Month: June 2018

Everything Bagels

Not to turn this into a baking blog, but here’s another recipe we tried and loved.

I’m typically a sweet > savory person when it comes to breakfast foods, but Matt may have changed my mind when it comes to lox bagels. We like having bagel sandwiches for breakfast or lunch, and since we don’t have many food options close by in SLC we decided to make our own.

Yeasted dough is a bit of a time commitment because it needs to rise twice, but it could be made the night before and allowed to do the second rise in the fridge; just make sure to let it come to room temperature before baking for an even bake.  You could easily make this recipe sweet with the addition of blueberries or cinnamon and raisin, or even just make them plain. We actually made a few with jalapeño and cheddar, which were fantastic with a little cream cheese, egg, and bacon. The possibilities for combinations are endless!

For the everything bagel seasoning, you can make your own, but we use Everything But the Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s. It’s convenient and has all the goodies pre-mixed. We loaded these bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and red onions. Yum!

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Bagels

Makes 5 medium-sized bagels

Mix water, sugar, and yeast together in a small bowl or measuring cup and allow to sit for ~10 minutes until yeast has bloomed and is bubbly.

In a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer combine 1 C of flour and salt. Mix in activated yeast mixture and work with hands or bread attachment until a sticky dough has formed. Continue to add in remaining flour until dough is stiff. Knead with hands on a lightly floured surface or in mixer with bread attachment for 8-10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large bowl and place dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Punch down dough and divide into 5 even portions. To form the dough, either roll dough into a ball, poke a hole in the middle with your finger, and stretch until it is about 1-2 in diameter, or roll into a rope and pinch the ends together. Let rise for 20-30 minutes.

While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350°F and fill a large pot with water and boil on the stove. When dough has risen, drop into boiling water and boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side (1-2 minutes total per bagel). Pat dry with a paper towel and place on baking sheet.

Beat egg in a small bowl and brush over the top of the boiled bagels. Sprinkle liberally with seasoning mix. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

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Utah Progress Report: Month 1

We’ve been in Utah for a month now! Since neither of us had been to Utah before, we didn’t know what to expect and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much we’re enjoying it here.

The thing we love the most is the outdoors and how accessible the mountains are. Our biggest gripe with Denver was that we had to drive a good 30-45 minutes to get to any trails in the foothills, but here they’re basically our “backyard.” We can’t help but be awestruck when we’re walking down the street and see the snow-capped peaks looming in the distance. And we’re only 2 miles away from the closest trail! Another thing that we can’t get over is how many rose bushes there are. We thought Portland had a lot, but SLC is giving them a run for their money. It seems like every yard is littered with giant bushes in a myriad of colors from yellow to red to coral and lavender. The city sure is beautiful in the spring.

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The weather has been nothing short of amazing. Sure, there have been some cool, rainy days, but for the most part we’ve had sunny skies and warm temperatures. It’s been great for getting out on hikes or just lounging around the pool after work. When the storm clouds do roll in, the skies get all moody and some really neat cloud formations hang over the mountain tops.

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Storm clouds over the foothills
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Afternoon work from the pool

We spend a lot of time just walking around and getting to know the neighborhood. A typical evening for us usually involves walking up to the Capitol and letting Snickers play in the grass or just checking out all of the interesting houses in the Marmalade District. We found out that many of the homes were built before the housing laws were enacted, so there are vastly different styles (we’re talking log cabin, Victorian, 50s style ranch) nestled next to each other. It’s been fun learning some of the history of the area.

Our apartment is just north of downtown right at the base of Capitol Hill. The views of the city from the rooftop are pretty spectacular. We chose this particular building because it has great amenities – we have a state of the art gym and a fantastic rooftop pool – but the drawback is there aren’t many food options around. We’re about a mile from the nearest coffee shop and restaurant, so grabbing a quick lunch or latte while we’re working isn’t much of an option. On the plus side we’re cooking a lot more at home than we have in a while!

Speaking of restaurants, we’ve hit up our fair share in the time we’ve been here. We’ve found a plethora of Mexican food and some really delicious Asian fare. Some places we’ve tried and liked:

  • Mexican food: Red Iguana 2
  • Asian: All Chay (Vietnamese), Hong Kong Tea House (Chinese and Dim Sum), Laan Na Thai, Korea House
  • Lunch fare: Spitz (Mediterranean style)
  • Sweets: Banbury Cross Donuts, Normal (soft serve ice cream), Fresh Donut and Deli
  • Pizza: The Pie (greasy and loaded – perfect after a hike)
  • Dinner fare: Pallet (good cocktails and charcuterie board)

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While there are some crazy liquor laws in this state (have you ever heard of brandy in a margarita??) there’s no shortage of breweries serving up tasty brews. The downside is that they can only serve 4% beer in the breweries, but the plus side is they’re pretty cheap. All of the breweries do make high gravity beers, you just have to buy them in bottles or cans and take them home – can’t drink them in house. Epic is the exception to this rule because of a loophole they use: it’s a “tapless” tap house (i.e. they pour from the bottles). They only have 6 seats, you have to be seated to taste, and also have to order food, but it’s a really cool space and concept.

  • Kiito’s: nestled in an old, industrial area of town it’s serving up tasty sours and ales. The row of pinball machines and a pizza food truck outside made it so we could’ve stayed for hours.
  • Fisher: great outdoor patio, and very dog-friendly. Decent beers on tap.
  • Mountain West: this is actually a cider house! We’re not the biggest cider fans, but they have some crisp brews that are nice on a hot summer day. They also have a large patio and serve beer from Red Rock if you’re not into cider.
  • Red Rock: not a tasting room, but right down the street and good place to get bottles to go.
  • Proper: huge area with a tasting room and restaurant. We just picked up a couple of bottles here, but would love to go back and stay a while.
  • Epic: It’s a very small tasting room, but worth it if you can snag a seat. The tasters are super cheap – ranging from 50 cents to $1 for a 2oz pour. We tried just about everything on the menu and it was all superb.

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All-in-all we’re thoroughly enjoying ourselves here and can’t wait to see what we get into the next few months!

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Utah is Snickers approved

May 2018 Hikes

Bonneville Shoreline Trail

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) is part of a system that runs along the Wasatch foothills along the shoreline of ancient Bonneville Lake. Right now there are roughly 100 miles of completed trail, but the hope is to have a trail that stretches from the Idaho border to Nephi, UT – closet to 280 miles of trail! Luckily for us, it runs right through downtown Salt Lake City, and is a mere 2-3 miles from our apartment. We love doing small portions for an easy, accessible weekday run. The trail is on the easy side of moderate and doesn’t gain much elevation, so it’s been a great way to get in some trail time without killing ourselves. We like to start either at City Creek near the Capitol or at the Terrace Hills Trailhead.

Emigration Canyon Miner’s Trail

We hiked the 6 mile Miner’s Trail in Emigration Canyon our first weekend in Utah. The road into the canyon is packed with bikers going up and coming down – it made us a little sad we didn’t bring our bikes along. There isn’t much parking at the trailhead, so best to get there early, but it also makes for a relatively undisturbed hike. The first portion of the trail was rocky and exposed with a slight grade. The wildflowers were in full bloom which made for a gorgeous backdrop across the canyon. There is a small creek about halfway up, and most people stop there. We continued on along the backside of the hill towards Red Butte Canyon. The trail climbed quickly, was muddy, and still covered in snow in places which made for a slippery climb. The effort was worth it for the views at the top across the Salt Lake Valley.

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Holbrook Canyon

Holbrook Canyon trail is a 5 mile trail near Bountiful, UT, just north of Salt Lake City. The trail runs along a creek and there are numerous creek crossings. It gains a bit of elevation, but it’s gradual and doesn’t feel too taxing. Some of the crossings have bridges, but once you get about a mile in, there are just logs and rocks. If the water is high, be prepared to get your feet wet. We went after a rain and had soggy shoes by the end. The trail is nicely shaded and lightly trafficked. While you don’t get much for views in the canyon that you do on some of the other trails, its secluded nature made it one of the most enjoyable hikes we’ve been on in a while.

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Grandeur Peak – West Side

Grandeur Peak West Side trail is a 5 mile out and back trail located 13 miles south of downtown Salt Lake City. There are two trails leading to the peak – the east side is more accessible with less elevation and a moderate climb while the west side is rated difficult and climbs over 3,000 ft. in 2.5 miles. The trail starts steep and climbs steadily all the way to the top. We took it slow and steady, but it’s a leg burner for sure. The views were spectacular all along the trail; you get amazing views of the Valley on the way up and even better ones of Parley’s Canyon to the north and east once you reach the summit. It’s best to do this route on a cool or overcast day as there’s little shade, though the summit – at 8,200 ft. – can be quite cool. The hike down is equally difficult and killed our quads; definitely a great way to get in a workout.

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Rob’s Trail

We combined Rob’s Trail to Mid Mountain Trail to Ridge Connector for a hike/run just shy of 9 miles. The trail is in Park City, UT and is used for both hiking and mountain biking. The trail is an out-and-back and gains about 1,800 feet over the course of 4.5 miles. It starts at around 7,100 ft. elevation and climbs to just shy of 9,000 – while SLC is at about 4,500 ft. we still found ourselves gasping for air on more than one occasion. It’s a gradual climb with plenty of switchbacks and is well shaded. There are quite a few intersections with other trails, but all are very well marked with signs and maps. It’s a beautiful location, and a great spot to do as much or little trail as you desire. Park City is a ski town, so you can see plenty of runs down the mountain and the trail crosses them a few times. There was still a bit of snow in the upper, shaded portions of the trail, which Snickers loved and seemed to gain energy from :). We turned around when we got to the ridge line, but there were trails in either direction leading up to double black diamond ski slopes. We did a combo hike/jog – mostly hiking on the uphills and running on the way down.

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