By Dana Davis    

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

As Mother’s Day approaches, I find myself reaching back into the corners of my childhood, remembering the comfort of our family kitchen and the special desserts that marked the most cherished occasions. One treat in particular has stayed with me over the years, not just for its taste, but for what it meant–the Banana Split Torte.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I am not wild about licorice. In truth, I won’t even eat black licorice. The anise flavor just is a little weird to my taste buds.

Anise flavored liqueurs such as Ouzo, which is Greek, and Sambuca, which is Italian, I will drink if I am in the right mood.

In fact, there was a time when I drank Sambuca fairly often.

By Dick Perue

GAAT Correspondent

God willing and the creeping crud doesn’t crash the party again, you all are invited to “Gather at the Table” for barbecue ribs and all the fixin’s Monday evening, May 5th, from 5:00 to 6:30 in the Saratoga Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall at the corner of Third & Bridge.

By Mike Armstrong    

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

Many people may not realize that Hawaii for many years, before condos and resorts, was a place known for its beef. The Parker Ranch back in the day, was the largest in the world.

Grilling steaks is as common as grilling fish or baking a pig underground.

There are sauces that ranchers and locals alike used on their meats back before Hawaii became a state.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

The warm weather is coming and it is time to break out the blender. Most people think of using rum or tequila as they get their mixing machines out. Vodka is used too, but one of my favorite spirits to use is brandy.

I am not about cognacs or any of those pricey brandies from certain regions.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

My vegetable gardening is not as strong as my flower gardening. I don’t do well with most vegetables, with the exception of tomatoes. I even grow them from seed.

Often as not, I grow them out of pots, but there have been a couple summers I grow them in a ground garden.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I have enjoyed walnuts since I was a little kid. I ate them mostly raw, but sometimes they would be in some baked goods or sweet potato dishes.

Neither of my families ever  cooked any Asian dishes, so I never ate walnuts in any dish with meat or seafood.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

An interesting spirit came out in 1984, and it became a monster seller. I can remember when Captain Morgan Spiced Rum came to a bar, it was not long after a Captain and Coke was the most popular drink.

Captain Morgan Spiced is owned by British Diageo, one of the largest spirits companies in the world.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

My love for mangoes started in Hawaii. I don’t believe I had ever had one before I moved to Honolulu. The same thing with guava fruit which grows everywhere.

I like guava, but mango is one of my favorite fruits, especially if it is a good one.

I was very spoiled with my first encounter with mango.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I started working for Ocean Spray in Taiwan in the mid 2000s when I had my restaurant in Taichung.  I had already been Jim Beam’s brand ambassador for the island and because there were not many Westerners (or Asians) that knew the brands very well, I stood out to a lot of companies, because I did.

By Dana Davis

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I may know a fair amount about flavored whiskies, especially since I worked with Fireball the way I did about a decade ago.

Fireball was the first really big flavored whiskey to resound with the drinking public. There had been some honey flavored whiskies, such as Wild Turkey Honey, Jack Daniels Honey and Jim Beam Honey which came a little later than the other two.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

It is amazing to me how much my taste buds changed from when I was a little kid.

I was great about eating fruits and vegetables (how many kids do you know that are overjoyed when Brussels sprouts are being served up). I ate sweets to a degree, but my favorite snack was carrots. I ate three or four a day.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

One of the first articles I ever wrote on whiskey was for a magazine in Taiwan. That was about 15 years ago and the subject was on Irish Whiskey.

At that time, Irish Whiskey was just starting to make a comeback.

By Dana Davis

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

Experimenting with re-creating delicious restaurant dishes at home is a passion of mine.

On a recent day off, I was soaking in the hot springs in Saratoga and chatting with some tourists who asked for recommendations for a good place to get something to eat, there are many good restaurants in Carbon County so it wasn’t difficult.