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Doesn't coffee make everything just that little bit much better? This cake is some miraculous combination of coffee, chocolate, almond, and other cakey goodness which I hope to re-create one of these days; my sister actually bought it from a bakery, so sadly I don't have the recipe. But it's important to have goals. And the chocolate covered coffee bean on top - it beats the icing on the cake!
Feast your eyes on this. I don't often crave specific foods, but the mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich is a complete exception. So much so that I spent an outrageous $2.99 on a bouquet of basil from Whole Foods. Does that drive anybody else nuts... that you have to spend three dollars when you really only want five little leaves? And no matter how many ways you try and squeeze basil into every dish for the next two days, you still end up with a handful of withered herbs? But I just can't bring myself to gripe because it was so very delicious.
My friend Jessica tells me there's a church in nearly every neighborhood here. It's unbelievable how quickly neighborhoods are springing up too. I remember this from my last visit to Utah a few years ago where we drove into Park City for a hot air balloon wedding, of all things! I remember seeing all the housing developments under construction while driving in and out of the mountains then too. When we dropped into a local supermarket the cashier asked us if we were visiting or if we were new residents... I thought it was an unusual question, but I guess they get that a lot!
Salt Lake City has beautiful night skies too. Any ponies! Believe it or not, my friend has somehow achieved that childhood dream and has one of these in her (sort of) backyard! She named it Willow after the resilient title character of that unforgettable Val Kilmer movie back in the '80s. We can't all have Val Kilmer (or, rather, the Val Kilmer of the Iceman decade), but some of us can still ride off into the sunset...
The ground is always powder beneath you and oftentimes you can ski in the sunshine while still coasting on inches of snow. This is ski heaven... or so they say. I haven't attempted a slope since I steamrolled three perpendicular sets of skis on an accidental icy black diamond in Okemo, Vermont years back. Fast but deadly, I prefer to stay in more controlled environments, like the lodge. And that was my vantage point for this shot of the ski equipment parked outside a chair lift on Snow Basin mountain just north of Salt Lake City. Thank goodness for the telephoto lens.
Ten toes in the air! One of the highlights of being here in Utah is getting the opportunity to meet my namesake for the first time. Little Pippa, or, "the pill," as she is affectionately called is the smiliest person I think I've ever met. The latest daughter of my college friend Jessica, she's ten times less cranky than me in the morning, but sports the same 'fro I had as a kid. The name's a bit of a liability - so susceptible to any nickname that begins with an "f" or a "phuh" as Jessica puts it - but I have a feeling she'll pull through just fine.
So there we were, two Bostonians sky high in Utah - I've never seen so many white mountains in my life. Growing up in New England, you don't realize that mountains like this really exist. It is so strange to be in a city driven by compass points instead of rights and lefts, where every side of every highway is flanked with steep cliffs and you can re-orient yourself at every red light. After 80 inches of recent snow, the white is so bright it burns your eyes a little and you wish you had sunglasses in February. I'd think I were on a polar ice cap if there weren't so many bars.
Some of you may remember my past experiments with the enormous cookie. It was time to break out the frosting yesterday - this time for re-constructing some of Tom Brady's celebrated assets. Truthfully, against all odds, and though you will find it hard to believe given the image in this post, I am not Brady obsessed like many of the local ladies out here in Boston. But it was too tempting to resist a play on those amazingly tight pants, so I built this cookie as a joke to bring to a Superbowl party. Little did I know the party would be half-full of Giants fans! And I think it actually turned bittersweet toward the end of the fourth quarter. It was a sorry, downhearted lot walking through town this morning, but I blame the hype. And I think Brady has a few backup career paths... should he need to avail himself. Happy Valentine's Day, Ladies.
My sister works wonders with peanut butter. We've started a gym kick together over the last month - I know, how predictable after the holiday gluttony - and, well, it just seems to make us hungrier. So we've started cooking for each other occasionally, and here's something she created for us one night. It's a dish of alternating toasted pita bread, grilled eggplant, garbanzo beans, and a mixed peanut butter and yogurt sauce. Throw in a handful of celery, and it's actually a pretty healthy meal!