Good Eats- Vinto + The Way

Last night was a pretty mellow night. Nick gets off work late (around nine) and if he bikes to work it takes him about 40 minutes to get home. I wasn't in the mood to cook anything so we ordered pizza from Vinto. If you live in Salt Lake and have ever been to Trio, Vinto is by the same people.

I ordered my favorite - Tuttabella (housemade sausage, caramelized onion, fresh tomato, garlic, roasted pepper, fior di latte mozzarella) and I ordered Sopresseta for Nick (creminelli finocchiona salami, fontina, oregano, forest mushroom).

YUMMM!

Jack was laying on the couch like a little weirdo... man do I love that dog!

We watched The Way while we ate thanks to good ol' Redbox. I kept meaning to go see it while it was in theatres but it never happened.  It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen but I still really enjoyed it. It's about a father who learns that his son died in a storm while trekking the Camino De Santiago. He goes to France to bring his son's body home and decides to honor his son by walking the trail himself. He meets some quirky characters along the way and has some self discoveries. It has some great imagery of Spain and France. I definitely recommend you give it a watch.

Snazzy Tunes - The Drums

Note: This post probably spurns from the fact that I am still bitter about their show at Urban Lounge getting cancelled a couple weeks ago. I was pretty much devistated. Too sick to perform?? Pshhh...

I heard The Drums a while back and have adored them ever since. They have such an old sound which I love. Think Beach Boys gone indie + a little smidge of The Smiths.

They've gone through some major changes over the past couple years with the lead singer leaving the band. They have a few albums, the most recent of which is Portamento. I highly recommend giving it a listen.

The Drums - "Money"

For you fellow Utahns... You might recognize their "Lets Go Surfing" song from the lagoon commercial last year. I never knew Lagoon was so hip..

Good Eats - Eva SLC

Last night I went to one of my favorite downtown restaurants called Eva (www.evaslc.com). Its right on Main St. so it's very easy to get to.

Me and my boyfriend, Nick, rode our bikes and met my roomie Amanda of Stairs to the Attic (read it, she cracks me up) and our friend Peter there.

Eva is a small plate restaurant which means that you can try a lot of different things for not too much money. They have happy hour on Monday nights at 10 so you get get a small (girl sized) pizza for around $6.

Amanda and I decided to share and between the two of us we ordered the cheese plate ( I could live off of cheese alone), Sauteed Brussel Spouts with Toasted Hazel Nuts and Cider Vinegar, Parmesan, Garlic, and Rosemary Fries, Kobi Steak, Pear and Walnut Arugula Salad, and Frozen Banana Cake. YUM!!!!!

Nick got the white pizza (chicken, artichokes, bechamel, parmesan, mozzarella), and Peter got Calimari with Sherry Cayenne Aioli and Sea Salt.

Wasatch is one of our local Breweries and they make tasty beers! I really liked this one.. very light and summery. I'm not much for the heavy or dark beers.

The lovely Amanda.

Eva is has the most adorable patio ever! It has exposed brick walls, twinkle lights, hanging planters on the wall... I wish I got better photos. Just take my word for it, it's adorable. If you are planning a romantic date, definitely eat out on the patio.

With full bellies we took our sweet time getting home. It was the perfect night for a bike ride.

Don't mind Nick's bum crack bike light...

This is the Walker Center... It gives the weather forcast depending on the colors of the lights.

Pinned - Kooba Bag

I have been oogling over this bag for days now trying to justify buying it... it would go with everything, it would be the perfect purse for traveling, I've been looking for a purse like this for ages.....  Keep trying brain and maybe we'll revisit this when I get my next bonus.

Kooba 'Jane' Crossbody Satchel

@ Nordstroms

 

Snazzy Tunes - Desire

Ever since I saw the movie "Drive" starring I've been listening to this song non-stop. It's in the credits.. can't remember if it's the opening or closing credits.

It's got a great beat and is kinda creepy. Two major pluses in my book.

Desire: Under your Spell

 

Naughty Treats - Salted Caramel Pie

I think I might be harboring a bit of a "salted" obsession. Maybe my body needs the salt? I dunno... but lately it's all I want. (I just thought of the name of my blog.. It started out as a reference to Salt Lake City, but maybe it was just my body talking)

Thinking about making this Salted Caramel Pie via: Pip and Ebby for Mother's day dinner on sunday. Doesn't it look tasty? I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

The Twilight Concert Series Lineup Announced

I have anxiously been awaiting this all morning.. the Twilight Concert Series lineup was just announced. Woohoo!

For those of you not in Salt Lake.. this is a series of  concerts that the Salt Lake City Arts Council puts on each summer in downtown Salt Lake. In past years the event has been free, but this year they have decided to start charging a nominal fee. I personally am okay with paying a few bucks for these shows... it will help weed out the idiots and transients.

This years line up:

July 5th - Beach House / The Walkmen
July 12th - Raphael Saadiq / JJ Grey & Mofro
July 19th - NAS/ Tinie Tempah
July 26th - Band of Horses / Lower Dens
August 2nd - My Morning Jacket / TJoshua James
August 9th - Passion Pit / Austra
August 16th - Iron & Wine / Kathleen Edwards
August 23rd - M. Ward / DeVotchKa
August 30th - Common / Aloe Blacc

Twilight Concert Series Website

Woohoo!!!!! Me and my roomie, Amanda, totally called Beach House and M.Ward coming... we are the best twilight detectives ever!

This will for sure be a good time.

Beach House - Zebra

Naughty Treats - Salted Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Let me just preface the start of this blog by saying I don't plan on setting any unrealistic goals for myself to blog daily, weekly, or even monthly. Only as my heart desires...

Now.. on to the good stuff.

This past weekend was my darling nephew's baby blessing. Isn't he handsome?

My sister was brave enough to have over 100 people come to her house for a luncheon after the blessing.

As always, In my daily procrastination I was hurriedly looking for a dessert recipe the morning of the blessing. I ended up with an hour and a half time slot to make something so I decided cookies would be a good route to go.

I must say... these cookies were delightful! Hide them from yourself or you might eat them all.

Sorry no pics... I'm new to this blogging thing okay?

Toasted Coconut Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Nutella Cookies

(everything that is bad and good all in one place cookies)

(adapted from http://www.shebakeshere.com/2012/04/salted-chocolate-nutella-cookies.html)


1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup butter flavored shortening (while I don't like to use shortening these cookies need it to help fluff them up a bit)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup Nutella

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup extra dark chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli extra dark)

Pinches of flaky sea salt

Shredded Coconut

Caramel Sauce

Oven temp 350*F - Have you ever looked into how much energy is wasted each year from "preheating" your oven? I typically turn on the oven to start heating when I'm nearing the end of each baking escapade. I don't know about you but my oven heats in about 5 minutes and I would be champion baker of the world if I could actually assemble whatever it is I'm baking in that time frame.

Using a hand mixer, beat together butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg, vanilla and Nutella and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat the flour mixture into the batter.

Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon (don't get lazy and use your hand mixer. It will break the chips and ruin the consistency of the cookies!)

Drop mounds of dough in tablespoon-sized scoops on a greased baking sheet. Cookies will spread during baking, so try to space them out a bit. I did 3 x 4 rows on a standard sized cookie sheet.  Then add a good pinch of shredded coconut to the tops of the cookies before popping them in the oven.

Bake for 7-8 minutes and remove from the oven when your cookies are flat and slightly cracked on the surface. Immediately sprinkle lightly with sea salt and drizzled with caramel sauce. Let sit on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring to a wired rack to cool completely.

Makes around 24 cookies.