America/Files/Books/Food

America250 Festivities

I have staff meeting for the Utah Historical Society every two weeks, and after Monday's meeting, they had civics trivia on Kahoot. I won the trivia, so I got to pick out one of the prizes, so I got this hat. (I like to have a hat while I'm working at my desk because my window can get overly bright.)

In the evening, the City of North Salt Lake was hosting a special America250 event, so I went, wearing my new hat. See, I want to embrace these patriotic activities this summer because (1) it is a once-in-a-generation milestone and (2) I want to demonstrate that our country is much more than our current dystopian moment.

For this event, they had representatives from an organization called Why I Love America, which brands itself as nonpartisan, though I can see what direction they lean. They had a poster that was mostly about the American Revolution, though it also included "brave" Christopher Columbus and the Mayflower. If it was going to include things besides the Revolution, those are not the historical events I would have included, at least not all of them. (I can't complain too much about this civic gathering, since it was sandwiched between NSL's Pride and Juneteenth events.) They had little boxes with tiny exhibits of history and civics.

Then they had a program where people who were dressed up as Founding Fathers read the Declaration of Independence. Reading the Declaration was a staple of nineteenth-century Fourth of July celebrations. Thankfully, that has ended—so boring! And they handed out little brochures with the Declaration and the Constitution. After the ceremony, they had everyone hold a giant American flag while a drone took a picture.

I do love my country, despite all of its problems (guns, Trump, pollution). I don't consider myself an overly patriotic person, though you would think otherwise seeing me in June and July—I really just love the Fourth of July. I'm not that interested in conversations about the American Revolution, especially ones that focus on the battles. (I don't care about Lexington and Concord or Ticonderoga.) But I am interested in how Americans remember the Revolution. I enjoyed reading the book The Memory of '76 last year. And that's part of why I'm interested in all the America250 events this year.

Work Files

Once a week, I'm going into the office to go through old files that our predecessors kept. Since we are a state entity, many of our records have to be stored in State Archives, though we don't need to keep everything. Many of these old documents are dull and useless, but there are some interesting ones. I was especially amused by an email exchange from twenty years ago. Part of my job is to obtain book reviews for Utah Historical Quarterly. Each review features the reviewer's name and institution, and then we send proofs to the reviewers before they go to print. One of my predecessors twenty years ago sent a proof that accidentally said "University of Cream" instead of "University of Utah." When I found this email, I laughed harder than I have in a long time. 

Another reviewer was embarrassed that he wrote "pubic" instead of "public." And I found another instance where someone wrote an unfortunate typo in a letter, but in the days of typewriters, they could only type new letters over the old ones, instead of backspace. (I'm not sharing it here because I try to maintain a clean, wholesome image.)

Weekend Road Trip

This week, my parents were camping at Yuba State Park, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to join them, then hit up some more bookstores for the Independent Bookstore Crawl. 

After work on Friday, I headed south. I stopped at Old Navy in Orem, because I have wanted an American flag sweater for years, and they were the closest location that had one in stock. (Fourth of July isn't really sweater season. I'm thinking Election Day or an exceptionally cool Memorial Day?)

And I also got dinner in Nephi.

I arrived at Yuba State Park, my third time visiting there but my first time staying overnight, which was $25. I didn't feel like getting on the water that night.

The next morning I got on my parents' kayak for half an hour. It might have been fun to spend more time doing water things (swimming, paddleboarding), but I had other things to do.

While my parents fretted over their lost trailer hitch, I headed south to Richfield. I went to their little bookstore, The Bookmark. This was a small store that was mostly fiction, so I didn't buy anything. 

While I was in Richfield, I went to Lin's grocery store, and then I went to the Maverik across the street, just because I like Maverik. By pure coincidence, my aunt who lives in Flowell (near Fillmore) just happened to be at Maverik at the same time! I went to her car and said hi. That was quite a surprise!

Then I drove north to Mount Pleasant in Sanpete County. Their bookstore, Curiositea, is upstairs in City Hall. It occupied one room and spilled into the hallway, and it had a bigger selection than I would have expected for a little town. 

I had never stopped in Mount Pleasant before, and I was impressed by the selection of things they had on their little Main Street, including old buildings that are being preserved by the State Historic Preservation Office.

Then I headed north again, and I stopped to get a burger in Fairview.

This was for sale in the restaurant. I find it . . . concerning.

And then I was back in bigger places once I arrived in Spanish Fork. Their bookstore, Poppy Books and Gifts, was in an old house. I was impressed with their selection—they leaned into fiction, but they did have a fair selection of nonfiction. I bought A Queer History of the United States.

And then I headed north to Springville to go to the Pumpkin Cottage Bookshop. They are soon opening a new storefront, but for now it was a little upstairs space.

This was a very small bookstore. It had lots of pumpkin décor, so I hoped I could buy something pumpkiny, but I didn't see anything for sale. This was also a fiction-centric store, but I bought a book called Queer and Christian.

And herein lies my dilemma. If I go to a bookstore and don't buy anything, it seems like a waste. And if I do buy something, I beat myself up, because my TBR list is already long, and I should be getting rid of things, not buying more things! But I do have a career where I think it's good to have books on hand as a reference.

Anyway, I hit four bookstores yesterday! I have seven bookstores left on the crawl, and most of them will be harder than what I've done hitherto. But I'm brainstorming ways to get to them.

RWB Roundup

This week's RWB roundup isn't so red, white, and blue. I don't think the things this week were necessarily inteded for the Fourth of July, but I count them as Fourth of July flavors, so you're hearing about them.

Apple pie is one of the big patriotic flavors this year, but Apple Pie Toast Crunch has been around for years as a fall/winter thing. When I saw it at two different Targets, I wondered if maybe they released it again for the Fourth of July but didn't bother to change the packaging. But the expiration date indicates that it's just leftover cereal. Which is a shame, because it's great! 8/10.

The Other Side Donuts has all their proceeds go to the homeless, and they sell some of them at the Other Side Thrift Boutique near my office. I really enjoy the Other Side Pink Lemonade Donut, which has a nice filling. 8/10.

I also really enjoyed the Other Side S'mores Donut, which had the same filling. It was tasty, but it was a bit too much after I had just eaten the lemonade donut. 8/10.

There is a place nearby with the very original name Fresh Sushi and Boba Tea, and I got a watermelon slushy there. I don't actually know what the slush is. But it comes with boba, which I quite enjoy. I didn't find the watermelon flavor to be that different from the honeydew flavor (which I can have at St. Patrick's Day because it's green). 7/10.

In Nephi, I got a Nebo Queen S'mores Shake, and they forgot to give it to me until I asked about it twenty minutes later. They list this as a June special, but it's also on the regular menu, so how special is it? I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't terribly inspired. 7/10.

The packaging for Wiley Wallaby Lemonade Licorice doesn't indicate it's limited edition, but it does say "a fresh squeezed splash of summer." As promised, it is soft and chewy! I like it. 8/10.

I spent a lot of the week going through the foods I have already featured here. But I do have a list of things I still hope to buy over the next few weeks!

Start of June

The most exciting thing for me this week was that Utah Historical Society staff got to tour the new Museum of Utah! The grand opening is June 27, but different groups are getting special previews in the next few weeks. I wasn't involved with the museum, so I didn't know what it would be like. And I was really impressed! It is arranged loosely thematically, not chronologically. 

I generally avoid internet comments, but a long time ago (like more than a year ago), I looked at comments on an article about the upcoming museum. Some commenters were certain that it would be the same old story of Mormon settlement. That is part of the museum, but it's only a small part. Others were certain they wouldn't acknowledge incarceration of Japanese Americans at Topaz. They were wrong too. (Interesting how so many folks will learn something and suddenly think they know more than everyone else.) I'm eager for all the haters to get a dose of humble pie.

The most publicized item is the Mormon Meteor, a 1930s race car.

They have items from the Sundance Film Festival from 2019 and 2020, the two years I worked there.

I was amused that these 2002 Olympic mascots were on display, because we have them on a shelf downstairs at home! I see them every day. (We also have a bigger fox on the same shelf.)

I was not involved with the museum officially, but last fall, they did ask me to copyedit some of the museum text. I thought they were going to send more to me to edit, so I don't know why they didn't. But one of the areas I did edit was quotations from different Utah writers and musicians. They include the title of the authors' work (like Neon Trees' "Animal"). But I didn't want them to include the full name of Juanita Brooks's book John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat, because the best scholarship indicates that John D. Lee was not a scapegoat for the Mountain Meadows Massacre, even though Mike Lee tweets otherwise. They did listen to my advice, because the Juanita Brooks quote does not include the book title. 

And there is a section devoted to celebrations, which of course is right up my alley, especially with some of the Pioneer Day entries.

I was intrigued by this holiday-themed game from 1995. The caption says it was "produced specifically for the 150th anniversary of Pioneer Day," but I assume they mean the 150th anniversary of pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, not the holiday itself (which came two years later).

In this same celebrations section, they have videos of different celebrations. In the Days of '47 video, one of the men says that Brigham Young wanted a rodeo at one point, so that's why Days of '47 has a rodeo. NO! Rodeos were not a thing during Brigham Young's lifetime! But it's still an interesting perspective.

I don't actually know this, but it's my understanding that in this section there was supposed to be a video about the Pride parade, but the Utah law prohibiting different flags in government buildings meant they couldn't include the video. [eyeroll emoji] There are some other references to LGBTQ+ activism throughout the museum, though. Pride Month is supposed to be an enjoyable time for queer people, but I'm finding myself disheartened by all the people who take issue with it, like Governor Cox declaring June "Fidelity Month." If you don't like something, you can just ignore it!

Anyway, I'm excited for everyone to see the new museum! I'll be working a morning shift at the grand opening (June 27), but it will be open daily after that. And it's free!

June also means the time has come for me to resume goathead picking. Since 2012, I have devoted time in June to picking goatheads. Since 2022, I have done it a different way: There are a few patches I've adopted in the neighborhood, and I go back regularly all summer and into the fall to pull up any new plants I see. I really think I have made a substantial difference, at least on Marialana Way. This year, I have adopted a new spot where Center Street turns into Lacey Way. I have spent several hours there this week to pull up all the plants that have already sprouted. There are still more plants there, but soon I should catch up, and then I hope to keep an eye on the spot so I can pull up any new plants. I have often seen goathead plants spreading all over the sidewalk here, so I hope I can prevent that from happening again.

I always wonder how much of a difference I'm making, and is this just some weird quirk I'm doing that doesn't have much impact? But some cities will give people bounties for bags of goatheads. I don't pick great volumes of plants, because I prioritize picking them when they're new and small. So while I wouldn't be able to collect much of a bounty, I think I'm making more of a difference by getting them before they bear fruit—the most diabolical fruit you will ever encounter. I am concerned about various invasive plants: myrtle spurge, dyer's woad, phragmites. As bad as those others are, they don't stab you or pop your bike tire. So my goathead mission will continue. (There's a brunch restaurant in Salt Lake called Goat Head, and I might have to go sometime.)

Thursday evening, my family went to see the Bountiful Chalk Art Festival. Many of the artists were still working on their pictures, and I saw not one but two artists wearing Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls) hats. I'm not at all artistic. 

Yesterday I did a usual North Canyon run to Rudy's Flat, seven miles total. Two other runners ran past me, which always makes me feel slow. And since I've been going on nine-mile runs, and sometimes even fourteen-mile runs, I feel like I'm being lazy when it's just seven. But seven miles is plenty, especially in hot weather.

Apparently I didn't clear all the soap out of my water bottle, because it was foamy all along

I feel like I've seen less Utah sweetpea than usual this year

I love Nootka roses!

***

Time for RWB roundup! There's a lot this week.

The Burger King Firecracker Cookie Pie has a cookie crust with a soft, sweet topping. It tasted a little fruity, but I don't think it's supposed to. I like it, though I don't know how to describe it. 7/10.

Recently, McCormick has been making limited edition finishing sugars. I find this so intriguing, because is there really that big of a market for finishing sugar!? I don't know what to do with them. I tried these new flavors on cottage cheese, which was not a great vehicle for them. But I'm analyzing the sugars, not the cottage cheese. The McCormick Mixed Berry Finishing Sugar looks so fun and festive! And the berry flavor is fine. 7/10.

And the McCormick Apple Pie Finishing Sugar tastes more like fall, even though it has red and blue stars on the package. 6/10. I want to have more of these sugars, but I don't know a good use for them.

I got this Nice! Gummy Stars Peelable Candy from Walgreens. Nice! is a Walgreens brand, but I think these are made by Peelerz. I have given up on trying to peel peelable candy, but for just eating, I really enjoy these! The white (lemon) one is great. The strawberry and blueberry ones are OK. But the texture is great. 7/10.

I don't know what the flavor is supposed to be for Nice! Sour Belts, but it's not that great. 5/10.

King Krumb is Walmart's answer to Crumbl, and I'm glad they have seasonal flavors. Each box has two flavors. So far I've only had the Valentine's flavors, but this week I tried the Fourth of July flavors. I don't appreciate the durable plastic packaging. These cookies are not soft right out of the box, so they're best after fifteen seconds in the microwave. The King Krumb Berry Patriotic Cookie has a vague berry flavor, but I don't think it's that flavorful. 6/10.

Same can be said for the King Krumb USA Birthday Cake Cookie, which was satisfying carbs but not a distinctive flavor. 6/10

I'm always interested in really random things, like grüns Firecracker Superfoods Greens Gummies, which are classified as a supplement. I have no idea about their nutritional value, but they are enjoyable gummies, if a little weird. 7/10.

I admit I'm a little embarrassed that Waterloo Apple Pie à la Mode Sparkling Water is branded with Guy Fieri. Apple pie à la mode is a tall order for sparkling water: apple, spice, crust, and ice cream are all supposed to be in sparkling water? I can't say it tastes like apple pie, but it tastes like lots of things I have in the fall. 6/10.

There are lots of s'mores things, and I like it when their packaging is red, white, and blue, like Favorite Day S'mores Mini Bites. They are a graham cracker with a marshmallow coating and then chocolate on the outside. These are very decadent and tasty! 8/10.

I made a special trip to West Jordan to try the Dunkin' Donuts Rocket Pop Donut, which has a rocket pop–flavored filling. I'm not a fan of the star sprinkles, because they make it too crunchy. But it looks really fun, and it really does taste like a rocket pop! 8/10.

While in West Jordan, I had a Wayback Burgers Red, White, and Blue Shake, which is a vanilla shake with pomegranate and blue raspberry flavors. Since this is a national chain, it's a runny shake, which is fine with me. I can't say the flavoring was exceptional, but on a hot day after picking goatheads and running up the canyon, this was really satisfying. 8/10.

Kroger (Smith's in Utah) has three special chip flavors for the summer. First is the Kroger Chili Cheese Potato Chips, which has a hot dog on the package, but I don't think there's any hot dog flavor (which is probably a good thing). It's chili cheese. As I first tasted these, I really enjoyed them. But then it occurred to me that I wouldn't care to eat many of them. I think this flavor works better on corn chips. I associate chili more with Halloween than with the Fourth of July. 6/10.

Kroger Buttered Corn Potato Chips are better than the Pringles corn-flavored chips from 2020. I'm not sure what to make of them; they don't really strike me as very corny. I don't usually like butter-flavored things, so I wish they leaned more into the corn and less into the butter. 5/10.

The Kroger Cheeseburger Potato Chips are better than I expected, since I usually don't like cheese-flavored snacks. They do taste like a cheeseburger, mostly the condiments. It's not gross, but it's not my preferred flavor for potato chips. 5/10.

Albanese Boomsicle Gummies are the usual cherry, lemon lime, and blue raspberry flavors. Some of the gummies are designed with bite marks, and some aren't, which I think is a cute touch. As far as gummies go, these are really good! 8/10.

I never loved those round peanut butter sandwiches as a kid, but I thought I would give them another chance by trying Smuckers Uncrustables Red, White & Berry Spread Sandwich. They have blueberry and strawberry filling. I do enjoy them! The bread is so soft! 7/10.

Ore-Ida Star Tater Tots are a category 3 food, meaning they are just a seasonal shape, not a flavor. They're good tater tots (especially with ketchup), just a little boring. 7/10.

Back in 2014, I had Summer Ice Pop Tic Tacs, which were cherry, lime, and blue raspberry. That was the first time I ever had something flavored like a rocket pop, and it was twelve years ago—they were ahead of their time! But they didn't bring them back the next year, though I did see them in 2018 in Canada, oddly enough. But they're back! Now they're Red, White, and Blue Tic Tacs. The package doesn't specify the flavors, but they're just as I remember them. I find it odd that they don't specify the flavors, because I almost didn't buy them because I worried they'd just be mint with special colors. Maybe fruit flavors would drive people away? 7/10.

Sour Punch Ice Cream Truck Bites ostensibly have four flavors: cherry sherbet, orange cream bar, Americana pop, and strawberry snowcone. I only really taste the orange flavor. And either I got a bag with only three flavors, or the cherry and strawberry look identical. 6/10.

Not food: Squatch Freedom Fresh Soap looks cool, and it smells nice, but I don't know what the scent is supposed to be. 7/10.

I missed the instruction to squeeze and shake before opening Nature's Premium Berry Blast Red, White & Blue Fruit Pearls, but that's OK. They're just strawberries and blueberries with yogurt. I am glad I use Sensodyne so I can chew on frozen foods (that would have been far too painful in the past). I appreciate that these come in paper, not plastic, cups. They're fine? 7/10.