Beyond Glaze Donuts

I read about this place earlier in the week in the Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper that my other brother and I picked up at Moochie’s. It was City Weekly’s annual best of Utah edition and this was in some category related to donuts.

Every donut starts as a glazed donut and then Beyond Glazed adds the toppings to it. In the picture there is a cherry chocolate, key lime pie, cookies and cream, and s’mores.

After cutting these up and letting everyone in my family try a couple bites of each flavor, the consensus was that key lime was the most flavorful. For me, the s’more tasted mostly like chocolate. The cherry chocolate was good, although I’d love to try just a plain cherry.

They had a slew of other flavors that I didn’t try on this first visit: pineapple, blueberry, caramel apple, chocolate ganache, one with mango, peanut butter, chocolate and peppermint, and chocolate. They also told me that they use real fruit in all their fruit-flavored toppings. The four I bought came to $1.00 each.

It is definitely worth a return visit when I’m in the neighborhood.

Beyond Glaze
177 West 12300 South
Draper, UT

Moochie’s

Moochie’s
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

Recently covered on the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Drives. My brother and I went here for the first time last week. It is a small place with a set of sandwiches and salads. They are famous for their philadelphia style cheesesteak and meatball sandwiches.

I went for the classic cheesesteak which included onions, and also added mushrooms and tomatoes. The bread was crusty, the filling was hot and gooey and dripped all over the place, including the front of my shirt. And it was all good. I’d like to go back and try their pizza cheesesteak which includes pepperoni and mozzarella and housemade marinara sauce. It is definitely worth a return visit.

Moochie’s Meatballs & More!
232 East 800 South
Salt Lake City, UT

http://www.moochiesmeatballs.com/

Macrina Bakery, Seattle, WA

Macrina Bakery, Seattle, WA
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

On a recent trip to Seattle I did some research ahead of time and came up with a couple bakeries that I wanted to visit while I was there on business. Fortunately they were both within walking distance of the hotel where I stayed, so each morning I woke up early enough to walk through Seattle and stop by one of the bakeries before I had to head off to meetings for the rest of the day.

Macrina Bakery has made the requisite appearances on the Food Network and has a cook book that you can buy.

The morning I stopped I had enough time to sit down and eat several of the goods at the store. It’s always going to be better fresh and sitting down, rather than eating on the run from a bag or later in the day. But I was not that impressed with the things from the bakery. The hot chocolate was weak – watery weak, not just less sweet weak (which can have it’s place). The croissant-based pastries had good flavor, but both were under proofed and under baked. Nice and crisp on the outside and verging on uncooked as you moved towards the middle.

I also brought a couple things home to my family, and though they were a day old by the time we ate them, I don’t think they would’ve been that much better when fresh.

Having worked in a bakery myself, I know consistently producing good things is not easy so I if I can I will give Macrina another shot, but this first time through left a lot of room for improvement.

Macrina Bakery
2408 1st Avenue
Seattle, WA, 98121

Richmond-Upon-Thames

IMG_2662
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

Not far at all from central London, Richmond is at the end of one of the District Lines. It is a part of London that I really like. This shot is looking up the Thames from the Richmond Bridge. Just off to the left in the trees is the Western edge of Richmond Park.

It is great area of London for walking along the Thames.

HG Wells in Hampstead

IMG_2653
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

On Saturday I took myself on a self-guided walking tour through Hampstead and Hampstead Heath. It had a literary slant so I went past several houses or places with some kind of literary significance.

This is a picture of a house in Hampstead Village, just a few minutes walk from the Hampstead Underground Station, where H.G. Wells lived for a time.

Yew Tree Inn, Highclere, Berkshire, UK

Yew Tree Inn, Highclere, Berkshire, UK
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

Had dinner here. Updated British food in a building originally built in the 17th century.

Indigo Bay, Newbury, Berks, UK

In the UK on business this week and part of next. On a recommendation from our hotel, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Newbury. I have very limited experience eating Indian food, but this was very good. If you are ever in Newbury and want Indian I recommend it.

Indigo Bay
54-55 Bartholomew Street
Newbury
Berkshire RG14 5QA

http://www.indigobayrestaurant.co.uk/

101 dots on a cake

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Originally uploaded by ninetreats

A wedding cake for my niece. A little ribbon can make up for a load of not so good fondant work along the edges.

4th O’July Flag Cake

Fourth of July Flag Cake
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

Cream cheese frosting, fresh raspberries and blueberries, and a cake that my wife think tastes like sugar cookies. The recipe actually come from Ina Garten in the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Although it requires some adjusting to cook properly at the altitude where I live.

This followed only days after finishing my cousin’s wedding cake, finishing and intense spot of cake making.

I’m still recovering. And avoiding the kitchen.

Finished Wedding Cake

Finished Wedding Cake
Originally uploaded by ninetreats

And the final product. The colors were lime green and shades of blue. Thanks to my wife’s efforts I was able to add a perfecting coordinated ribbon at the bottom of each layer. This is how it was presented at the reception.