Episode 308 – Airplane Bathrooms

Our guest was unable to come but is already rescheduled! So, this week we’re going to wrap up our review of City Weekly’s Best of 2021 (part II) this week.

Jeremy does math to figure out Chris and I have been doing the podcast for almost as long as we’ve been a couple. Then we do some personal planning that is quite thrilling and talk about the lifting of the Federal travel mask mandate, there’s a lot of pee talk and we discuss the reclassified COVID endemic. Chris talks about his new lunchtime getaway and the loot he’s gotten and shared.

BEE UPDATE: As promised, Jeremy gives us an update on the bees after last week’s snowstorm. He checked on them all week and the bees were protecting the queen and on the 16^th Jeremy discovered the queen is out and after that the bees have been out and about looking for food sources.

If you felt something that was like an earthquake and are in the Salt Lake and Tooele valley area, the Tooele Army Depot was ‘blowing shit up!” Bre is disappointed that she didn’t get to see the small helicopter crash at Airport II.

We start with Media & Politics and are reminded that many of the 2021 picks are COVID related and/or influenced. We move along to Arts & Entertainment and finish up with Goods & Services. For Restaurants, Food & Drink and Nightlife, go listen to episode 295, Floppy Fries.

I was excited to learn that Dave Cawley with Cold put out another investigative, unsolved murder podcast about Joyce Yost. Senator Mike Lee wind both Best Political Scandal and Worst Utahn and we feel both were greatly earned. I also learned that Traeger is a local company, who knew?! (Don’t tell me if you did). Please listen to hear about our thoughts and opinions along with our personal alternatives to some of the places listed.

Prior TNUP guests/topics who won awards, Demolished Salt Lake, Cat Palmer (Best Visual Artist), Gia Bianca Stephens (Best Drag Entertainer), Spiral Jetty (Best Public Art), The Monarch (Best Ogden Cultural Pollinator), Olio Skin & Beard Co (Best Tattoo Oil), Fillings & Emulsions (Best Minority-Owned Business), and the Alpine Loop (Best Scenic Drive).

If you’d like to be on the show, have an idea or comment, please reach out to us on our socials, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also email us at thenewutahpodcast@gmail.com.

The New Utah Podcast · 308 – Airplane Bathrooms

We will ALWAYS love your “likes” BUT don’t forget to click that little SHARE button (or retweet) *sharing IS indeed caring* You can find us and subscribe on Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Itunes, IHeartRadio, Google Play, and TuneIN. Leave us a review and Follow us on the Twitter @tnupodcast, Instagram @Tnupodcast, or on Facebook The New Utah Podcast

Episode 307 – Furry Pron

This time it’s really a Prime episode! So, not common, but not so unusual either, Utah had a small blizzard on the 11th. The wind was so strong, it threw one of Jeremy’s compost boxes across his yard! Additionally, the bees arrived on the 11^th and luckily the bees are protecting their queen. Regular bee updates will be part of the next several episodes. We discuss the problems that a snowstorm this late in the season can cause, including damage to Chris’ garden since he’s already planted the entire thing.

*Meditations on Pollination – WordPress.com*

Julia announced that her brick and mortar for The Pleiadian Altar will be opening June 11^thand 12^th. She’ll begin to have regular hours, so plan on patronizing her budding business.

This week we are interviewing Allie Gore from Lunasea. This lovely person was born here in Salt Lake City. They have always loved art and it was encouraged first by a great elementary school teacher. Like Julia, Allie went to Weber State University for a degree in art education, but soon realized that world wasn’t for them. They definitely still had a love of art but not to teach it, do produce it.

After a bad breakup in January of 2021, they found the Ogden art community through involvement in the Odgen Farmers Market. Allie does a lot of Pride themed work to help others in their queer community. Allie’s family has been very accepting of them.

Their art is digital and influenced by animation and anime. Allie isn’t your normal anime fan, they are looking at the artwork and the style because that is their passion! They tell us their inspiration comes from media consumed and from that comes art prints, stickers and buttons!

Allie thinks one of the best things she’s discovered about Utah is the art and vendor community and how much she loves being a part of it. Please follow Allie in Instagram at lunasea.art.

In closing, because it’s near and dear to my heart, if you can, please adopt a dog. The doggos adopted at the beginning of the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home, are finding themselves in shelters now that they are in their teenage years and their families are back at work and school. We’re a huge fan of CAWS because we found Phoebe Rose there but Rescue Rovers, www.utah.bestfriends.org, and your local Humane Society are good places, too. There are many, many others. Make sure they are reputable and then take your new baby to Kudos 2 Kanines so you and your pet are the best family ever!

The New Utah Podcast · 307 – Furry Pron

Episode 304 – Pirate O’s

This week Jeremy and Julia tells us all about Julia’s collaboration with Alexi at a Cocktail Collective event. Folks who attended made spells jars and learned how to make cocktails. This will be an ongoing thing between the two each month so check out their websites for dates, times, locations, and ways to register. Additionally, Julia will be at Pride Fest, West Fest, Herriman Town Days and Riverton Town Days, if you want to stop by and support her. When you do, mention you heard about her on the podcast, and you’ll earn a free crystal!

Chris talks about the craziness of Orlando and how strange it is there. If you want a theme park, that’s where you should go because it’s not all Disney!

Voting for Best of Salt Lake has begun and goes through April 6^th. Our friends at K9 Design, Kudos 2 Canines, Ruby Snap, Olio, etcetera, will be there to vote for, so go do the thing!

This week we’re super excited to have had Orian Collinsworth the owner and proprietor of Pirate O’s Gourmet Market on the show. To those of you who know, you know and to the rest of you, let’s learn. We start out learning that our guest was born in Yukohama, Japan while his dad was there for the military. After traveling all over and losing his mother, his family ended up on Spokane, WA where his father was decommissioned right before Vietnam and became a Baptist minister.

Orian ended up in Idaho where he attended Boise State College and was the first graduating class of Boise State University. There begins he illustrious travels to play foosball and him landing in Utah where he started working for a natural foods’ distributor. He survived several sales to larger companies until he ended up working for Walmart. That didn’t last long and after losing his job, he worked with another retailer to start a store modeled after Trader Joe’s. Evolution has created what has now become Pirate O’s. A fantastic gourmet grocer who also sells fun and exotic candies, has a special hot sauce wall and pasta room. Where else can you easily buy a $200 bottle of hot sauce?!?!

Orian said customers used to come in for ‘that one thing’ but now his customers come in for regular shopping. And don’t forget the deli. While dining in is still not an option, carry out is. The number one seller is #15, so go in and enjoy it. As a side note, the building was built in 1976 as the Fort Douglas Theater and moved to its current location where Orian plans to keep expanding and maybe even open a second location. We also learned about a POW’s first right of refusal and many other stories he had to share. Take a listen to the episode and hear about a fantastic person’s journey to create a fantastic place that can only be found in Utah!

Orian’s favorite thing is Snowbird and powder from the past. Skiing may not be what it once was, but it’s something that is still enjoyable and fantastic and uniquely Utah.

The New Utah Podcast · 304 – Pirate O’s

Episode 300 – Fire Crotch

Hey, Folks! I can’t believe it. We hit 300 continuous episodes this week and it’s our Utah Adventure Week. Y’all hit the jackpot with this episode!

Starting out with our rambling intro, we talk about recording on Two’s Day (2/22/22). Yes, I’m a dork because I think it’s cool and used it all day in my email signature. Jeremy and Julia talk about heading out for the annual boar hunt. This year Julia is hoping to bag a boar because someone has requested one through her shop (listen to last week’s episode to hear more details about her business, The Pleiadian Altar.

Chris and I are back from our short little cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, where we stayed on the cruise ship and just had a relaxing little vacation. Cruising is one of our preferred means of travelling. Also, my colonoscopy was not February 25^th but March 25^th, so I promise to provide riveting information next month for those of you who are getting old like me.

Last item as we transition into our adventure is Jeremy’s new chicken. It’s either Puff Daddy or One-Eyed Willy. We talk about what jerks chickens are and where the term ‘hen-pecked’ came from.

Onto the exciting adventure. This month we went to Clark Planetarium in The Gateway. Utah’s planetarium goes back to 1964 when Gail Plummer, a professor at the University of Utah expressed interest in converting our old library (we’d outgrown our second Salt Lake City library space at 500 South 200 East). At that time Plummer convinced Beatrice Hansen to donate $400,000 to fund the new Hansen Planetarium, in memory of her late husband. When Mrs. Hansen passed away, the building was renamed the Mr. and Mrs. George T Hansen Planetarium, Space Science Library and Museum. During its operation it had the highest per capita attendance of any planetarium in the nation. It soon outgrew the space and when it moved to The Gateway in April of 2003. A $1 million donation was made through the Clark Foundation on behalf of Sheila M Clark, and it was renamed the Clark Planetarium.

Bryton Bluth (Jeremy, Julia, Bre & Chris, left to right)

During its time as the Hansen Planetarium, it created the first “pitless” digital dome in the United States. The dome was innovative and created an amazing opportunity to view education and entertaining information in a 3-D manner without the aid of glasses. When the planetarium oved to The Gateway, they created a new dome theater. Two super-high-resolution projectors work together to blend a seamless video stream over the entire dome. The shows in the dome theater cover a variety of space-related themes and are live-narrated.

The Clark Planetarium is about 10,000 square feet of free exhibits that are interactive, entertaining, and educational. Listen to hear about our favorite exhibits and experience with them. One of my favorite exhibits is an infrared camera where we discover my core is literally white hot. Apparently, I’m always cold because my interior heat does not escape!

Byrton Bluth (Julia & Bre, left to right)

We hope you are enjoying our Utah Aventures as much as we are. As the weather warms up, you’ll hear us doing more things outside. If you have any ideas for us, let us know on the socials!!!

Bryton Bluth, (Jeremy & Chris, left to right)

The New Utah Podcast · 300 – Fire Crotch

Episode 296 – A Raft of Otters

Utah Adventure Week – Loveland Living Planet Aquarium

This week Julia announces that she’s added an event calendar to her website for The Pleiadian Altar. Take a few minutes and find out where she’ll be hocking her wares! Black Rabbit Studios sends us our promised gifts. We’re going to spread the love by putting some on our travelling suitcase and sharing the wealth between the four of us.

This week we are starting a new monthly spotlight. After some on-episode discussion, it will be called the Utah Weekly Adventure. We start off our tourn at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium

You know where it is, just on the west side of I15 at 120the South. Do you know why you know? Because instead of allowing U2 to scrap their stage from their 360 Tour, they are now using it as part of the Aquarium’s educational area.

The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium was started in 1997 by Brent Anderson, a marine biologist and Utah native. He started with a mobile educational marine exhibit in 199 and opened the 10,000 square foot location at the Gateway Mall in 2004. This enabled Anderson to raise funds and to garner interest in the endeavor. They had over 300,000 visitors in the first two years and quickly outgrew their space. In June of 2006, the moved to their space in Sandy, which was over 43,000 square feet and soon had over 460,000 visitors each year. Finally in 2010, they purchased 17 acres of land and raised $27 million to build the Aquarium in its permeant home, Draper. Currently the Aquarium is 136,000 square feet and was opened in March of 2014 and saw over one million visitors in the first year.

There are five areas to visit at the Aquarium so I’m going to give a little overview of the order we saw each of them:

Journey to South America. Our first impression was of the climate control. It was humid and warm inside to mimic weather for the animals and plants living inside. We saw the electric eel, a sloth, porcupine, toucan, poisonous frogs, and empty butterfly exhibit. It was really cool to see the indigenous plants that were included with identification signs. Julia confessed that she used to be afraid of the river monster fish and was terrified that she might fall into the tank.

Penguin Research Station. When we arrived, they were feeding the penguins and talking about how they take care of them. Each penguin is labeled so they can monitor their food intake and the lights and temperature in the enclosure are controlled to imitate their natural environment (Sub-Antarctic islands). The lights go up and down according to what would be happening in the wild. Many of the penguins at the Aquarium were actually born there and you can read a little bit about each of them.

Expedition: Asia. There are two clouded leopards in this exhibit; however, we were only able to see one for a short time. What a treat that was though! There were a lot of giant and colorful fish!

Discover Utah. We have determined that Utah has boring fish, but you can see the brine shrimp in this exhibit. This is also where we saw the otters come out to have a little food stimulated learning and an active beehive. Utah is a beautiful place and watching the otters play was one of the highlights of our day.

Ocean Explorer: This exhibit has a place where you can touch sea urchins, star fish, sea cucumbers, and anemones. They also have a stingray pond where you can reach out and pet them! This is where we saw the seahorses and dragons, the giant octopus, giant clam, and the giant lobster, along with bioluminescent fish. There is a really cool shark tank with a tunnel you can walk through so you are surrounded by the beautiful creatures. Just outside the tunnel is a show area where you can see the same tank from the side.

You can buy a membership, eat there and when it opens again, they have a 4D theater. They offer shark yoga, nature storytime and youth camps. You can rent the Aquarium for private events like weddings, proposals, and family parties. Both indoor and outdoor spaces are available and there are times when you can rent out the entire Aquarium. Additionally, the Aquarium is in the process of adding on hands on learning as well as science labs. (Chris may have a recording of this information)

We loved this episode and our first adventure. Join us next month as we continue to explore Utah for ourselves!

The New Utah Podcast · 296 – A Raft of Otters

Episode 295 – Floppy Fries

Hello all you fabulous listeners!!!

We are recording on Skype this week because Julia is negative for COVID but then positive twice but then negative again. She’s feeling better but home recovering and avoiding giving it to us since we’ll never be sure if she has/had COVID!

The Utah State Legislature began on the 18^th. We talk about how important it is to know what is happening up on the hill and to contact your legislator if you something is important to you. Please go to www.le.utah.gov for bill tracking, to find out who your representatives are and to listen to committee discussions.

We know you’ve been waiting for it, so here it is, the first part of our City Weekly Best Of review! In this weeks episode, we go over the Food & Drink and the Restaurants categories. We are shocked that The Pie didn’t win for Best Pizza or even Best Pizza in Ogden but excited that Fresh Donuts & Deli is on the board for Best Donuts. Our wonderful friends at Ruby Snap beat Crumbl for Best Cookies and of course, Pretty Bird, FTW under Best Chicken Sandwich. Chef Adalberto pulls out a couple secondary positions under Best Bakery and Best Dessert for Fillings and Emulsions but we know he should be #1! Guras Spice House is overlooked for Best Indian Restaurant again but now that Jeremy has been to La Caille, we know it’s a real place to go and eat. Surprisingly, between the podcast crew, we’ve been to all the winners in Best French Restaurant. Chris is thrilled with Sunday’s Best, Best Restaurant Brunch win but we’re not going to Takashi until their dining room opens, no matter how many categories they win.

Don’t worry, we didn’t miss pulling a Tarot Card this week and it tells us to listen to our little voices . . .

The New Utah Podcast · 295 – Floppy Fries

Episode 292 – Utah Copper

This is TNUP’s last episode of 2021. We’re so excited for 2022. For 2022 instead of just researching the amazing places in Utah, we’ll be visiting some of them. We’ll record a bit, take some pictures, and then come back to the show to tell you about our adventure.

We open the show this week by talking about football bowl cancellations due to COVID concerns. As of our recording, the Hawai’i Bowl, Military Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Fenway Bowl, and the Arizona Bowl. As of this writing, the Rose Bowl will be played. Go Utes! Along with that a small shout-out to Tom Barberi, who passed away on Christmas Eve. He was a staple in the Utah media and will be missed.

Bre and Chris talk about their successful delivery of Sub for Santa gifts and a successful mouse trapping. So far there are no signs of a second mouse. Fingers crossed we don’t end up with a mouse infestation similar to Jeremy’s rats!

Salt Lake City Tours – Copper Mine of Utah Tour

This week we talk about the Kennecott Utah Copper Mine or the Bingham Canyon Mine, the largest man-made excavation and deepest open pit mine in the world. Currently the mine is owned by Rio Tinto Group (a British-Australian multinational corporation). In the episode, we talk about the ore discovery in 1848 by Sanford and Thomas Bingham (whom the canyon and mine were originally named after) and the many iterations of owners the mine has had since its opening in 1863. While the mine brought much work and prosperity to Utah, it’s become a blight to the west bench that managed to literally bury entire cities.

The mine does not just produce approximately 300,000 short tons of copper annually but also, 400,000 troy ounces of gold, 4,000,000 troy ounces of silver and about 10,000 short tons of molybdenum. While I think everyone has heard of copper, silver, and gold, none of us had heard of molybdenum, a metal that is ductile and highly resistant to corrosion. It also has one of the highest melting points of all pure elements. We also found out the molybdenum is a micronutrient that is essential for life but can be poisonous when you are overexposed. (Don’t say we never taught you anything)

We also talk about the huge equipment needed to undertake this type of mining. One shovelful from a bucket holds more than 100 tons of material and it takes about three scoops to fill the 320-ton haul trucks used in the mine. The electrical shovels are six-stories high, and the average haul truck is 24 feet high with six tires more than 12 ½ feet tall. Each of the tires lasts about nine months and when the truck is fully loaded, it weighs more than 1,100,000 pounds.

In addition to burying entire towns, we talk about Daybreak being built on top of old tailing ponds. In 1990, homes that that been built on former flood plains were discovered to be contaminated with high levels of lead and arsenic. In its history, smelters caused sulfur dioxide gas emissions that significantly damaged neighboring crops and have had at least 25 chemical spills since 1989.

When Rio Tinto purchased the mine in 1989, they modernized the mine, mill, and the smelter. They also replace the railroad with conveyor belts and pipelines for transporting both ore and waste. We discuss the landslides and that the pit can be seen with the naked eye from outer space!!!

The Bigham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine is on the list of National Historic Landmarks. We talked about the visitors’ center being open on the episode, but it is still closed due to COVID restrictions. You can take a virtual tour on their website.

Chris puts us all on the spot about our favorite episode of year but I’m the only one caught unaware and unprepared, as is the yoozh. He also tells us about his company’s impromptu Christmas party where is boss is like Oprah, “You get a prize! And you get a prize! And you get a prize!!!”

We hope you have a great new year, and we’ll see ya on the flip side!

The New Utah Podcast · 292 – Utah Copper

Episode 288 – Dog Training

In this episode, Chris is a fan of the FAUCI Act, though still not a fan of Chris Stewart. The Gates Thanksgiving dinner was very prayerful if a little less than tasty. However, they made the most of the long weekend by doing a little rock hounding. They discovered Wonder Stone Quarry and found rocks that are only in Utah and Nevada. Chris and Bre spent a quiet, low-stress weekend eating Turkey and decorating for Christmas.

We were so excited to finally sit down with Robyn Carlson from Kudos 2 Canines. You’ve heard us talk about Robyn and Kudos on many earlier episodes. Robyn was born in Salt Lake City but had a restless, single mom who moved them around a lot. First doe the Fairview area, onto Corpus Christi, Texas, back to Utah, then to Montana and back to Utah.

Robyn has always been drawn to and had dogs. In high school she started volunteering with Furburbia and No More Homeless Pets. After high school, she moved to North Carolina to nanny. While in NC she also worked at the SPCA. Robyn’s boyfriend (now husband) was here in Utah so when she came back to him, she started back at Furburbia and worked as a liaison with the Humane Society. She found a love for the rescue side of pets but also found it can be exhausting. Robyn then moved into the vet world and all the way up to head surg tech with the Humane Society.

While pregnant with her first child and she ran into a trainer friend at PetSmart. They were hiring and Robyn found her love in pet education. She had never been a trainer before but worked her way up to Area Trainer for Utah PetSmart’s and did that for about seven years. Robyn loved what she did but not where she was doing it.

In 2012 she made new year’s resolution to start her own business and she opened the early version of Kudos 2 Canines in February of 2013. Her inspiration for the change, her now 14-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog, Tucker. Robyn often refers to Tucker as her partner and he is the logo and the official mascot for K2C. Tucker gave her the confidence to dot the job. He has worked as a therapy and service dog and have won many awards together.

Robyn’s business started as a travelling group training. She rented rooms in rec centers, a CrossFit gym and even held classes in driveways. She was then able to open her first training center in South Salt Lake. A location they outgrew almost before they moved in. The were there for two years before moving to their current location, which they have now outgrown. Robyn and K2C just closed on a new place, near to the first location, and they will own this building.

Compared to other doggie day camps, K2C is not a free for all. Robyn and her staff of trainers lead a structured day where dogs get to play but also get to learn. In addition, K2C takes breeds that other training facilities may not. They also take puppies after their second round of shots and pups don’t need to be spayed or neutered to attend. During COVID, folks decided to get dogs and those dogs needed training. K2C started to get away from their core values: education. So about six months ago, she and her staff decided to limit their class sizes to 20-30 dogs a day, to require education in order to attend day camps and pups can get more one-on-one training. K2C also does ‘out and about’ classes where the dogs go on field trips and group classes go out into the real world to help dogs get along in public.

You are your pets best advocate and K2C can help you both learn how to work best together. Also, if you are fostering dogs, Kudos offers discounts on classes and day camp. Robyn built her business on word of mouth and recognition because she truly believes in the work she and her staff do. They have won awards and are growing by leaps and bounds. Starting in January their new location is 55 E Miller Avenue in South Salt Lake. The new facility will enable Robyn to continue expanding on her dream. They will have space for a pool and plan to be a one stop shop for training, grooming and specialties, along.

Please listen to the episode to learn more about Robyn’s favorite dogs, her plans for Kudos 2 Canines future and how to take care of your doggo. Visit them at www.kudos2canines.com for more information about training and classes. They also have a massive Facebook presence with many groups set up for special projects they do. We love this organization, and they give back to the community so go and support them.

Chris forgot to ask Robyn our signature question but at the beginning of the interview she talks about Utah’s landscape. She mentions mountains to the north and red rocks to the south. This is a tried-and-true answer that never gets old because it’s true, Utah landscape is AMAZING!

Unfortunately, this episode ends on a sad note. Many of you may already know this if you follow Jessica on social media (yes, former host, Jessica), but her father passed away Thanksgiving weekend. Jessica’s father spent the last week of his life in the hospital, so she has organized a GoFundMe for her stepmother in order to help with expenses. If you can, please go donate to the fund. You can follow the link or find it by searching for Dan Richardson End of Life ICU Expenses.

The New Utah Podcast · 288 – Dog Training

Episode 284 – Self, Community, World

I guess Jeremy will always be plagued with rats. On this episode he regales us with more tales of tails. We also talk about Halloween in Utah and the Saturday vs Sunday trick or treating dilemma. Last year, Chris and I started a new tradition of heading over to Jeremy’s for trick or treating since no one does it in our neighborhood. For the record, we went to the movies on Saturday and had four folks stop by for candy but Jeremy and Heather had lots on Saturday and again Sunday. Our Halloween celebration was cut short though by a family emergency and maybe that was a good thing since Chris and I found out we contracted COVID! Don’t worry, all is well and we are on our way to full recoveries.

Enough about us though. This week we are joined by the delightful Nikki Nelson with Cousin Ross Productions and CR Effects. Cousin Ross is a full service, ecofriendly, print shop that focuses on recycled products and CR Effects is working on making the world a better place through small changes.

Nikki comes to us through partnership with the Neighborhood Hive. She was born here in Utah and grew up in Bountiful until she moved to LA when she was 15 to live with her sister. After LA, she attended Northwestern University where she majored in mechanical engineering. Nikki was attending university on scholarships and then those ran dry, she stayed in Chicago as a nanny for a time. She was very athletic but discovered she has a degenerative disc disease, needed surgery and lost six discs. She ended up back in Utah where she finished religious studies and then became a physical and massage therapist. She is also a yoga instructor and a nutritionist. Because of her love for people and life, Nikki used her education to start up CR Effects where helps immunocompromised folks as well as folks with special issues. She also works to improve the world through kindness and passion. She proclaims it to be a life-long passion that she will never stop doing.

Cousin Ross Products started when Nikki lost her printer. She had been providing her environmentally friendly products to the prison to print for her but they ended up moving that process out of the valley. That’s when Nikki discovered HP and their recycled printers that use recycled products. Welcome in the birth of a fantastic new printing company that can pretty much do whatever you need! Nikki works with the general public but also works with several artists on the reg.

Nikki’s most interesting/unique things about Utah are Evermore and Capital Reef National Park. She likes that in Utah, you can still go places where no one has walked.

Follow Nikki through CR Effects on Facebook @creffects and on Instagram @cr-effects. You can also follow her and Ross on Facebook and Instagram @cousinrossproductions. Listen to the episode to hear more about her and Ross and how to be involved with these two great Utah businesses.

The New Utah Podcast · 284 – Self, Community, World

Episode 278 – Cooking with Carmie

It’s Bre again! We started this episode talking about cold barbeques, harvesting and FanX. Jeremy decided to throw a last HURRAH barbeque before Fall and the wedding. While he may be beat the wedding date deadline, Fall beat him. The day started off okay, but it was sweater and fire pit weather by the end. Because of this cold weather, it’s time to harvest or you’d better be covering your crop. The temperatures are already dipping below freezing! Lastly, FanX was underwhelming. I’m not sad we went but unlike most years, we didn’t stay for full days and took breaks where we came all the way back home. We ended up not even going on Saturday because running errands sounded like more fun. I think FanX needs to start rethinking their panels and their presenters. It was fun to see the artists and authors and we came home with a haul!

Zachary Quinto, photo from FanX Salt Lake, Facebook

Carmella Anderson from Carmella’s Cuisine is our guest interview, and we were so extra-excited because she showed up with yummy cheese, crackers, and fruit for us all to dine on. You all know how much I love to eat on the show, but Chris wouldn’t let me, so we enjoyed an after-interview with Carmie, and her husband while chowing down on the good eats.

Carmie was born in Toledo, Ohio. She comes by cooking naturally as her parents managed food services in country clubs. After that her family lived above a tavern in Chicago that they owned and operated. As part of an exchange program, Carmie studied in France and has gone back since to study cooking. She has taken cooking classes all over Europe but has never officially gone to school for cooking. While it sounds like Carmie might have had a professional catering business most of her life she wasn’t able to start her own business until quite a bit later.

Carmie and her husband moved to Utah to help take care of her husband’s grandfather but it’s not professional catering time yet. She and her husband hand a handicapped child that kept them busy and it wasn’t until that child moved into a group home that Carmie took official steps to start her own business. Until then, she had been catering for friends and family at cost and already knew she loved it.

Chef Carmie has a passion for cooking and a dream and ran with it. Some of her first official business was a Delta Airlines contract that she took over from someone else. Doing that forced her to get her license and find a commercial kitchen. When the owner of her commissary decided to sell the building, Carmie started looking for a new kitchen and finally found a home in Riverton. It was leased to her as a working kitchen, but the prior tenant had been forced out and left behind not only a mess, but a kitchen that didn’t meet the city regulations. So, while still working in her first commissary, they started preparing the new kitchen for business. Her landlord forgave rent for few months while they renovated since the upgrades made the building more valuable!

So, why catering instead of truck or restaurant? Carmie tells us she loves to be a creative cook and the idea of doing the same menu over and over was not appealing. She loves to create beautiful means that are also tasty.

In addition to the catering, you can order meals to eat at home from her website. Orders are placed by Sunday evening and picked up on Tuesday. She can customize meals for gluten free, dairy free, and just about everything under the sun. She doesn’t see her work as just a job.

Carmie tells us about how she survived COVID shut down, what kinds of meals she prepares and the strange requests some folks make. She tells us about her favorite foods to make and eat and how loving her work helps her through the tough times.

Chef Carmie tells us that having grown up in Chicago and having travelled a lot, she loves Utah because you can find anything. There is a variety of entertainment and landscape. She finds Utah to be well-rounded and wouldn’t dream of calling anywhere else home. You can find her on

Most interesting/unique thing: Having grown up in Chicago and travelled quite a bit. You can find anything in Utah, entertainment, landscape, well-rounded place. Once you’ve been here and seen Utah, it has everything.

You can find Carmella on Instagram @carmellascuisine, on Facebook under Carmella’s Cuisine and online at www.carmellascuisuse.com. Go enjoy this episode and some of her great cooking!

The New Utah Podcast · 278 – Cooking with Carmie

The New Utah Podcast

The Utah you really want to know about.

Author: Bre