Every year the list is different. We don’t do categories, we don’t fill in forms, we don’t count votes. We just pick our brains and everyone else’s for the coolest, newest and unexpected superlatives in the Beehive State. Every year we surprise ourselves and are delighted at the discoveries. You too will be surprised and delighted. And, no doubt, disgruntled. Because we left out one of your favorites. Let us know.
Best Kitty Fix, Cache Humane Society Cat Cabana – What if we told you that you could cuddle kittens and help a charity? The Cache Humane Society’s Cat Cabana lets visitors sign in to play and cuddle the kitties so they can socialize before finding their furever homes. Or, be an even cooler person and adopt one of these fluff balls for yourself. 2370 W. 200 North, Logan, 435-792-3920, cachehumane.org
Best Sugar Rush, Temptation Cupcake – If you want one of the best cupcakes you’ve ever had, you need to head up to Logan ASAP. Known for their buttercream frostings, Temptation Cupcakes are so sinfully good, they put it in the name. Bring your gluten-free friends with you, their GF offerings are just as tasty as their regular flavors. 1010 N. Main St., Logan, 435-787-8272, temptationcupcake.com
Best Rejection, Pepperidge Farm Factory Cookies – All those Pepperidge Farm cookies you gaze longingly at in the store are manufactured up in their Richmond factory. But, when the cookies come off the line looking less than perfect, they end up in the on-site store where their loss is your gain. Bring the kiddos and buy rejected cookies still as good as their flawless counterparts. 901 US-91, Richmond, 435-258-2491
Best Pancake the Size of Your Head, Cinnamon Swirl at Herm’s – The only thing that could possibly make a great pancake better is more of it, and Herm’s has that down. Tucked away off a back road, Herm’s Inn is serving up pancakes the size of your head and then covering them with frosting, caramel and cinnamon sugar. It’s not a waffle, but we think Leslie Knope would approve. 1435 Canyon Rd., Logan, 435-792-4321, hermsinn.com
Best Glimpse of the Future, Martian Tomatoes. Yes. Martian Tomatoes. – You can’t grow tomatoes in outer space—little water, lots of CO2 and not much nitrogen. And there’s no take out on Mars. That’s a problem for future Mars inhabitants or explorers. They’re going to have to grow their own. USU biochemist Lance Seefeldt and botanist Bruce Bugbee have been trying to solve this future problem for 30 years. This year, NASA tapped them to start a $15 million, five-year project, Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space or CUBES. (Space types love their acronyms.) Caesar salad on Mars can’t be that far away.
Butcher’s Bunches – Liz Butcher has been jammin since 2010, starting in her own kitchen and selling at farmers’ markets and now distributing their jams and jellies nationwide—thousands of jars a year. Based on local fruit and partnering with other local food producers like Amano Choccolate and High West Whiskey. butchersbunches.com
For more of our Best of the Beehive winners click here.
