With A Measure of Grace
I was recently given a book out of the blue, and very unexpected. Some friends were in Utah exploring Bryce Canyon and Utah’s Red Rock Wilderness. Being foodies, they heard about a small restaurant in the very small town of Boulder and had to make the trip. The journey is intriguing because to get to the town, you drive over Hell’s Backbone Bridge, a narrow, wooden engineering feat that floats you over the Box Death Hollow rugged corridor. They succeeded and had dinner at Hell’s Backbone Grill, appropriately named given what it takes to get there.
I’ve immersed myself into the book finding delightful stories and recipes, not only from the proprietors, but from the enchanting people who inhabit the area: ranchers, religious folk, Anasazi indian decendents and more. While I can’t say there are future plans to head to Boulder, Utah, I’ll definitely be checking out the cookbook’s offerings.
Was Nick Zukin one of the hikers?
Melly´s last blog ..Monday with Marcia Lowry-Racist Sheep?
Melly, No he wasn’t, sorry!
This is an amazing book. The stories & the recipes. Blake & Jennifer – the two owners of the restaurant, went into this small town and truly treaded lightly. Boulder, Utah is a small town that is held together with strong LDS (Church of Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as Mormons) values. Blake & Jennifer came into the town and through their non-judgemental spirit got the city council to grant them a liquor lisence so they could run their restaurant. This was no small task in a town with strick beliefs on abstinence from caffeine and alcohol. They used food as a way of binding the community. We could all learn something from their approach to community and sustainable living. The recipes are all wonderful and Lavinia, the author, has a way of making the stories and the recipes all come alive. The Spalding sisters (Blake & Lavinia) and Jennifer are the type of people you meet and are instantly drawn to. They make you want to try every recipe in the book. If you love food and a good story, this is a book for you. If you’re like this Italian mama and you love to use food to show your people how much you love them, this is the book for you. You don’t have to be a major foodie to find it’s appeal and recreate the amazing recipes. You just need an open heart and a willingness to try something new. In the past 6 years, I have pasted this book on to my ober foodie friends and friends who are just getting a taste of what it means to be a cook. It use to sit on our living room coffee table (before we were invaded by a toddler) and it sparked many conversations and has even inspired a few to venture out to Boulder, Utah.
I’m never sure if this book belongs on my regular shelves of special books or on my kitchen shelf of cookbooks. It’s got its heart in two places — and it works. I’ll be honest — I may have never actually used more than one or two recipes here but I love the stories they tell; I read it cover to cover. Recently I was thinking to myself that I wanted to re-read the book, it’s been a while and I am a different cook now than I was four years ago when I got the book. My parents traveled to Hell’s Backbone Grill — inspired by the book — and found it even more of a treasure than the pages capture. It’s on my wish-list of roadtrips, for sure. But a night or two may not be enough. The cookbook makes you think it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to show up and work and eat your way through an entire season…