Jack's Wood Fired Pizza:Logan

Jack's = Best Pizza in Logan 
Hands Down

Most of you are like me and have driven past Jack's Wood Fired Pizza everyday wondering if it was any good. Well, a few days ago, it finally got to me. Molli and I entered the small Main Street pizza parlor and could not have been happier. I felt like I found something that no one else had ever discovered. The place was small and quiet, with a hipster feel to it. It was simply decorated, with brick walls and one big fireplace in the back. The two men working were very friendly and laid back. We shared one small pizza and each got a side salad. It was the perfect amount of food. We were full, but not stuffed. 

Here it is:

Chuckwagon Pizza {$11}

BBQ sauce, Savannah's Pulled Pork, pineapple, jalepenos, topped with parmesan cheese

With my favorite pizza topping being pineapple, and my second being anything BBQ, I was immediately excited about this pizza. However, both Molli and I were a little nervous about pork and jalepenos on our pizza, but we went for it anyways. We were not disappointed. The crust was thin, but not the crunchy cracker-style crust, it was thick enough to still be soft. The pork was juicy and the pineapple was cut into thin long strips, so I knew it was fresh and not canned. The jalepenos weren't too spicy and combined well with the fruit. The BBQ sauce didn't overpower the pizza the way Firehouse's does. The cheese didn't slide off with one bite. 

It was Perfect. 

Here is the side salad I ordered: 

Dressing: Huckleberry-Infused Poppyseed 

When my salad was set in front of me, the first thing I thought was...aw man... I thought it was just another salad that they bought at Smith's from a bag, poured it into a bowl, stuck a tomato on it, and called it a fresh salad. Although this may have been the case, the dressing made this salad delicious. Even the name, Huckleberry-Infused Poppyseed, makes my mouth water. It was a sweet dressing, but not overpowering like Pizza Pie Cafe's Raspberry Vinaigrette, which is too much after about the fourth bite. I am glad I ordered the salad because I don't know if the pizza alone would have filled me up all the way. It wasn't the best salad I have ever had, but the dressing was awesome. So if you get a salad, I would suggest trying this huckleberry dressing at least once. 

Jack's also has dessert pizzas. I have talked to a lot of people who have said they are so good. Just reading the description on the menu, I think they look amazing. There are also some lunch and dinner specials that would be worth checking out. Take a look at the menu below and see for yourself:

Jack's Menu

Jack's Wood Fired Pizza is located at:

256 N. Main Street 

Logan, UT

Here is a Map:

Jack's Pizza Location

Hours:

Mon-Sat 11:30-2:30, 5:00-9:00

Phone:

435-754-7523

No-Bake Cake Batter Truffles

Here is the recipe for the most addicting treats on the planet...No-Bake Cake Batter Truffles. They are amazing and super easy to make. Juss and I make these all the time for people and for special occasions and they never go wrong. The only thing we make sure to do is buy some extra white chocolate chips because we always burn the first batch. Melting chocolate is definitely not a strength of ours. 


These treats are fun to get creative with because you can dye them any combination of colors and decorate with icing and sprinkles and they are always cute. We go overboard, as usual, painting sailboats and stick figures of ourselves on them and eventually they turn pretty ugly, but don't be like us they will be beautiful :) 

No-Bake Cake Batter Truffles 

1/ 2 cup unsalted butter {softened}

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup yellow cake mix {dry}

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. sprinkles

16 oz. white dipping chocolate {2 bags of choc. chips}

4 Tbsp. yellow cake mix {dry}

**We use funfetti cake mix and don't add sprinkles- it is easier

Instructions:

1. Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Blend in vanilla. Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanlla and mix thouroughly. Add Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand. Roll dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up. 

2. While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark in microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals.{again we use chocolate chips and because we always burn them we double boil instead of microwave} Once melted, quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake off excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished. {Note: for smoother looking truffles, don't add cake mix to melted chocolate, just leave by itself}

3. Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles. 

4. Try to at least give a few away :) 

Kamin:Logan

Kamin is one place that was recommended to me over and over again by multiple people. It is a Thai restaurant located in a house on the southwest side of Logan. I have been there a couple times and really like the food. This is the first Thai restaurant I have ever been to, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. However, if I were to compare it to something, I would say it is in between Chinese food and Indian food.


Kamin is definitely over priced, with dishes ranging $8-15, but the portions are large. The first time I went, the service was amazing! I got there late at night and the woman serving was probably one of the nicest waitresses I have ever met. We were not rushed at all. However, the second time I went, it was also later at night, the waiter was very rude. Even though we made him an extra $15, he could have potentially ruined my night if I wasn't with such great company. He came back to our table every couple minutes, waiting for us to finish our food so he could give us the bill. I usually feel bad going into restaurants late because I know how it feels to be held after hours, but we were on the verge of lingering in spite of this waiter, that is how irritating he was. So, if you are looking for great service, I recommend the female waitress :)

Okay, here are we go:

Dish One: Phuket Pineapple Fried Rice {11.99}
Jasmine fried rice accented with ham, pineapple, raisins, cashew nuts, and scrambled egg served in a festive pineapple shell

This is a very pretty dish. It is served in a real pineapple. The pineapple bowl alone makes it that much better. Also, this is a big portion of rice. I usually don't like fried rice. I am more of a steamed rice person, but I really like this rice. I love the pineapple and cashew nuts. They are my favorite. The pineapple makes the rice sweet, but the vegetables and ham counteract it. It is very good. If you are not sure about Thai food and want to eat at Kamin, this dish is a safe one to order.

Dish Two: Massaman Curry {$10.95}

Meat, peanuts and potatoes slowly cooked in Thai spices and coconut curry

This curry was my favorite out of the two that I tried. The coconut is what attracted me to it at first. It has a mild coconut flavor that brings out the other flavors in the dish, although I thought the dish was pretty bland overall. The potatoes were overcooked and the dish was a little too salty. The vegetables were decent, but I do think they were frozen. The chicken and peanuts were delicious, and the sauce mixed with the jasmine rice (comes with the dish) was so good. 

Dish Three: Gang Nan-Yellow Curry {$10.95}

Meat slowly cooked until it is soft in a rich yellow curry, very smooth and delicious

This dish was better than the Massaman curry in that it wasn't salty and the potatoes weren't overcooked. However, I liked the flavor of the Massaman curry better. I recommended this restaurant to a kid who went on a mission to the Phillipines. He ordered the yellow curry when he went to Kamin and said it was delicious. I thought it was good, but could have used a little more spices. The portion was large, more than enough to feed me for a couple nights :)

Jasmine Brown Rice {Comes with the Curry dishes}

I am sorry this picture is terrible. This rice is amazing though. However, they only give you about a cup of it for your curry, so if you love rice like I do, I would order a side of rice as well. It is only a dollar and it makes the meal much better I promise. Its brown rice too, so it is healthyish :)

Dish Four: Pad Nor Mai {$9.99}

This spicy stir-fry includes bamboo shoots, bell peppers, onions, and fresh basil

This is a unique dish made mostly of bamboo shoots and tofu. I am not a tofu fan, but I did try the tofu and it tasted a lot more like chicken than it usually does! Court (who ordered it) thought it was good! The sauce tasted a lot like soy sauce which was good! So if you like tofu, then this is the way to go. If not, you can also substitute it for chicken or pork. 

Okay onto my favorite dish of all time at Kamin:

  Mango Sticky Rice {$4.50}

Best Mango Sticky Rice I have ever had. If you like mangoes and rice you will die. I crave this dessert every single day. If I was stuck on an island with nothing but Mango Sticky Rice I would die a happy girl. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture because I devoured it too fast to take one. I am sorry. I guess you will have to go try it yourself :) You will not be dissapointed. It is sweet rice with coconut milk and mangoes. the rice is perfectly fluffy and the milk oozes out of it when you take a bite. 

Try it.

Other suggestions:

1. The Tom Yum Soup is super spicy so be careful, it could give you heartburn. 

2. The restaurant is hard to find. It is located on the west side of Main Street about half a block in on the south side of Logan. It is a small restaurant in a little house.

3. The Mango Sticky Rice may not be on the menu- don't freak out. Just ask for it

4. If you can, sit outside, its pretty. 

Overall, this is a very good restaurant. I don't think it is better than Indian Oven or Tandoori Oven, but it is also not as exotic, and a different type of food, of course. I would recommend going to try it once at least. It is not my favorite restaurant in Logan and it is a little overpriced, but it is pretty good.

Here is the menu if you want to check it out: 

Kamin Menu

Here is where it is located: 

51 W 200 S

Logan, UT 84322

(Drive north on Main street from Sardine Canyon, it is after the Logan River bridge and before all the Downtown Logan Restaurants start- if you get to Chuck-a-Rama you have gone too far)

Hours:

11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

5:00 PM- 9:00 PM

Lucile's: Boulder [Colorado]

When I visited my sister last week in Boulder, we wanted to end the trip with the bang, so what did we do? eat :)


We went out to breakfast at Lucile's. It is a little breakfast restaurant located in a house {reminded me of Logan} in downtown Boulder. For those of you who haven't been to Boulder, you need to go visit it at some point in your life. It is a very unique place. It is beautiful. There are tons of places to hike and many other outdoor activities. Everyone is very healthy there. In fact, I hate driving in Boulder because there are so many pedestrians and so many bikers. The people are a little crazy though, so watch out. Most of them are high, which can be pretty entertaining, but a little scary sometimes.


The people of Boulder take pride in being different from everyone else. Therefore, it has a lot of places that are unique only to that town. Lucile's is one of the many.

Not only is it adorable, the food is amazing. Okay, well the items Jess and I ordered were to die for. Seriously. It may have been the best breakfast I have ever had.


We started out with an appetizer called beignets. They are New Orleans style doughnuts - they looked liked scones to me and tasted like sopapillas. mmm.

Beignets {$4.75}

On the table, there were two jars of marmalade to dip the beignets into. One was orange and the other one was more of a tart flavor, but I am not sure what it was, strawberry something maybe?


After we devoured those, we moved on to our main course...since I am terrible at deciding what to order, Jess and I got creative and ordered two different meals, each eating half. 

Meal number one: Eggs New Orleans {$9.20}

Fried eggplant slices with creole sauce, poached eggs, and hollandaise. Served with grits or potatoes and a biscuit. 

Again, I apologize that all of my pictures have a bite taken out of them. I get too excited to eat and forget to take pictures until halfway through my meal. 

I love eggplant. However, there are not a lot of restaurants that serve it. Most restaurants that do serve it, never cook it very well. I swear every eggplant I have ever had has been soggy. I try to stay away from fried eggplant, too. Just a tip: if you ever go to an italian restaurant that fries there eggplant- DO NOT ask for it not fried because 99% of the time it will be gross. The only restaurant I have ever found with eggplant that is not fried (and actually good) is Romano's Italian Restaurant in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. My sister, Jessica, worked there for a long time and she would always bring me some home. It is layers of UNfried eggplant that is cooked to perfection (not soggy and not crunchy), along with cheese and marinara sauce.  

Lecile's unfortunately fries their eggplant, but I decided to go all out and try it. It was not a mistake. The soft poached egg with the crispy eggplant was a perfect combination. The red sauce provided a little spicy flavor, but it was countered with the creamy hollandaise sauce. Also, it was filling! After finishing this half of my meal, I could only eat half of the second one. 

Lecile's serves grits! The first time I tried grits was in Alabama last year. I only tried grits because I had no idea what they were and I knew they were some kind of famous Southern food. Now, every time I see grits, I order them! They are so good! I have never seen grits on a menu since I went to Alabama, until Lecile's. 

Moving on...to the biscuit... unreal. The picture doesn't do it justice, this thing was HUGE! It was sweet and fluffy and delicious. 

That was only the first meal. Here comes the second:

Second Meal: New Orleans Praline Waffle {$8.45}

A pecan batter waffle topped with pecans, fruit, and fresh whipped cream. Served with praline syrup.

Normally, I don't order waffles at restaurants because I think it is a waste of money. Usually they taste like the ones you make at hotels (which are good), but I don't want to pay $8 for a waffle I can get for free at the Holiday Inn. I like my waffles soft, too, and most of the time restaurant waffles are too crunchy for me. Or maybe it is just that my mom makes the best waffles on Earth and it is hard for anyone to compete with that. Whatever the reason, I usually skip the waffles and go for my favorite- the french toast. Today, I decided to change it up. A pecan batter waffle. It jumped out at me. 

The waffle was soft, but not undercooked. It had pecans in the waffle as well as on top. There were fresh bananas and strawberries on top, along with some serious whipped cream. To top it off, the syrup was to die for! It wasn't your average maple syrup. It was a lighter color and a lighter, sweeter flavored praline syrup. This was definitely the best restaurant waffle I have ever had.

Third Meal: Totally Organic Breakfast {$13.95}

Eggs scrambled with spinach, tofu and ginger topped with sesame carrots. Served with whole wheat toast.

I apologize for the bad quality of the picture... but I guess it goes with the Totally gross Organic Breakfast. Nicole was trying to stay on the lighter side and decided to go with this meal. It was only her second time eating tofu and I think it will be the last. For $14, the only good thing was the toast. Maybe people that eat organic food often would like this meal, but we certainly did not. So if you ever go to Lecile's, don't go when you are on a diet because you will regret it.

Everything about Lecile's makes for a great experience. Located in a cute house in downtown Boulder, with a feeling of a southern home, this New Orleans restaurant is worth every penny- and pound :)  

If you want to check out Lecile's menu, here is the link:

Lucile's Menu

2124 14th Street, Boulder, CO 80302303-442-4743

303-939-9848 FaxMap to Boulder Location

Hours of Operation
7am-2pm Monday through Friday
8am-2pm Saturday and Sunday
Call-ahead seating accepted Monday through Friday. 

Chicago Style Deli:Dallas

Shout out to my best friend Juss, who went to Dallas this week to visit her boyfriend and sent me a picture of this aweseome deli she ate at. She went to a sandwich place called Old World Sausage Company: Chicago Style Deli and said it was the best sandwich she has ever had. So if you live in Dallas or are just visiting, stop by this place. It is located in downtown Dallas, right next to the farmer's market.

Juss got the open face roast beef sandwich which had roast beef, mozzarella cheese, sauteed red and yellow peppers, and sauteed onions, all on a hoagie roll. Looking at some other reviews online, the Roast Beef and the Rueben are both popular choices. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the Roast Beef sandwich. 

Here are some other items on the menu:
Pasta Side, Vienna Hot Dog, and the "Beef" sandwich: 

  "The Best" Reuban Sandwich - Big Enough for 2 people! 

  Here is their website if you would like to look at their menu:

Old World Sausage Website

Here is where they are located: 

Location

Spring Rolls

I am in the biggest spring roll phase right now. They are so fresh and so healthy for you, perfect for summertime :) Since the only place in Utah I have found good spring rolls is Mi La Cai, and it is all the way in Salt Lake City, I decided to go big and attempt some on my own. Since my favorite food is a mango, I decided to try some Mango-Shrimp spring rolls. They were amazing.

Ingredients for Mango-Shrimp spring rolls:

 

Rice Paper

I found this at Macey's, they didn't have it at Walmart

Vermicelli Noodles

a.k.a. Rice Noodles

p.s. you only need to buy one package of each of these, they make a TON

Thai Kitchen Chili and Ginger sauce

Also found at Macey's

Other Ingredients:

1 Cucumber

Fresh Cilantro

Mint Leaves

1 bag of medium-sized shrimp

1 Avocado

2 Mangoes

Directions for Preparation:

Step 1. Boil a pot of hot water- enough to cover the noodles. Once the water is boiled, put the dry rice noodles in a large bowl, pour the water over the noodles, and let sit until the noodles are soft (about 10 minutes) and then drain water.

Step 2. Thaw shrimp in a bowl of cool water

Step 3. Cut the cucumber julienne style, in about

(1 cm wide by 3 in long) ish..I only ended up using half a cucumber

Step 4. cut the mangoes in long slices as well (same as cucumber)

Step 5. Slice the avocado into strips

Step 6. wash and cut leaves off cilantro. Chop into small pieces

Step 7. Wash and chop mint leaves

To make the spring rolls:

Step 1. Get 2 plates, fill one with water and leave the other one empty

Step 2. Take one sheet of rice paper, lay it flat on the plate with water, and submerge until the paper is completely under the water. Push it down for about 3 seconds and then carefully (try not to wrinkle) lay the paper on the empty plate.

Step 3. Immediely grab a small handfull of noodles, fold them into thirds and lay them on the paper.

Step 4. Add a couple pieces of each ingredient (fight the urge to add too many ingredients or the paper may rip)

Step 5. Fold spring roll like a burrito (short ends first and long ones afterward). At this point the paper should be sticky and it shouldn't be hard to hold together.

Step 6. Pour a few tablespoons of the dipping sauce into a dish or on the plate and Enjoy!

If you like peanut sauce, here is an easy recipe:

Peanut Dipping Sauce:

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves (optional)

Directions for Sauce:

Step 1.  Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/2 cup of cold water; set aside

Step 2. Whisk together soy sauce, peanut butter, brown sugar, white vinegar, sesame oil and 1 cup warm water in a small saucepan over medium heat; simmer and stir until sugar has dissolved

Step 3. Stir in the cornstarch mixture; simmer until sauce is thick, 1 or 2 minutes, serve warm. Garnish with chopped peanuts and mint leaves if desired.

Grandma's Bakery:Logan

There was about a span of 4 months last year when I was obsessed with cake pops. Just ask the people sitting around me in my Economics class. They heard more about cake pops that semester than they did problems with the economy. 


For those of you that don't know what cake pops are.. here are a couple examples to get you up to speed: 

Mr. Potato Head Cake Pops

Cupcake Cake Pops

Microphone Cake Pops

Spa Cake Pops

Ice Cream Cake Pops

Rudolph Cake Pops

Just wait: These are what I Really want to make: 

Mustache Cake Pops!!

Mustache and Lips Cake Pops!!

The possibilities are endless

When I finally decided to bake them, I made cake pops almost everyday for about a week, and every single one failed. So, being stubborn and persistent, I bought a cake pop maker, hoping it would solve all my problems..that was a negative. I couldn't figure out how to keep the cake pops on the sticks and make them perfectly round. Anyways, I never mastered cake pops and sadly moved on. 


Last week, a couple girls on my team and I ventured up to Richmond to find a bakery that I read about in the newspaper recently. Supposedly, there is a bakery called Under The Frosting that sells cake pops. I wanted to check it out and see how the lady makes such beautiful cake pops. 


We drove all around Richmond (it took us about 5 minutes haha) and couldn't find the bakery. However, we stumbled upon a bakery called Grandma's. Someone Molli knew said she used to go to Grandma's all the time to get homemade Oreos, so we went in to check it out. 


They didn't have hardly any food there, literally only like 5 items. The girl said they bake everything on Mondays - so if you go  - go on a Monday. Luckily, there was ONE homemade Oreo just waiting for us to devour. After paying for my $.90 homemade Oreo, I split it into thirds and the three of us sat down to eat it. It was GOOD. The top and bottom were chewy chocolate cookies and in the middle was a thick, whipped vanilla frosting, that didn't run down the sides of the oreo (which I was happy about). 


All in all, the day was a success. The little Richmond bakery was a nice surprise. Molli, Alyssa, and I decided we we are going to start our very own bakery right next door to Grandma's (the space is available). So no one steal it :) We're calling it Grandpa's. 


Here is our homemade Oreo. 

p.s.

If anyone knows where to find the Under the Frosting bakery, or if it even exists, let me know :) There is still a little place in my heart for cake pops.