Daylily Days

Finally. That long-awaited, joyful time has come. No, not the holiday season. But what I call the Logan Daylily Season. Almost anywhere you look in the city you will see their bright colors --apartment complexes, residential streets, business landscaping. If the Logan area had an official flower, it would have to be the daylily. Low-maintenance, tidy, green, leafy bushes all summer long, and, for one glorious month, a deluge of blossoms like those pictured above.

To explain, the individual blossoms do not last for weeks. The blossoms -befitting their name- only open their  petals to the world for one day before closing -to make room for the next day's array of blooms. I couldn't help feeling sad when I learned this (the summer we moved into our already-landscaped-with-daylilies-condo), but soon realized that, with so many buds per stem, we would not be lacking in the daylily department.

I wanted my pictures to show the flowers at their zenith - the week or so when the most blossoms are open at once -but think I was a bit late. They'll now be tapering off until only one or two buds remain per stem (a great time for finally being able to use them as cut flowers, however). It still makes me a little sad though, on days when I don't get out to admire their display, that I missed an entire composition of changing colors, angles, and proportions. I think there's something symbolic there for me -something about how quickly the grand days of summer always seem to go.

Cache Valley Gardener's Market

I know I posted on this topic a couple of years ago, but, since then, my love for the Cache Valley Gardener's Market has only grown! There's something about the local, friendly, wholesome goodness of it all that I can't resist. I love seeing the creative expressions of my fellow Cache Valleyians. I love the local chefs celebrating their ethnic heritage. I love buying my food from the very person who grew it. I'm sure having just finished "In Defense of Food" by Micheal Pollan has only increased my zeal, but I love biting into a locally grown tomato and knowing it is so much better for me -not to mention for the environment- than a store-bought one. (I hope there is an additional placebo effect going on here to, because I can almost picture the nutrients flooding my body when I bite into that local, leafy goodness.) This season, Dave and I signed up for a half-share in a CSA (community supported agriculture). For $260 bucks and we'll get a bag of produce every week from now through the end of December. We love seeing what comes into season each week (sorrell, anyone? loveage?) and then discovering what to do with it. Gooooo local! (said like a cheerleader chant, not a command, btw) :)

Pepperidge Farm Factory

On our way back from Rigby the other weekend, we stopped at the Pepperidge Farm Factory in Richmond (something I'd been wanting to do since my student-days at USU). We didn't tour the factory or anything, but we did buy some reduced-price-goodies. Tying for my affections are their Milano cookies and their freezer cakes. Remember these?


My dad used to buy these cakes all the time and snack on them for dessert in the evenings. Biting into that fudgey striped goodness really took me back to those days. -I'd highly recommend these cakes (although I'm not sure what they go for at full price).

Cooking Class at "Kitchen Kneads"

Dave and I had an adventure. We went to a real, live cooking class. It was like watching the cooking channel, but so much better because you could smell and taste all the foods! Plus, there were a bunch of ladies there who weren't afraid to ask all kind of questions- "Will this keep in the fridge?" "Could I use Swiss instead of Gruyere?", and -of course- "Where can I buy that [insert name of fancy cooking device/spice/product]?" -to which the answer was always, "Right here at Kitchen Kneads, of course!" Since the class is taught from a kitchen in the back of a cooking goods store, this is hardly surprising. (We did buy some super-nice, rust-proof mixing bowls while we were there.) I sat by a really cool older lady who kept whispering her "trade secrets" in my ear, and the resident chef there is actually the librarian at the school where I work, and she was characteristically free-flowing with her knowledge and opinions: "Only cook deep-fried food twice a year," "always toast your nuts, "always soak your onions in ice water", "store your garlic oil in the fridge or it could go rancid on you", and many other such gems of wisdom. It was fun -the theme was "everything but the turkey" and I did like her a-gratin potatoes with walnuts and sage, but nothing yet has topped Mom and Dad's cranberry sauce, candied yams, and stuffing. Can you tell I'm excited for Thanksgiving?

North Logan Pumpkin Walk

I've got to hand it to Cache Valley on this one -it really is a pretty cool local tradition. This was my second year going with Dave, and we were both impressed. -As the sign says as you walk in, hundreds of volunteers spend countless hours working to create all of the pumpkin displays -and it shows. It is just delightful to see what people come up with and how much effort they obviously put into it. These pictures are from last year when the theme must have been advertisements, but this year's theme was "the magic of animation" and we liked it quite a bit better than last year's. It's a pretty big deal up here. -The local bus system carries people back and forth between various parking lots and the pumpkin displays, there's a big power generator thing for the lights, music, and animated displays, and the whole thing is free; I think most of the valley goes, and we must have joined the masses at just the wrong time because we were in line for at least 30 minutes before we got to the displays, but it was very worth it. I think my favorite part is how all the walkways are lined with candle-lit carved pumpkins, and so you can smell that wonderful burning pumpkin smell the whole time. -That really gets me in the fall spirit.

Fall Colors

Dave and I made it out on a couple of hikes to see the Logan fall colors. I'm so glad we did. These pictures are from a hike up the mountains on the west end of the valley (just above Mendon -where I work). It was pretty dark when we got back to our car.

Farmer's Market

I also love the Farmer's Market. Every Saturday morning we're able, we drive -or once, we biked- the 14 blocks down to Center street and peruse the local goods. Let's be honest here, I love buying stuff, but I also love just looking at the colorful food and handmade creations. Once, we saw someone who had painted tires to look like ceramic flower pots. Probably the most exciting event was when a local artist offered to custom-make a decorative gourd for me. (Here is a picture she sent of said gourd as a work-in-progress). It usually takes us at least a few passes up and down the booths before we're done -or before our allotted 30 dollars runs out. All the shiny produce, the fresh cut flowers, the local musician strumming away in the background...it is a well-blended recipe for happiness.