Bright? Check. Fresh? Of course. Green? Delightfully so. If anything tastes like the springtime, it’s spring peas. And while fresh-picked are only just available now, peas are one of the few vegetables that retain much of their flavor and form when frozen, so there is no reason not to indulge this season and beyond. We’re obsessed with the classic pairing of peas and mint in this bright, verdant soup, but there are countless other ways to capture the joyous flavor of peas in your cooking. Here are a few spring pea recipes to get you started.
Fresh Pea Soup with Mint
Cook 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped leeks in 2 Tbsp. butter until they are soft. Add 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock and 5 cups of peas. Cook until peas are tender, then stir in about 1/2 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves, 2 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of white pepper. Puree in a blender, one cup at a time. Serve warm or cold. Top with a dollop of crème fraîche.
Three-way Peas
Saute 4 minced garlic cloves and 1/2 tsp. grated ginger in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Stir in 3 cups snow peas and 3 cups of sugar snap peas and sauté until barely tender. Stir in 4 cups of pea shoots, cook for 2-3 minutes, then serve.
Risi e Bisi
Cook one minced clove of garlic in 2 Tbsp. olive oil, then stir in a heaping cup of Arborio rice and sauté a minute. Add a quart of warmed stock or water, a ladleful at a time, cooking until absorbed after each ladleful. Stir in a cup of peas, 1/4 cup diced, frizzled pancetta and 1/2 cup corn. Finish with 1/4 cup or so of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
Mushy Peas
Bring a shallow pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add frozen peas and cook for 3 minutes, or until tender. Drain peas and transfer to a food processor. Add a few Tbsp. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and process until thick but with small pieces of peas remaining. If it seems too thick, mix in 1 Tbsp. of heavy cream. Stir in 2 tsp. of lemon juice. It’s a great side dish for ham.
On Ice
Don’t turn a cold shoulder to frozen peas. They’re picked fresh and flash-frozen when ripe, and they can live in your freezer for months. The trick: Don’t overcook them. Because they’ve been flash-steamed before frozen, they’re ready to eat. Cook for a brief minute or simply defrost them before throwing them directly into your hot dish (so they don’t cool down your recipe). Then simply savor their sweet flavor and firm, delicious forms.
Love for national parks is one of the few things that unites most Americans. Even the bitterly partisan U.S. Senate recently agreed on a resolution designating the week of April 16 through April 24, 2022, as “National Park Week,” by unanimous consent. One bipartisan Senate resolution isn’t going to fix all of the challenges national parks are facing today, but our mutual love for national parks could help us come together on at least one divisive issue impacting our parks: climate change.
According to a recent Pew Research Center report on climate change, “partisan affiliation remains the dominant divide in views of climate and energy issues, with Republicans and Democrats staking out competing visions for the country’s energy future.”
While the aforementioned Pew report found that more than 70% of Americans believe climate change is an issue and should be addressed, it also found that we are far from agreement on how it should be addressed. But, recent polling by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) suggests Americans could come together over climate change policy if it’s centered on protecting national parks from further impacts.
The poll found a bipartisan majority of 84% see national parks as part of the solution to address climate change and 83%, regardless of political affiliation, would be more likely to support a representative who supported a bill to reduce the impact of climate change on U.S. national parks.
Canyonlands National Park (photo by Tom Till, courtesy Visit Utah)
“It was interesting to see how much of a unifying force national parks can be on the topic of climate change,” says Erica Parker, Managing Director of The Harris Poll, which conducted the NPCA poll, in a recent statement. “Americans, both Democrats and Republicans alike, clearly see the adverse effect climate change is having on the national parks and that connection compels them to support climate change solutions.”
Theresa Pierno, President and CEO for NPCA says, “This poll shows national parks unite us and offer solutions for addressing it. With visitation to our parks at an all-time high, Americans are seeing the impacts firsthand with parks burning, flooding, melting and eroding. We all agree. We cannot and must not wait.”
And the time to come together on climate change was yesterday. A new UN report on climate change indicates that harmful carbon emissions from 2010-2019 have never been higher in human history. The report concluded that the world is on a “fast track” to disaster, with scientists arguing that it’s “now or never” to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. That’s the proverbial tipping point that could lead to “cascading and irreversible climate effects,” says UN chief António Guterres, such as “unprecedented heatwaves, terrifying storms, widespread water shortages and the extinction of a million species of plants and animals.”
“Climate change is the most serious problem our national parks face, wreaking havoc on so many things we love,” says Pierno.
We are already seeing how climate change can impact the delicate environments, ecosystems and resources protected by the boundaries of our national parks. Peer-reviewed science from the NPS Climate Change Response Program has found that human-caused climate change has exposed the US national park area to more severe increases in heat and aridity (that means higher temperatures and less rain) than the rest of the country as a whole.
Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (courtesy Visit Utah)
Scientific research in national parks has identified numerous changes attributed primarily to human-caused climate change, including:
Doubling of the area burned by wildfire across the western US, including Yosemite National Park
Melting of glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park
A doubling of tree mortality across the western US, including Sequoia National Park
A loss of bird species from Death Valley National Park
A shift of trees onto tundra in Noatak National Preserve
Sea level rise of 17 inches near the Statue of Liberty National Monument
Decline of the flow of the Colorado River (which runs through Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon and Lake Mead), along with drought, reducing Lake Mead and Lake Powell to their lowest levels
According to that same 2020 report, “adaptation measures can strengthen ecosystem integrity. Yet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities is the only solution that prevents the pollution that causes climate change. Energy conservation and efficiency improvements, renewable energy, public transit and other actions could lower projected heating by two-thirds, reducing risks to our national parks.”
Southern Utah’s 16th annual Amazing Earthfest 2022 is hosting an event highlighting climate change’s effect on national parks, calling it “the greatest threat the national parks have ever faced.” Registration is required to attend this and other Amazing Earthfest events.
The Caffe Ibis roasting plant in Logan has been an integral part in shaping Utah’s coffee landscape for more than 30 years, including the last decade's coffee revolutions.
Red Butte Garden has released its Outdoor Concert Series lineup. The series is hosting its full summer season, including 30-plus bands, artists and performers, compared to just 22 shows last year. This year’s concerts will kick off mid-May, while last year didn’t get rolling until July. All in all, that means more chances to lay out a blanket on the grass, pop the cork on your wine and enjoy some live summer tunes.
Tickets for the Red Butte Outdoor Concert Series will go on sale April 25, 2022 for Garden members and on May 2022 for the general public. Before you go, double check the venue’s restrictions on the size of chair you can bring as well as outside food and drink (and make the most out of your experience with Salt Lake‘s tips on how to Red Butte.)
“We are more than ready to get back to filling the amphitheater with guests and music—and based on the inquiries we’re getting, we think our guests are ready, too,” says series Executive director Derrek Hanson. He added that this season should have a little something for everyone with a lineup that includes alternative-indie, pop, rock, and folk music.
The concert series has continued its tradition of a very musically diverse lineup, from pop rock acts like Barenaked Ladies, to contemplative folk like Iron & Wine, to straight bluegrass like Old Crow Medicine Show. As it stands, here is a look at this year’s Red Butte Outdoor Concert Series lineup and ticket pricing:
MAY
May 18, 2022. KALEO Fight or Flight Tour w/ Bones Owens; Garden members: $52 / Public: $57
May 20, 2022. TREY ANASTASIO BAND Spring Tour 2022; Garden members: $60 / Public: $65
Joss Stone will perform July 13.
Howard Jones will perform June 28.
CAAMP will perform July 27 as part of the 2022 Red Butte Garden Outdoor Concert Series.
JUNE
June 14, 2022. SHE & HIM Melt Away Tour; Garden members: $60 / Public: $65
June 15, 2022. ZZ TOP Raw Whisky Tour; Garden members: $80 / Public: $85
June 20, 2022. BARENAKED LADIES Last Summer On Earth Tour, GIN BLOSSOMS & TOAD THE WET SPROCKET; Garden members: $72 / Public: $77
June 21, 2022. ANDREW BIRD, IRON & WINE Outside Problems Tour w/ Allison Russell; Garden members: $50 / Public: $55
June 28, 2022. HOWARD JONES The Dialog Tour, THE VOICE OF ULTRAVOX MIDGE URE; Garden members: $47 / Public: $52
June 29, 2022. TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE, Tank & the Bangas, Big Freedia, George Porter Jr. & Dumpstaphunk, Cyril Neville, The Soul Rebels; Garden members: $68 / Public: $73
JULY
July 1, 2022. CHRIS ISAAK, LYLE LOVETT AND HIS LARGE BAND; Garden members: $80 / Public: $85
July 6, 2022. MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER w/ John Craigie; Garden members: $45 / Public: $50
July 13, 2022. JOSS STONE w/ very special guest KT TUNSTALL; Garden members: $62 / Public: $67
July 19, 2022. MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD Follow Your Heart Tour w/ The New Respects; Garden members: $67 / Public: $72
July 23, 2022. OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW Paint This Town Tour; Garden members: $43 / Public: $48
Tickets for Red Butte Concerts will go on sale at the Outdoor Concert Series website. Check out Salt Lake’s guide on how to Red Butte. For more information about the garden itself, visit redbuttegarden.org.
Apres-ski was turned up a notch in Park City over the weekend. Let’s say two to three notches. And over three delicious days. It was all thanks to Deer Valley Resort and DAOU Family Estates’ premier Taste of Luxury Series, the first of three-weekend events this year featuring food and wine, world-renowned culinary figures and luxury brands. Three-star Michelin Chef Roberto Cerea headlined the inaugural weekend April 8, 9 and 10 as he joyfully pleased the palettes of dozens of guests at a meet-and-greet reception, personalized cooking class, eight-course dinner and finale brunch.
“We must have used 80 pounds of parmesan cheese in four days,” exclaimed Deer Valley Resort Executive Sous Chef, Chris Gibson. Gibson, formerly Silver Lake Lodge’s Executive Chef, was promoted to his new role as the resort recently welcomed Chef Peter Meneer as the new Executive Chef.
“When the seasons change and all the new fruits and vegetables come in, that’s my favorite part about cooking—that and fusing different cultures together and fresh farm-to-table ingredients. When the team comes together and we work really hard and the customer is really happy, that’s what I live for,” said Meneer.
Guests were certainly happy and undoubtedly very full following the event’s fabulous feasts, as evident at Sunday’s brunch when fresh juices and baked pastries, a beet trio salad and two generous helpings of Chef Cerea’s Paccheri were all followed by an espresso panna cotta tiramisu dessert.
Cerea brought with him a jar full of Italian tomatoes to add to locally sourced ones for the paccheri pasta sauce—just another one of Chef Cerea’s special touches made from the Deer Valley kitchen.
As many chefs do, Cerea learned much of his craft from his parents who dedicated their lives to culinary excellence. The family restaurant, Da Vittorio, just outside of Milan opened in the 1960s and has since earned three Michelin stars.
Cerea wasn’t the only award-winner sharing, celebrating and educating guests at Taste of Luxury.
The team from DAOU Family Estates, home to some of California’s most noteworthy wines, paired several varietals of Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon with the fine food meal after meal. DAOU wines hail from the untapped world-class Adelaida District of Paso Robles.
“For me, it’s from one mountain, DAOU Mountain, to another here in Park City but really it’s all about creating an experience for our guests. For us, we get to do that through the lens of wine here at Deer Valley and at Park City, working with the team here. It’s just all-encompassing and all-immersive and we are thrilled to be a part of that because, at the end of the day, life really is about connection,” says Maeve Pesquera, DAOU Senior Vice President.
Forever Gourmet and KJUS premium ski, golf and lifestyle apparel also sponsored Taste of Luxury’s inaugural event. The Taste of Luxury Series will continue later this year with two more weekends of premier wine, food and festivities at Deer Valley Resort. For more information about upcoming Taste of Luxury Series events, visit Deer Valley’s website.
Your mental image of the typical Mormon family could probably use a few updates. In Utah, people both inside and outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can easily conjure the stereotype—a happily married mom and dad with three or four perfect kids ready to multiply and replenish the Earth into the eternities.
Not so fast. As of last year, the majority of adults in the Church are single, whether they’re divorced, widowed or never married. That’s a significant change, especially in a religion that’s especially fixated on traditional families. The complex, often painful experiences of single members of the Church are explored in Aftershock, a new play at Plan-B Theatre by Utah playwright Iris Salazar, herself a single Mormon.
Shaken from both the pandemic and the 2020 Salt Lake City Earthquake, Teah (Estephani Cerros) nervously attends a therapist’s office for her first visit. While waiting for the appointment, Teah has a bizarre dream—her counseling session has turned into an audition and her therapist has turned into Dr. Love Dearest (Yolanda Stange), a host who evaluates Teah for a TV dating show. Teah has no interest in being the next Bachelorette, but with Dr. Love Dearest’s encouragement, she shares stories from her life as a single Mexican woman in the Church.
Salazar is a writer with a perspective worth sharing—her experiences are both specific and broadly relatable. (Even if you’ve never stepped foot in a single’s ward—Church congregations specifically you’ve probably felt disillusioned by romance or stifled by cultural expectations.) It’s rare—and refreshing—to see art tackle the complicated feelings many of us feel about religion, especially in Utah. Both Aftershock’s protagonist and playwright are devout Church members, but the play is unafraid to make explicit and implicit critiques of the faith and its culture. Salazar feels no need to evangelize or sugarcoat tough realities—the play includes potentially triggering subject matter, frank discussions of sex and swearing, which is confusingly bleeped. Still, Teah (and, seemingly, Salazar) embraces her religion’s teachings and doctrinal rules, most notably about sex and dating. This nuanced treatment of faith and spirituality is the play’s strong suit.
While Salazar’s point-of-view is refreshing, much of Aftershock is frustratingly uneven. The play’s initial premise—a therapy session that turns into a dating show—is a strong idea, and Stange brings a needed burst of energy as the hammy host. Unfortunately, though, the conceit is all but abandoned, and the play turns into a straightforward therapy session as Teah describes key moments of her life. This not only sidelines Stange, who has little to do but nod supportively as Teah spills her guts, but it abandons the comic potential of the play’s initial idea. Why not introduce three single’s ward bachelors, a la The Dating Game, to illustrate Teah’s frustrations with dating? Why not start with a parody of a specific show—say, The Bachelor or Love is Blind—and launch into more serious depictions of Teah’s experiences. Without a clear concept, Aftershock flounders, and the play’s return-to-reality ending is more confusing than satisfying.
Salazar’s script is bursting with ideas—in barely over an hour, Teah essentially tells her entire life story, with anecdotes covering not only religion and dating but also race, gender, alcohol abuse, mental illness, harassment, women’s health care, the pandemic and body image. With such a wide breadth of subject matter, Aftershock doesn’t have time to dive past the surface level, and awkward pacing dulls the narrative’s impact. Two early scenes about nightmarish roommates drag without a clear purpose, while Teah’s explanation of her dating history comes and goes with little room to breathe. The capable ensemble—Danny Borba, Pedro Flores, Liza Shoell and Sam Torres—plays figures from Teah’s past, but the writing is too rushed for them to make an impact.
Despite the play’s missteps, Salazar’s unique voice is still a welcome addition to Utah theater. Plenty of stories address dating and sex, but it’s more rare to see a play that grapples with life as a single person in a culture obsessed with marriage. Teah struggles to be understood by friends both outside and inside the church and her virginity is treated as a punch line. At times she feels lonely, but the script also challenges the idea that romantic love is the only avenue for fulfillment. Cerros’s emotionally open performance captures Teah’s pain, but the best moments of Aftershock prove that there is more to this character than a relationship status.
Aftershock will be in-person and streaming at Plan-B Theatre through April 17. For tickets and more information, visit Plan-B’s website. Read more about Utah theater.
Conner Nesbit is certainly more flush since pocketing the $100,000 grand prize awarded him as HBO Max’s first Full Bloom champion a year ago. He’s also a lot busier. Since winning the reality show design competition, the Layton-based florist has freelanced for colleagues on projects far and wide: a celebration at Utah’s Amangiri resort, a wedding in the mountains of Crested Butte, Colorado, and a month-long series of affairs hosted along the dreamy coast of Lake Como, Italy. “This has a very experimental phase, working with other talented designers while exploring my own creativity,” he explains.
As the owner of Leuca Floral, he plans to put that creativity to work in 2022. “I’m finding potential in things that I had previously written off,” Nesbit explains. This includes yesterday’s top picks. “There’s a resurgence of Old World florals including everything from gladioli and carnations to tulips and marigolds,” says Nesbit, touting the new and interesting varieties of these and other conventional blooms. “There’s more complexity being bred into them all.”
That makes these newfound favorites ideal for the robust arrangements Nesbit designs today. “My work is reminiscent of old Dutch Master paintings with abundant, dramatic flowers all facing forward,” he says. The florist champions bigger blooms, richer colors and less foliage at a time when today’s ethereal, nature-inspired arrangements are all the rage. “I’m shying away from those and am looking for what’s next,” he explains.
Photo courtesy Leuca Floral
On Vessels
I favor simple materials like natural stone and terra-cotta that let the flowers do the talking.
On Dried Flowers
They are hugely popular right now and I love them. I preserve many myself.
On Sourcing
I love working with local growers. Every stem is unique and more interesting than many mass-marketed blooms.
On Arranging
I enjoy the therapeutic experience of arranging flowers—stripping foliage off of the stems, taking in their natural fragrances and working with so many fresh materials.
If you’re even a casual rom-com fan, the basic plot of Fireflies, a play by Matthew Barber now at Pioneer Theatre Company, should be pretty familiar. You could probably get a good idea of where things are going from just the playbill summary—the narrative doesn’t depart much from the expected beats of an enemies-to-lovers arc. Despite, or maybe because of, the script’s if-it-ain’t-broke philosophy, Fireflies is a comforting, crowd-pleasing success. Sometimes, all you need is a pleasurable, well-told story with characters—who, in one notable way, depart from the expected mold—worth rooting for.
Joy Franz and Joy Lynn Jacobs in “Fireflies” at Pioneer Theatre Company (Photo courtesy Pioneer Theatre Company)
In a small Texas town, retired schoolteacher Eleanor (Joy Franz) lives alone on her parents’ property. (Both her mom and dad died years before the play began.) Though she is a respected figure in the community, Eleanor’s life is mostly a solitary one, aside from frequent, usually unannounced visits from her busybody neighbor Grace (Joy Lynn Jacobs). When a storm damages a roof on her property, Abel (David Manis), a drifter in town, offers to make repairs. While the prickly Eleanor is initially wary of Abel, their relationship slowly builds from distrust to cautious friendliness to an undeniable mutual attraction.
Fireflies stands out in one obvious way—both Eleanor and Abel are in their 70s. Onstage, and in pop culture more generally, it’s rare to see older characters as protagonists, especially in a story about new romance. Eleanor’s fear of aging, which is discussed simply and movingly, is a throughline in the play, including in a funny, fantastical scene where Eleanor imagines herself as an artifact at the natural history museum. The script’s matter-of-fact treatment of mortality adds dimension to the plot’s more conventional elements, and the characters’ ages are both central to the story and no-big-deal—the play reminds audiences that new experiences can happen at any age.
Joy Franz in “Fireflies” at Pioneer Theatre Company (Photo courtesy Pioneer Theatre Company)
A veteran of the stage for more than five decades, Franz leads the ensemble like the seasoned pro that she is. She is convincing as both a lovable curmudgeon and a lonely, sometimes vulnerable woman unmoored by aging and grief. The story just wouldn’t work without the chemistry between Eleanor and Abel, and both Franz and Manis are adept at portraying the couple’s slow burn—their opposites-attract connection always makes emotional sense. As the nosy neighbor, Jacobs gives a broad, lively performance. She gleefully chews on a sausage-gravy thick Texas accent, wears the hell out of a pink church lady ensemble (the costumes are by Brenda Van Der Wiel) and brings just enough pathos to prevent Grace from turning into a caricature. (Rounding out the cast, Tito Livas plays a small role as the dimwitted Sheriff Claymire, Eleanor’s former student.)
While characters occasionally spout nuggets of folksy wisdom, this intentionally modest play rarely strains to focus on anything more than the characters and their relationships. The appropriately low-key direction by Kareem Fahmy emphasizes quiet, simple moments, which all happen over the course of one week. Like Eleanor’s kitchen, the setting for almost all of the play, Fireflies is unassuming, warm and familiar. For audiences of any age, these characters, and the actors who play them, are easy to spend time with.
