"Mormons" news and stories

Utah has a claim to fame other than Mormons and The Osmonds. It's fry sauce. The pinkish concoction has been around for more than 50 years and is the states condiment of choice for French fries.

The stuff is so popular at home and in fast-food spots that there was a fry sauce pin made for the 2002 Olympics. The basic recipe for fry sauce is simple: one part ketchup to two parts mayonnaise. Of course there are numerous variations on the coral-colored condiment. Some restaurants add salt, spices, garlic, relish, horseradish and even pickle juice.

As with many flavors that have captured the public's palate, there's a secret recipe. Gary Roberts, president of Arctic Circle restaurants, which claims to have invented fry sauce in 1948, keeps his fry sauce formula in a safe.

Utah, however, no longer leads the country in fry sauce consumption. Washington and Oregon now consume more of the stuff than the state where it originated. Go figure.

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I recently returned from a four day trip to Utah. My man, Matt, the children and I travel there about four times a year to visit the in-laws. Most of Matt's relatives are Mormon and they embrace just about everything that goes with that status.

Having grown up as a Catholic, these sojourns are always a fascinating cultural study for me. One of my favorite aspects of these studies involves food. Somebody is always cooking at a Mormon get together. There are always zillions of aunts, uncles, cousins and crawling babies and ordering out for pizza will just not suffice. Every function I have attended involves salads, both leafy and Jell-O,  white rolls, casseroles, meats, sauces, plenty of fruit juice and an array of desserts. In the past the kitchens have always intimidated me and I have stuck closely to the buffet line.  However, since I am now deeply entrenched in food research I decided to ask the various women, not be sexist but I have found the kitchens to contain only women at these gatherings, about their cooking secrets. I did not divulge to them that I would be blabbing their tips to the blogosphere, but I believe their knowledge just might benefit one or two readers. Following, in no particular order, are a few of the tidbits I learned this past weekend: