UTAH - Pie #44 of 50 - March 2020 - Life Elevated - Alex Collins, Bryan Moreno, Lauren Rinaldi & Me
State Fruit: Cherry
State Historic Vegetable: Sugar Beet
State Snack Food: Jell-O
State Vegetable: Sweet Onion
I have been to Utah.
Utah’s name comes from the Native American Ute tribe and means people of the mountain. Utah has five national parks Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce and Capital Reef. Truly where ideas connect.
The pie for this state is a Funeral Potato Pie! This hot dish hits all the marks of classic comfort food: potatoey, cream of chickeny, buttery, sour creamy and crunchy corn flakey.
This dish became particularly popular in America along the “Mormon corridor” of Utah.
They are named “funeral potatoes” because it is commonly served as a side dish during traditional after-funeral dinners. No one is totally sure where funeral potatoes originated but most sources attribute their spread to the Relief Society, a women’s organization within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One responsibility of society members was attending to the needs of the bereaved, including meals. The dish of funeral potatoes became a way to show your support and sympathy for a grieving family. The long lasting ingredients of funeral potatoes are almost always inside a Mormon’s pantry a holdover from the Church’s post-depression push for maintaining a three month food supply at all times. So the dish is ready to be cooked at a moment’s notice.
The dish is a source of pride and pleasure for those who grew up eating them.
I tried to wrap up all this comfort in my all butter crust goodness.
This pie is dedicated to the lovely people I met that run the Canyons Lodge in Kanab, UT and is being consumed by my lovely friends Alex Collins (D.C pie recipient), Lauren Rinaldi (Connecticut pie recipient) and Bryan Moreno (Nebraska pie recipient) whom all have been to Utah like myself.
I drove from Vegas to Utah en route to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for my 30th birthday. I stopped by Kanab, UT for a day to check out the Coral Pink Sand Dunes and to lay my head at a lovely hotel called Canyon’s Lodge. I also ate the most delicious breakfast of green chillies sauce on scramble eggs in UT before I set off on my 3 day sojourn into the Grand Canyon.
Kanab is called “Park Central” because it is located only minutes away from a grande array of 3 national parks, 3 national monuments, 1 national recreation area and 2 state parks.
Utah is also dedicated to the wonderful fairy being Tan France of Queer Eye who calls Utah home.
I had a wonderful time in Utah and can’t wait to go back.
Please enjoy the photos of my friends and I recreating Seinfeld promo shots while we enjoy the pie!
Utah! life elevated!
44 down 6 to go 🇺🇸🏼🇺🇸