MoaBlog

On New Year's Day, Jeff bought a 12-pack of a different type of Pepsi Cola. The drink is called "Pepsi Throwback," and is sweetened with real sugar rather than corn syrup. The can uses a retro design that was used in the 1970s and 1980s, hence the reference to "throwback," or going back in time. This is the second time in the past year that the limited edition Pepsi style has been sold nationwide.

The top photo shows London standing next to the newly cooked turkey on Thanksgiving Day afternoon. The 18-lb. bird took over six hours to cook in the roasting oven. The bottom photo shows Penny holding the turkey's wishbone.

Here are a few pictures of Thanksgiving dinner at Jeff and Penny's house last Thursday. Top photo shows River and Indy setting the table. Bottom: one-year-old Geneva digs in.

Preston's recent picnic lunch consisted of several types of food that are typically served at American family get-togethers. On his plate are potato chips, watermelon, celery, potato salad, and a sandwich on wheat bread containing sliced meat (turkey and ham), a slice of tomato, processed cheese, pickles, and mayonnaise.

While in Salt Lake last weekend, Jeff had lunch with his parents and brother Dave at a place called Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The small but popular chain serves old fashioned hamburgers and french fries, along with all-you-can eat shelled peanuts. Dave's peanut can be seen flying out of its shell in the top photo.

Penny has been bottling fresh garden tomatoes in her kitchen for the past couple weeks. She did more than 100 quart-sized bottles, or nearly 200 lbs. of tomatoes. In one of the tomatoes that she cut open, the seeds had already started sprouting inside the pulp of the fruit! Instead of tossing this tomato into the boiling water with the others to be cooked and bottled, Penny used this one on her BLT sandwich for lunch, with the sprouts providing added texture and flavor.

The young people at college in Utah like to go out to eat ice cream. Sometimes they order a "kitchen sink" full of various kinds of the frozen treat, which the group shares. The "bowl" is in the shape of a small sink.

While surfing the Internet last night, Brooklyn enjoyed an omelet that her mom Penny made. The omelet contained the following ingredients: spinach, eggs, cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and Anaheim peppers.

Last night, Jeff's family ate out at Pizza Hut to celebrate his birthday. They had cheese and pepperoni pizzas (on hand-tossed crust), bread sticks, and raspberry lemonade. They paid with a gift card, courtesy of Penny's parents.

The 18 students (nine girls and nine boys) who had been named the high school's "Student of the Month" during the past nine-month school year were honored at a pizza luncheon at the local Elks lodge last week. Also attending were members of the National Honor Society. Two 11th-graders also received "Student of the Year" honors -- Jesse and Tailor. Believe it or not, there actually were enough pizzas to feed the group of over 40 hungry teenagers!

At a Mexican restaurant in Ogden last Thursday night, the restaurant's manager made some guacamole for the diners while they watched. The ingredients included avacados, tomatoes, onions, lime juice, salt, and cilantro. It was delicious! Jeff had some with his chili verde pork burrito (bottom photo).

Thousands of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies were delivered to the town's Girl Scout house via semitruck this afternoon. The girls in the local troops stopped by to pick up the cookies they have taken orders for, and will spend the next three weeks delivering the cookies and collecting money from customers. Annual cookie sales account for nearly three-quarters of the Girl Scouts of Utah's operating budget, with profits being shared by the council, the troops, and the girls themselves. Across Utah, roughly 8,000 girls have pre-sold more than $1.3 million worth of cookies, an average of nearly 50 boxes per girl.

Jeff's family made homemade pizza for dinner tonight. They used the following recipe: Dough: mix 1 tablespoon yeast, 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, 2 tablespoons sugar, 3 cups flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a mixing bowl. Let it sit and rise for a few minutes, then flatten onto an oiled pan using a rolling pin. Sauce: mix 1 1/2 cans (about 12 oz.) of tomato sauce with seasonings (Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion salt, etc.) to taste. Coat crust with sauce using a spoon. Toppings: 1 lb. of shredded cheese (mozzarella and cheddar), sliced pepperoni and ham, plus a can of diced pineapple. Bake in an oven at 400F for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Slice and serve! This recipe made two pizzas: a large "Hawaiian-style" pizza (ham and pineapple) and a medium-sized pepperoni pizza with a few slices of ham added.

River and London's Girl Scout troops, along with others in the area, kicked off the annual Girl Scout cookie sales campaign on Saturday morning with a "Cookie Kickoff" party. The theme was "Imagine If You Could Change the World." The girls started selling the cookies that day and will continue to take orders until Feb. 1. Everyone got to sample the eight different varieties of cookies. The favorite flavor was "Samoas" (the nearly-empty plate in the bottom photo).

Today is the end of the trimester at the local high school. So far, 60 days have elapsed on the school year's 180-day calendar. There is no school for the students today, but the teachers are spending the day catching up on their grades and getting ready for a new schedule of classes next week. To mark the occasion, teachers had a breakfast at the school this morning. Tom and Melissa are seen here cooking up a large batch of hash browns to help feed the faculty.

Candy corn is a traditional treat that is popular in the United States during the Halloween and Thanksgiving season. Most candy corn consists of three different colored layers. Tonight Virginia made homemade candy corn in three sizes from a recipe she found.

Jeff and Penny bought some pumpkins and green apples from a local gardener's pumpkin patch last week.

Penny and several other women made butter at a church activity the other night. They simply placed some cream in jars and then shook the jars until the cream had turned to butter. A small object placed inside the jar (such as a marble) helps the butter form faster. Salt was added to taste. The women then spread the butter on slices of homemade bread. Yummy!

Brooklyn painted this pumpkin as a table decoration for a recent dinner. Painted pumpkins last longer than carved-out pumpkins, which tend to go soft and soggy after a few days of being carved.

A popular form of community dinner in the United States is called a "potluck" dinner, in which each person or family attending the dinner brings a dish of their own choosing to share. Sometimes, organizers will specify a particular category for people to bring, such as casserole, salad, or dessert. But most of the time, people are free to bring whatever they want. Tonight at a local church building, Jeff's family enjoyed the potluck dinner pictured here. On Jeff's plate: pasta casserole with hamburger, chili stew, dinner roll, sliced turkey, Swiss cheese, and potato casserole. Dessert was ice cream sundaes, which were supplied by the church.

While in Salt Lake recently, Jeff and Penny got dinner from a pizza parlor that specializes in making the pies without cooking them. The customer then takes the ready-to-bake pizza home and bakes it in the oven. The price was about $6 for a large two-topping pizza, which is generally less than half what you would pay for a cooked pizza in a restaurant.

Penny and the girls picked fresh apples from a neighbor's orchard this morning, then spent the day making dried apple slices and applesauce.

Sliced oranges are a favorite halftime snack at kids' soccer games, providing a nutritious energy burst for the active youngsters. Check back tomorrow for photos of London's game this past Saturday.

Not all high school students subsist on junk food alone, as these photos show. Jake enjoyed a juicy green apple for lunch the other day.

Penny made homemade chili in the slow cooker and served it in "bread bowls." She cooked red beans in salty water on low heat for three hours, then put the beans in the slow cooker along with some diced tomatoes. She added a pound of ground beef that had been browned in a skillet, then added chili powder, dried onion, and other seasonings to taste. The bread bowls, available at the local bakery, are typically consumed after the chili or soup has been eaten out of them.

Many Utahns like to dip their french fries in "fry sauce" made by mixing ketchup and mayonnaise together. This type of dipping sauce was first developed 60 years ago (in 1948) by Arctic Circle, a Utah-based fast food restaurant. It has since gained a fair amount of popularity throughout the United States, especially in the West.

Today is Valentines Day, a day when messages of love are expressed. Jeff and Penny's daughters woke up this morning to two different types of valentines: (1) hand-made with messages of appreciation from their parents, and (2) strawberry heart-shaped pancakes hot off the griddle for breakfast!

A typical lunchtime meal at an American fast food restaurant: hamburger or cheesburger, french fries, onion rings, and a soda pop or milkshake. Current prices for this type of lunch are typically between $5 and $8.

Today was "Bob Marley Day" at the local high school. Most of the teachers and staff members wore Jamaican-style hats (complete with dangling dreadlocks). Jamaican food was also served in the faculty lounge during lunchtime. The reggae music legend, who died in 1981 of cancer at age 36, would have been 63 years old today.

The local high school cafeteria serves about 200 lunchtime meals each day. The cost is $2 for students, $2.50 for adults. Students are given approximately 30 minutes to eat. Typical meals include burritos, pizza, ham sandwiches, chili, hot dogs, hamburgers, fajitas, and soup.

Last night, around 100 youth aged 12-18 gathered at a local church to play a version of "Fear Factor." Teams participated in three events. The first two events were a rock climbing wall, followed by a timed race where team members got small candies from a plates covered with flour using only their mouths. The final event involved eating and drinking disgusting foods (green gelatin with anchovies, and a blended mixture of buttermilk, sardines, navy beans, and peas). A few of the participants became nauseated, but the two-hour event was a fun and entertaining evening!

On the menu at yesterday's big Thanksgiving dinner at Penny's parents' house (from top): a 20-lb. roasted turkey, filled with stuffing; candied yams (sweetened with marshmallows and brown sugar); and fresh homemade rolls served hot right from the oven. Other items on the menu included mashed potatoes and gravy, fruit salad, and carrots. Virtually all the food was eaten by the 30 people in attendance, with hardly any leftovers!

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a holiday that many Americans spend by getting together with family members and sharing a feast. A total of 30 people assembled at Penny's parents' house in Salt Lake this afternoon to dine on turkey, vegetables, and rolls. Check back tomorrow for photos of some of the food!

Mary’s mother, who recently bought a large amount of apples, made an apple pie. The recipe she used called for a mixture of apple slices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves, and apple pie spice for the filling, and a pastry crust consisting of flour, shortening, salt, and water. Mary’s family ate the pie so quickly that her mother decided to make another one the next day.

Fall is the peak season for apples in Utah. Mary’s mother bought apples from a fruit seller while she was in Provo recently and brought them home. While locally grown apples used to be readily available in Moab during the fall, lands that were once used to grow apples are now being developed for housing.

Doritos (a division of Frito-Lay, the world's largest snack chip manufacturer) recently held a contest to see if consumers could identify the mystery flavor of corn chips sold in a plain black bag and labeled "X-13D". Jeff's family tried a bag of the chips and thought they had the distinct flavor of a grilled cheesburger, including a hint of pickle and mustard. Last week was the deadline for the contest to name the flavor; only time will tell if "cheesburger" was in fact the correct choice.

At a multi-family overnight campout in Colorado last weekend, a pudding eating contest was held. Each competitor got their own snack-size pudding cup (either chocolate or vanilla) and had a minute or so to eat as much of the contents as possible, without using their hands. The winners got candy bars, but even those who didn't win ended up with a tasty (albeit messy) snack.

For their end-of-the-year party, River's Girl Scout troop hosted a "taco bar" for the girls, leaders, and families a local park. Fixing one's plate at a taco bar is easy. Simply start with either a hard taco shell or a soft tortilla, then load it up with the toppings of your choice. Typical toppings include hamburger meat, refried beans, shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, onions, olives, diced tomatoes. guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. The result: a quick and tasty (but often messy) meal.

Last weekend, Jeff's family was invited to have Sunday dinner with Jeff, Lola, and Kristen, who moved from Moab to the St. George area a year and a half ago. The delicious meal included barbecued ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, string beans, hot buttered rolls, and jello salad. Afterward, the hosts took the bottom photo of Jeff and Penny and their four daughters.

Jeff recently switched from drinking regular Pepsi (300 calories per 24 oz. bottle) to Diet Pepsi (0 calories). He started a week ago, when he weighed 202 lbs. His target weight is 190 lbs.

Two-year-old Indy loves ice cream. She licked this vanilla cone until it had disappeared (except for what was left on her face).

Cotton candy is a simple treat to make. First, flavored sugar mix is poured into a cotton candy machine (top photo). The machine forces the liquid sugar through tiny holes, spinning it into fine threads or wisps as the sugar cools and becomes solid again. A paper stick or cone is used to collect the cotton candy from the inside of the machine.

Jeff ordered fast food at the McDonalds drive-thru window the other day at lunchtime. He ordered the No. 2 Extra Value Meal (a Quarter Pounder with cheese, with medium Coke and medium fries). The cost was about $5.00 plus around 70 cents in sales tax.

Yesterday, around 8,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies were delivered via semitruck to the local Scout house. Over the next couple of weeks, the girls in the local troops will distribute the cookies to the people who ordered them. There are nearly enough cookies for everyone in the Moab area to have one box apiece. At $3.50 per box, the total retail value of the shipment is around $28,000!

The vending machines at the local high school no longer sell soda pop, candy bars, potato chips, and other "junk" food. Instead, the only drinks available are bottled water and sport drinks. Snacks are limited to granola bars and other healthful choices. The switch is part of a nationwide effort to curb teenage obesity and unhealthy eating habits.

Jeff made spaghetti for dinner last night. He made the meat sauce by browning the hamburger in a large saucepan (middle photo), then adding crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sliced mushrooms. He then added various spices, including garlic powder, minced onion, and Italian seasoning.

Moab's Broken Oar Restaurant opened for business under new ownership last week. The restaurant, located just west of Main Street on 400 North, is also now the new home of Marianne's Bakery, and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Jeff had fish and chips for lunch there on Saturday afternoon (bottom photo).

Jeff's daughters made Christmas popcorn balls the other night, one of their favorite family holiday traditions. The candied treats were made using flavored gelatin mix, raspberry for the red ones and lime for the green ones.

Jeff and Penny's family fed a total of 17 people for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday afternoon. Jeff is shown carving the turkey in top photo, while baby Indiana crawls on the table in search of a carrot. Besides roasted turkey and stuffing, also on the menu were mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, hot buttered rolls, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Trained hunting dogs are seen here bringing in a male ring-necked pheasant during a hunting trip last weekend. Jeff's family ate the bird for Sunday dinner the following afternoon, by cooking it in an electric slow cooker with sliced potatoes and carrots, peppers, and onions. It was delicious! Ring-necked pheasants, which are slightly smaller than a chicken, originally came from Asia but were successfully introduced to the United States in the 1880s.

Several dozen cases of E. coli bacterial infections have been reported across the country in recent weeks. At least two people have died, including one young boy in Utah. Officials attributed the outbreak to contaminated fresh spinach grown at certain farms in California. Nationwide, bags of fresh spinach were pulled from supermarket shelves, and people were told not to eat any until it was once again safe to eat the leafy vegetable. The above picture is being circulated via e-mail as sort of a morbid joke (the cartoon character Popeye, known to be an avid spinach eater, is shown here lying in a coffin).

Mary's parents gave Jeff and Penny two boxes of peaches last week, picked from a tree in their backyard. Penny spent the entire day Monday bottling the peaches (top photo). She peeled and cut up the fruit, packed it into bottles, added apple juice, and then sealed and sterilized the bottles by boiling them to seal their rubber-rimmed lids. The following day, she did the same thing to a box full of fresh Roma tomatoes that another neighbor had given her (bottom photo).

Jeff made foil dinners for the family campout the other night. Each dinner's ingredients were as follows: one quarter-pound hamburger patty (salted and peppered to taste), chopped potatoes, onions, carrots, along with green peppers (optional). Evertything was then wrapped in two layers of aluminum foil. After the family arrived at the campsite, they made a fire and let it burn down to hot coals. The dinners were placed on the coals (middle photo) and allowed to cook approximately 15 minutes each side. Final result: a hot delicious dinner!

Today is Pioneer Day, a state holiday that commemorates the Mormon pioneers' initial arrival in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At Moab's Old City Park this morning, dozens of people observed the occasion by eating a hearty breakfast of pancakes, ham, and eggs. They also played various pioneer games, including a hoop and stick game where you try to keep an iron hoop rolling along the ground by using a stick (bottom photo).

Penny and Jeff both participated in a watermelon eating contest at yesterday's Fourth of July celebration in a city park. Jeff took third place after managing to swallow four large slices in four minutes (about a half slice behind the winner). These photos were taken by their 5-year-old daughter London.

Jeff bought a fishing license on Saturday and took his daughters fishing that evening. They caught one nice 13-inch rainbow trout (pictured at top, with Indy). After bringing it home, Jeff fried it up in a pan coated with margarine. He sprinkled lemon pepper and onion salt on the fish and cooked both sides thoroghly at low heat with the pan covered. The kids all loved the taste, even the baby!

A dozen students competed in a pie-eating contest on the high school football field yesterday afternoon. Contestants had to keep their hands behind their back while eating the pies, which were simply aluminum tins filled with chocolate pudding and whipped cream (no crust). Steven (bottom photo) was the first one finished.

Moab has a new pizza place -- a Domino's Pizza franchise. Domino's, founded in 1960, is now the world's leading pizza delivery chain, with more than 8,000 stores in 50 countries. Last week, Jeff's family tried the Tuesday night "two for one" special, and had two large pizzas delivered to their front lawn in less than 30 minutes. Their topping choices were pepperoni and mushroom (shown in bottom photo) on one pizza, and ham and pineapple on the other.

Zephyr recently turned 16, and he celebrated by going out to dinner with his dad Hugh, along with Yoko and two of Zephyr's high-school aged friends (Sam and Ari). After dinner, he was brought a big plate of chocolate brownies and ice cream, after which he and Sam extinguished the numeral-shaped candles with their fingers.

Sam recently brought in Klondike bars (chocolate covered ice cream bars) for everyone at the office. Everyone at enjoyed them, especially Yoko, who had never tried a Klondike bar before.

Jeff and Penny used their new quesadilla making appliance to make dinner the other night. The device heats up flour tortillas and their contents, sealing the edges together and melting the cheese inside. These quesadillas were made with chunks of grilled chicken, a bag of "oriental vegetables" (mushrooms, onions, and green beans) that were fried in the same pan as the chicken, and shredded cheese (cheddar and mozzerella). The finished quesadillas were topped with sour cream and salsa before they were eaten. The word "quesadilla" actually comes from the melted cheese ingredient -- "quesa" means cheese in Spanish.

Penny made a potato casserole for dinner the other night. She boiled three peeled potatoes, placed them in a glass pan, and covered them with a thick white sauce made from milk, butter, and flour. She then placed several leaves of fresh spinach on top of the potatoes, followed by shredded cheddar cheese and bits of fried bacon, and heated the casserole in the oven until the sauce was hot and the cheese had melted.

Leslie made a batch of rose-shaped brownies on Sunday, using the new specially shaped pan her son gave her for her birthday recently. She then sprinkled powdered sugar on the chocolate brownies for added effect. They were delicious!

Although Jeff's refillable 32-ounce insulated mug bears the logo of Coca-Cola, he actually prefers to drink rival Pepsi instead. A local convenience store charges just 49 cents (plus 4 cents tax) to refill mugs this size at the soda fountain.

Penny and Jeff made homemade pizza for dinner the other night. The dough was mixed up in an electric bread machine using the following recipe: 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 3 cups of flour (bread machine flour), 2 teaspoons of yeast, and 1 tablespoon of corn meal. Mix in the bread machine on the dough cycle, giving the dough some time to rise at the end. Then, take the dough out and flatten it onto a non-stick pan (we used a stoneware disk sprinkled with corn meal) and cover with tomato sauce seasoned with garlic and Italian seasoning, along with shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and other desired toppings. This pizza was half ham and pineapple, half pepperoni and mushroom. Bake in the oven at 425 F for 25 minutes.

Jeff and Brooklyn each had a baked potato for dinner the other night. The potatoes were covered with chili, sour cream, onions, shredded cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and bits of ham.

Jeff and Penny attended a dinner party the other night. The food was provided by a local caterer. The menu included beef prime rib, baked potato, green beans, and tossed lettuce salad. Among the 30 or so in attendance were Annabelle (who used to work for the DHC U.S. office) and her husband Gen (bottom photo, with Penny).

Crispy rice treats are a fun and easy to make snack. Simply melt down a bag of marshmallows along with some butter, then stir in crisped rice breakfast cereal. Spoon onto a pan, spread out and flatten, and allow to cool. Cut into squares when it has hardened. This giant batch of crispy treats (actually about 15 separate batches) was made back in November in honor of the local football team's going to the state championship.

Mary also recently tried out a recipe she found for cranberry pecan pie. Pecan pies are generally very sweet; the tartness of the cranberries provided an interesting contrast to the sweetness of the pie.

Mary recently baked some cookies to share with her co-workers at the office. Pictured here on top of her stove are raspberry snow bars (a bar cookie topped with raspberry jam and meringue) and Jan Hagel (a buttery bar cookie topped with walnuts).

Jeff and Penny made a lasagna on New Year's Day. First, they boiled the thick strips of pasta until they were soft. The strips were then laid in a glass oven dish and covered with a layer of spaghetti sauce with hamburger meat. Cottage cheese was then spooned on, followed by a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese. More layers were added until the strips reached the top of the pan. They baked it in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes, and served it with homemade bread and tossed green salad.

Shrimp aspic is an old family recipe that Sam enjoys. Aspic is a savory cold jelly used with fish or meat. In this case it is a tomato jelly with shrimp, green olives and celery. Other common ingredients in this type of dish include avocados, crab meat, salmon, tuna, and asparagus.

One of Sam’s favorite beverages is a carbonated soft drink called root beer. It is made from roots and tree bark extracts. Originally, it was developed as a health drink but nowadays it is not considered as such. Sam likes it for the flavor, but it is an acquired taste. Once he gave some to a German friend who had never tried it before. His friend’s comment was “It tastes like medicine.” The best way to serve root beer is in a frosty mug, a glass mug that has been chilled in the freezer. The chilled glass causes some of the drink to freeze to slush on the sides of the mug.

A popular holiday snack this time of year is celery sticks filled with processed cheese spread. The sticks in these photos are filled with two types of spreads: regular cheese, and olive and pimento flavored. Sam saves the glass containers and reuses them as juice glasses. Some people also like to fill their celery sticks with peanut butter.

One of Sam's favorite foods is a hot dog wrapped in a thin layer of bread or biscuit dough and broiled in the oven until the dough cooks. The resulting snack is known as a "pig in the blanket."

One of Jeff's family's favorite ice cream flavors has a rather interesting name: "Death by Chocolate." It is chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and bits of nut-filled chocolate brownies or cookies. The idea behind the name seems to be that there is so much chocolate in the ice cream it should be considered a lethal dose. We're happy to report, however, that no one we know has ever died from eating it!

Here's the gingerbread house that Jeff's kids put together Sunday night. The pieces of the house and the candy were all included in a prepackaged kit that Penny bought at the store for $8. The only thing missing was the water to mix with the frosting (for cementing the pieces together). The whole project took less than an hour to assemble.

Several neighborhood kids got together Saturday afternoon to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread cookies are typically dark, hard and smooth, and flavored with the spices ginger and cinnamon. The children decorated "gingerbread men" as well as cookies shaped like Christmas trees and candy canes. The next day, they put together a candy and gingerbread house! Check back tomorrow for pictures of it.

Last week, a semitrailer truck carrying a load of frozen French fried potatoes overturned on the highway south of Moab. No one was injured in the accident, but the vehicle's frozen cargo needed to be unloaded before it spoiled. An announcement was made for townspeople to come get free boxes full of the French fries, which were specially made for the Dairy Queen restaurant chain.

Now that the days are getting shorter, Jeff's four chickens are no longer producing eggs at the rate of four a day. Instead, he harvests an average of two eggs each evening. One of the chickens, however, lays double-yolked eggs on a regular basis (at least once a week).

Caramel apples are a favorite Halloween treat. Making them is easy: simply push a stick through the core of a fresh apple, then dip the fruit in melted caramel. Set on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper until the caramel gets hard. The kids in the bottom photo (some of whom helped make the caramel apples) are jumping on a trampoline that has been covered with leaves.

A hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage was served at Moab's Rotary Park Wednesday morning to the young students, parents, and other family members who participated in National Walk to School Day. Despite the frosty chill in the air that morning, dozens of people started at the middle school parking lot and walked or rode their bikes up the Mill Creek Parkway trail for about 20 minutes until they reached the park, which is across the street from the elementary school.

The local high school drill team hosted a fundraising dinner featuring Navajo tacos at the volleyball game the other night. A Navajo taco is made by covering a piece of frybread with chili, tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, onions, sour cream, and other toppings. The frybread is made from a mixture of 2 cups of flour, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 cup of milk. The dough is then rolled out (top photo) and fried in hot oil (middle photo). After the frybread has been cooked, the desired toppings are piled on top (bottom photo). Dozens of people paid $5 per plate to support the drill team's fundraising efforts.

During an overnight campout in the La Sal mountains last weekend, Jeff and one of the Boy Scouts in his troop were encouraged by another Scout leader to try eating one of the many grasshoppers that were jumping around the meadow. Jeff popped one in his mouth and chewed it up, spitting out the exoskeleton as he would a sunflower seed shell. Spencer (pictured above) did the same, eating two or three of the insects, which aren't generally thought of as food by Americans but could provide a valuable source of protein in case of emergency. Jeff thought the grasshopper's flavor tasted a bit like pinon nuts.

Jeff's family had spaghetti for dinner last night. To make the sauce, Jeff browned a pound of hamburger in a skillet along with some minced onion, then added a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce, a small jar or bottled garden tomatoes, and about 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms. He added various seasonings to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, etc.) and let the sauce simmer while the noodles cooked in a separate pot of boiling water. It was served hot, accompanied by a cold glass of juice or milk. Spaghetti is Jeff's favorite dish to make!

John and the rest of the students at the local high school were treated to ice cream sundaes after a school pep assembly last Friday afternoon. Teachers and staff at the school served up vanilla ice cream into bowls. The students then topped their ice cream with the syrup of their choice (chocolate, caramel, butterscotch, or strawberry). The term "sundae" reportedly dates back to the 1880s, when a soda fountain owner in Wisconsin charged customers a nickel for a special ice cream treat that he only served on Sundays. When customers complained that he was using the name of the Sabbath Day for commercial purposes, he simply changed the spelling to "sundae." At that time, some communities prohibited the dispensing of soda water on Sundays, but the ice cream treat was legal.

Brooklyn recently won a gift certificate for a giant sweet roll for taking second place in the local library's summer reading program. She read over 600 chapters, including the entire Harry Potter series twice. When she went to a local restaurant to get her sweet roll (a rolled pastry flavored with cinnamon and covered with a sugary glaze), she was surprised to find that it was almost as big as her head! She shared it with the rest of her family, and it was enough breakfast for everyone!

Saturday, there was a watermelon eating contest at the county fair. Jeff, Brooklyn, and River all participated. Entrants had to eat a slice of watermelon as fast as possible down to the rind (no red showing) withhout using their hands. The winner (a young teenager named Timm) and the top two runners-up all received small cash prizes ($5 to $20). Timm ate his slice in 49 seconds! Everyone else just got a bellyful of delicious ripe watermelon!

Pretzels may be one of the oldest "junk foods" in history. They reportedly date back 1,400 years, to a monastery in seventh-century France or Italy, where the frugal monks would save scraps of leftover dough, twisting and folding it into the shape of a praying child's folded arms. The monks called the treats "pretiola," or Latin for "little reward." The name later became the Italian "brachiola," or "little arms," and from that the German word, "bretzel." Although most pretzels are salty, sweet and sugary varieties also exist. They can also be either small and crunchy or soft and chewy, like the large sourdough pretzels pictured here.

Yoko went to Grand Junction, Colorado and brought back a package of natto (fermented soybeans) for others in the office to try. Jacci took a bite but didn't like the smell or the texture. Sam and Jeff both declined to taste the stuff (Jeff had tried it before when he was living in Japan and didn't like it). Although Moab's supermarket doesn't have natto, it does have a variety of other Japanese-style foods, including tofu, wraps for making gyoza, curry blocks, teriyaki sauce, miso soup mix, mabo tofu mix, and a vareity of other sauces and flavorings.

Jeff's four hens started laying eggs last week at the age of four months. The eggs are fairly small, but the hens collectively are producing an average of two eggs per day. Jeff cooked up the first several eggs the other night, scrambling them in a frying pan and then placing the scrambled eggs between two slices of toasted wheat bread. Scrambled egg sandwiches are a favorite breakfast in Jeff's family. Although some people like to put ketchup or salsa on scrambled eggs, Jeff's daughters prefer them plain, with little or no salt and pepper.

On weekdays during the summer, dozens of kids like to eat free school lunch at the local elementary school. Parents and other adults can also eat lunch (but must pay $2.50 per plate). Wednesday's menu was mini pizzas (pepperoni or cheese), carrot sticks, apples, and cold milk.

Jeff recently went to the elementary school and had school lunch with his daughter River and her friends. The menu consisted of tortilla chips covered with melted nacho cheese, plus refried beans on the side, carrot and celery sticks, and fruit cocktail (grapes, cherries, peaches, and pears in a sugary syrup). The students had either regular milk or chocolate milk to drink.

How much do Americans pay for groceries? During a recent trip to the supermarket, Jeff found breakfast cereal on sale for $2.50 per box (267 yen at today's exhange rate of 107 yen per dollar). White bread was also on sale for $1.29 (138 yen) per loaf. Bananas were 49 cents per pound, which is equivalent to 115 yen per kilogram. Check back tomorrow for more supermarket prices!

A "pig in the blanket" is an easy-to-make treat. Simply take a hot dog or sausage and wrap it in a thin triangular piece of bread dough. Croissant dough or biscuit dough also works well. Bake in the oven until the bread cooks around the hot dog. You can also add cheese or other toppings, if desired.

Several Technica Pacifica staff members recently went out to lunch together at the Broken Oar, a new restaurant in town. They sampled two appetizers: nachos with salsa and a “southwestern sushi roll,” which consisted of beans, corn, jalapenos, cilantro, and cream cheese rolled up inside a flour tortilla. Among the entrees they tried were a grilled portabella sandwich (pictured above), a grilled chicken sandwich with pepper jack cheese and a pineapple slice, and a hamburger topped with pastrami, bacon, and cheddar cheese. Dessert was a Mexican sundae -- chocolate and vanilla ice cream sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar served on a fried flour tortilla. The food was delicious, and everyone had a good time!

Sam’s family had a homemade Mexican-style taco dinner for supper last week. The meal included hard-shell tacos filled with broiled hamburger (with chili-flavored seasoning), shredded cheese, salsa, lettuce, and tomato slices (other popular taco toppings include onions and sour cream). The two side dishes on the left side of the plate are rice mixed with tamale sauce (bottom) and refried beans topped with shredded cheddar cheese (top).

Every spring, Girl Scout councils across America hold the organization's annual Girl Scout Cookie sales campaign. Jeff's daughter Brooklyn sold over 650 boxes of cookies this year, and has been busy over the past week or so delivering them to the people who ordered them. The DHC U.S. Office alone ordered nearly 50 boxes. There are eight different types of cookies; the top-sellers are Thin Mints (a chocolate mint-flavored cookie) and Samoas (a ring-shaped cookie containing cocount and caramel). The profits from cookie sales go to the Girl Scout organization and its local troops. Individual girls also receive credits that can be redeemed for prizes. An estimated 210 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies are sold each year, an average of 70 boxes for each of the nation's 3 million registered Girl Scouts.

Sam recently put together this traditional American cheeseburger, which includes a grilled beef hamburger patty, a slice of cheese, lettuce, sliced pickles, mustard, and tomato ketchup on a plain bun. There are a wide variety of other toppings that are often used for hamburgers, including onions, tomatoes, bacon, mushrooms, and even guacamole (a spicy avocado paste). Besides ketchup and mustard, other popular condiments include mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, and salad dressing.

Many Americans enjoy a good dinnertime meal of barbecued steak and vegetables. The meal pictured here includes a juicy beef steak, a hot baked potato, a serving of green peas, and shrimp with cocktail sauce.

Six staff members of the DHC U.S. Office recently went to lunch together at Fiesta Mexicana, one of Moab’s newest Mexican restaurants, which opened about a year ago. The restaurant’s menu includes burritos, enchiladas, tacos, and fajitas. Freshly made tortilla chips and salsa are provided as a free appetizer before every meal. Pictured in the top photo are Jacci, Mary and Yoko. In the second photo are Christy, Sam and Jeff. The bottom picture shows a plate of chicken enchiladas topped with guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, and cheese, with rice and beans on the side.

At Christmas time, candy canes do double duty as sweet crunchy treats and as decorations. Because of their hooked shape, they are often used as Christmas tree ornaments (but you have to be careful that hungry children don’t eat them off the tree!). Candy canes, which usually have a peppermint flavor, originated in Germany in the 17th century. They got their distinctive shape when a choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany had the candy made in the shape of a shepherd’s crook and passed them out to the children in his choir during a Christmas pageant. Ever since then, children around the world have looked forward to eating candy canes and using them for decorations during the Christmas holidays.

Mary made a batch of holiday fudge and brought it to work the other day. Here is her recipe: Mix 3/4 cup margarine (180ml), 3 cups sugar (720ml), and 2/3 cup evaporated milk (160ml) together in a large pan. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Stir constantly until the mixture is 238 degrees Fahrenheit (114 degrees Celsius). Remove from heat and add one 7-oz. jar (196g) of marshmallow creme, one 12-oz. package (340g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, and 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla. Stir until blended, and then pour into a greased pan that is 13 by 9 inches (33cm by 22cm). Let the fudge cool, then cut into small squares. Enjoy!

Jeff’s family had fun making red and green popcorn balls the other night. Here’s the recipe: First, mix 1 cup (240ml) sugar and 1 cup (240ml) of corn syrup. Bring to a boil in a pot and boil for one minute. Then, turn off the heat and pour in one 3-oz. package (85g) of Jell-O or other brand of flavored gelatin powder. Note: the popcorn balls will have the same flavor and color as the gelatin. We used raspberry for the first batch of balls (which were red) and green apple for our second batch. Mix well with a large spatula or wooden spoon, then pour the hot mixture over a large bowl (4-6 quarts) of already popped plain popcorn (unsalted). Stir well. Shape mixture into fist-sized balls and place them on a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap to cool. Makes about 15-20 balls. You can place each ball in a sandwich bag or wrap it in colored plastic wrap and tie it with Christmas ribbon.

DHC U.S. Office staff member Yoko spent Thanksgiving at a remote cave hideaway called “The Peaceful Place” on public land about an hour south of Moab. About 15 people camped overnight in their own tents, vehicles, or in sleeping bags on the concrete floor of the cave, which is believed to have been converted into a dwelling decades ago by cowboys or sheepherders. Thanksgiving dinner was “potluck” style, which means that everyone brought something to add to the mix. The place has no electricity or running water, so the campers cooked the food on portable propane stoves outside the cave and then brought it inside.

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday when many Americans families get together with their relatives and enjoy a large feast. In the United States, about 45 million turkeys are cooked on Thanksgiving Day alone. The living bird pictured above belongs to Jeff’s neighbor and is not destined for the dinner table. In the other photo, Jeff’s brother-in-law Byron checks the temperature of a turkey cooking in the oven. Other foods traditionally eaten on Thanksgiving Day include ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, squash, corn, hot buttered rolls, and pumpkin pie.

Sam’s 13-year-old son John recently picked several small pumpkins from the family’s backyard garden. Sam’s family also harvested potatoes and onions. Other DHC U.S. Office staff members have also harvested vegetables over the past couple of months. Yoko grew perilla, tomatoes, chili peppers, and eggplants. Jeff’s garden yielded several watermelons, along with tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, squash, green peppers, and green beans. Pumpkins are commonly baked into pies and topped with whipped cream. You can also roast pumpkin seeds in the oven to make a delicious snack.

Staff member Jacci enjoys a “Seafood Sensations” sandwich from Subway in the break room at the DHC U.S. Office in Moab. Subway, which began as a single sandwich shop in 1965 in Connecticut, is now one of the top fast food franchises in the world, with over 22,000 locations in 77 countries. Moab’s Subway is located inside a convenience store on Main Street about three blocks away from the DHC U.S. Office. Jacci’s seafood sandwich is on wheat bread and contains chunks of seafood and crab meat, along with olives, tomatoes, green peppers, lettuce, and vinegar.

Americans consume approximately 20 billion hot dogs every year, and our staff is doing its part to eat its share of the total. Although hot dogs are popular among our staff, no two people like to eat them the same way (condiments and toppings vary widely). The three hot dogs pictured above are topped as follows: the one on the left has sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and yellow mustard, the one in the middle is a “chili dog.” In this case, the chili is a beanless tomato-based stew containing ground beef, onions, and peppers. Finally, the hot dog on the right is topped with sweet pickle relish (a sauce containing finely chopped cucumbers, onions, sugar, salt and vinegar), ketchup, and yellow mustard. A variety of other toppings and interesting combinations are also possible. We’ll feature more hot dogs in a future entry!

Sam enjoyed a birthday yesterday and had a slice of chocolate cake in celebration. If you’d like to taste what Sam’s cake was like, here’s the recipe. First, mix 1 1/2 cups (360ml) flour, 1 teaspoon (5ml) baking soda, 1 scant cup (230ml) of sugar, 3 Tablespoons (45ml) powdered cocoa, and 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) salt into a standard-sized cake pan (23cm by 30cm). Next, stir in the following liquid ingredients with a fork until completely blended: 1 Tablespoon (15ml) vinegar, 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla, 6 Tablespoons (90ml) salad oil, and 1 1/4 cups (310ml) of water. After mixing, bake in oven at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Note that this recipe includes no milk, eggs, or butter, making it suitable for those who avoid dairy products. If you are wondering how many candles were actually on his cake, Sam won’t say!