By Dana Davis

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

There are days when the clock seems to move faster than usual.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

There was an ingredient that, when I lived in Hawaii, I had heard of, but it was not something that seemed to be available on the islands. What is ironic, it is a fairly important component to one of the State’s most popular cocktails.

The cocktail is the Mai Tai and the missing ingredient is orgeat syrup.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I am not a great baker and although I can make some desserts, I don’t try to make many.

There is one that I like and it is fairly easy.

That works for me.

Entrees and side dishes, I will take the trouble to prep and get ready to make, but I much prefer to have desserts made for me or just eat fruit.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I could not tell you the first time I tried Sake, the Japanese rice wine. I didn’t eat Japanese food until I moved to Hawaii and even then, the food I ate was lunchboxes I bought in the old town part of Honolulu.

These places didn’t serve sake.

I do remember they had spam in a lot of their meals, which I had never eaten before.

By Dana Davis

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

Every family has that one recipe everyone requests for birthdays. In my family, it’s this old-fashioned spice cake from my mom’s cookbook. My oldest daughter, my youngest sister, and my dad all put in their orders months in advance. And honestly, who could blame them? The cake is fragrant, flavorful, and a little bit nostalgic—warm, comforting, and a touch of magic in every bite.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

St. Patrick’s Day just ended and many bars across Carbon County celebrated with shots of Irish whiskey.

I enjoy Irish Whiskey for its taste and also because I have learned a lot about it.

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

By Dana Davis

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

Some people ask where I learned to bake, and like many, the answer starts in my childhood kitchen with my mom. I may have had a bit of an advantage, though.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

Bailey’s Irish cream probably started the cream liqueur craze and Amarula, a South African Liqueur added to it, along with Tequila Rose–a strawberry-flavored cream liqueur.

These products all appeared in the 1980s. 

Since those times, there has been a lot of growth in that industry.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

While running my restaurant in Taiwan, I was always on the lookout for new recipes that would work.

I was lucky that many customers who came frequently had suggestions.

Collin, from Singapore, is one such person.

There were not many Singaporeans who lived in Taiwan, but the ones I met were outstanding people.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

In the 1980s and 1990s, there were spirits coming out that could be put on ice and drank from the bottle. Some like Orchid liqueurs were fantastic and made with 75 percent juice. I learned about them when I was living in Shanghai and the distiller came to introduce their product. 

I was working for a large liquor importer in China at the time.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I understand not everyone is ready to eat tofu dishes, but I think it is because tofu is not really on the radar of the average American palate. I know it was not on mine.

I doubt seriously if my father, stepmother, mother and stepfather ever even tried it.

That is partly because it was not in stores the way it is here.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I was not really fond of lamb growing up because my stepmother always overcooked it.

If I am right, my father liked well-done meat, so she may have been out to please his taste palate. 

Anyway, I did not look forward to when we had it. Fortunately, it was not often.

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

I like sweet tropical drinks and I know that is because when I first started bartending, the place I worked at had three types of coladas on its menu: Strawberry, Pineapple and Melon. A colada is a coconut flavored based drink, which I have written about before. 

I enjoy coconut cakes, candy, fresh coconut and coconut-flavored liquor. 

By Mike Armstrong

Reporter, Carbon County Comet

Originally printed 4/12/25

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 Dana Davis

Reporter, Carbon County Comet