced to ethnic restaurants, and cooking experiments to build up familiarity and confidence with coriander and the multitude of other spices and flavors this world has to offer. Today, I not only shop…
Exploring China’s Street Food Vendors and Local Markets
Visiting a foreign country, to me, is an opportunity to explore much more than what my eyes can see. It means listening to the sounds in the streets – the voices and unique rhythms of a place, enjoying local music, meeting people and sharing stories and perspectives, and tasting new-to-me foods. That’s why I love markets…
China – A Feast for the Senses, But Especially Our Taste Buds
A year ago, my husband and I were invited to join some of our favorite traveling companions on a journey to Tibet. We planned, did some research, and prepared ourselves for a trip that would include both spiritual (Buddhist monasteries and culture) and adventurous (Mount Everest basecamp) experiences. Two weeks before we were scheduled to…
So Sweet It Is – Tasting Honey from Around the World
I’ve been on a honey kick this year. Not the kind of kick that causes me to eat honey all of the time (I don’t and can’t without heart palpitations and a serious sugar high), but the kind of kick that gets me thinking about honey, seeking out different varieties, and doing a little research….
Coconuts and the Blades (AKA Coconut Knives) that Cut Them
Last summer while wandering through an Asian grocery store, I stopped in the kitchen tools section. I ended up buying some things that, today, I don’t think I could do without – a fine-gauge strainer, a stainless steel wok spatula, and a mesh drain catch-all. There were also some tools at the market that I…
Running with the Buffalo + Healthy Creativity
Have I told you that I love to run? Have I also mentioned that despite this love, and how great running makes me feel, I struggle to make time for it – especially in the dark, cold of winter? This conflict I have between wanting to run and making it a priority in my day,…
Car Camping and the Next Day Frittata
My husband and I love camping, and eating well while camping. Back in the pre-GFDF days, this meant we ate a lot of home-made garlic, cheese bread cooked in the coals at dinner, bagel sandwiches and granola bars for long hikes, and pancakes and eggs for breakfast. These days, the food may be even better….
getting through crossfit with support from the voices in my head
Using both hands, I raise a kettlebell from the floor, bring it back through my legs, and then, with elbows locked, swing it in front of me to shoulder level, snapping my hips forward as I do. I hear my sternum pop with the effort. With a broken tail bone and coming off of a…
Cocoa Iron Chef Night: Chicken Mole Poblano
Last week presented a new Iron Chef Night (ICN) challenge, and a good reason to finally make mole (pron: mo-lay), something I’ve shied away from for years because of a childhood memory. I don’t actually know if I ate mole that didn’t taste good or if the combination of flavors just sounded horrible to my…
Viva [Venezuelan] Vegan! Terry Hope Romero’s New Cookbook
Terry Hope Romero recently released her latest cookbook: Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers. Thumbing through the index, I realized she must be Venezuelan. Sure, she includes recipes from all across Latin America, but I was immediately biased when I saw the words arepas, mechada, caraotas, and cachapas. Mmmm, cachapas…
Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon in the Swell
I love camping in the San Rafael Swell, so when I saw that a 1/2 marathon would be taking place there, I convinced some friends to run it with me. This event – called the Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon – was awesome. We camped in the San Rafael Swell near the race finish line,…
Simple GF Miso Soup for Camping and Backpacking
I was craving a steaming bowl of brothy soup today, but did not have the patience to make something from scratch. Instead, I grabbed a box of Whole Foods’ 365 brand miso soup out of the cupboard, some pre-sliced baby portobello mushrooms, leftover pork loin, a bundle of bean vermicelli, and then topped it with…