This post should be titled: "oh crap! I started eating and forgot to take a picture of the food!"

Heard about this place on Urbanspoon.com

It's well worth the trip. Seriously. Order 'the western' - it's one of their specialties. caramel, pecans, homemade custard, oh my!

What's a vegetarian in Vegas to do? climb. eat. repeat.

if you find yourself in the city that never sleeps soon...go to these restaurants. we tried them out for you. well worth the trip!!!


Ronalds Donuts

 quite an unassuming front, eh? 

 filled with apple filling...like a cannoli!

now I'm not really a donut lover, but this thing was amazing. apple fritter!!!

 orange glazed...

for those of us that want to feeeeeel like we aren't eating a lot, just order a bakers dozen of these....if they are small, the calories don't count, eh?

Fudge puddles

The recipe is not mine...it comes from one of my favorite blogs. You can find the recipe here. 

A note: 
I use mini muffin tins to make these in. It helps to preserve the shape of the cookie. Also, if you don't want to make the fudge for the puddle...you can just plop a square of dark chocolate or hersheys kiss in the middle. Yum. 

Where to buy flour in Logan, UT?

We get our flour for baking bread etc. at the Central Milling Company. It's in Logan, UT! Check out all their products here.

Also, if you are interested in baking, my favorite book at the moment is:

ask Santa for it. you won't be disappointed...

Chocolate Wonders

Adapted from Sally Schneider's book: The Improvisational Cook


6 oz semisweet chocolate and 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped (sub 3 T cocoa powder plus 1 T oil for each oz of unsweetened choc if you don't have any on hand)
3/4 stick unsalted butter 
1/3 c. all-purpose flour (if you live at high elevations like I do, add 2 T extra flour) 
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1/4 tsp. kosher salt 
2 large eggs, at room temperature 
2 tsp. instant espresso powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract 
3/4 c. sugar 
This is the fun part: 

3 c (total) chunky ingredients in any combo you like, my favs are:

1 c chopped snickers

1 c toasted walnuts

1 c butterscotch chips

1 c dried cranberries

1 c toasted pecans

1 c white chocolate chips

(seriously, the possibilities are ENDless)

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In double broiler melt: chocolate and butter. cool.

Cream: butter, espresso powder, sugar, vanilla and eggs until thick.

When chocolate mixture is cooled a bit, stir into creamed butter mixture. Sift dry ingredients in at this point. Gently stir in 3 c of chunky ingredients. 

325 deg. Line cookie sheet with foil, shiny side up. Spray with non-stick. Cook 15 ish minutes. enjoy....

Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup

Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup      Adapted from this site

Approx. 80 oz of whole or chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 large onion, chopped
2 c red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp sweet paprika
2-3 T smashed garlic
1 t cumin
1/2 c bread crumbs
sour cream


Cook onion and oil in wide, heavy pot with 1/2 t salt. Saute until soft, approx. 15 minutes. Add drained tomatoes, (reserve liquid), another 1/2 tsp salt and paprika. Saute until tomatoes are cooked through, add garlic and cumin, cook for a couple minutes, then add reserved tomato juice. This will be thick and you might need to add some water or veggie stock. I added water and it came out great. 
Stir in bread crumbs and using a hand blender, blend in the pot, or blend it carefully, in batches in a counter-top blender. Top with a dollop of sour cream. This really makes all the difference!