Free fishing day and a whole lot more

With summer finally arriving, you can enjoy all kinds of great summer activities at Wasatch Mountain State Park.

Tour Huber Grove, take a hike, enjoy FREE FISHING DAY, leaf prints, flute music, Friday evening walk-abouts, ongoing geocaching, and more can all be fulfilled on your summer bucket list right here in Midway.

Call Wasatch Mountain State Park with any of your questions.

435-654-1791

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Star Party

Bring a date, bring your family, or just bring yourself, but for sure bring a blanket. You won't want to miss the kick off to International Dark Sky Week at Wasatch Mountain State Park.

Saturday, March 30th from 8 to 10 pm

The Salt Lake Astronomical Society will be at Wasatch Mountain State Park, 1281 Warm Springs Road in Midway with their equipment to teach you about the stars. Smores and cookies as well as a great time will be had by all.

Direct your questions to the park at 654-1791.

It is the perfect opportunity for a fantastic spring evening in the Heber Valley. See you there.

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Ready to make the easiest AND tastiest cheesecake, EVER?

One day one of our 4th grade sons brought home a cookbook from the school library. He wanted to make cheesecake, and so we did. That was a year or two ago and since then I think we have perfected the cheesecake.

Here is the latest and greatest.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE
2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ready-to-use graham cracker crust

Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.  Add eggs and mix until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour into crust. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chips on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight before serving.

It is so GOOD!

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Moonlight Snowshoe Hike

A Full Moon Showshoe Hike is January 18th at the Visitor Center in Midway, Utah. Please register online at friendsofwasatch.org. All proceeds to to support events and programs at the park. Children must be at least eight years old to participate. Snow shoe rentals for both children and adults are available for an additional cost ($6 and $4). There will be two guides for each hike.  

Please check in at the Visitor Center no later than 6:45 pm. The hike will start promptly at 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be served after the hike. Come join us for a fun family event. There are three different levels of hikes available depending on ability and age.  The cost for adults is $7 and $6 for children. You can click here for more information.  If you have questions call Nancy O'Toole at 435-671-1453.

Can't make January 18th work? Then think about the Romantic Moonlight Snowshoe Hike on February 15th. 

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Your kids can win tickets to the theater

I am teaming up with Avon and Ideal Theaters for a Coloring Contest!

Show us your best coloring. We'll pick a winner in each age group and the winner will win tickets to the Ideal or Avon Theater!

You can pick up your coloring page at either of the two theaters in Heber City, the Parks and Recreation office, as well as the library.

Submit your finished artwork to either theater by December 20th.

Brought to you by Heath @HeathsHomes.com

Local Winter Activities

You can participate in the 119th annual Christmas Bird Count on January 5th at the Wasatch Mountain State Park Visitor Center, and you don't even have to be a bird expert.

This is a great way to get out and enjoy the fabulous outdoors that surround our beautiful county. Check out all the other winter activities available right here in our backyard offered by Wasatch Mountain State Park.

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Snickerdoodle Blondie Bars - pretty snacky!

A few weeks ago I tried these cookie bars at one of our kids' events. Thank you Leslie for sharing your recipe!

They were AMAZING!

We made them for an openhouse we hosted over the weekend. They were a hit there as well. So, I'm sharing this super simple, can't mess it up, make your mouth want more, delicious recipe with you. 

Ingredients:
1 cup of butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt

Topping:
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan (or line with parchment paper) and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and milk. Add in eggs, stir until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Stir into the butter mixture until combined.
Pour batter into prepared 9 x 13 pan.
In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over the batter in the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.

You may be tempted to keep them in the oven a little longer because the middle seems a bit jiggly, but don't. The timing is perfect. Enjoy the simple way to have the goodness of a Snickerdoodle cookie with the ease of a cookie bar.

Brought to you by Heath Harvey @ HeathsHomes.com

Celebrate with the old fashioned Christmas spirit

Come to the 2nd annual Old Fashioned Christmas

at the Heber Bank Block Building, 2 South Main

Friday, December 15th from 6 to 8 pm

This is a great event with live reindeer, pictures with Santa, cookie decorating, hot chocolate, ornament making, scavenger hunt -  all free to the public. I'll be in the Innovative Real Estate office making ornaments so please stop in and see us. I have a special treat for you. 

Lola's food truck and Fuego Mexican Grill food truck will be there for your dinner enjoyment.

Please join us for a real Christmas experience!

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Winter in the Park

Here are quite a few great, outdoor, winter activities available for you right here in your backyard. Take a look and put a few on your calendar. I guess we better get out and enjoy this winter weather in our beautiful valley. We waited all summer for this!

All of these events are at Wasatch Mountain State Park. Call Kathy at 654-1791 if you need more information.

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Don't miss the spookiest Halloween destination this year!

GIVING INSTEAD OF TRICKING

The coolest Halloween Haunt to be found in the valley is the home of my friends, Blair and Jessie. They take Halloween to a whole new level. It's incredible. My crew and I went two years ago to check it out and it was so great! This year will be no different.

One of the things that makes it so great is that they are doing a GIVING INSTEAD OF TRICKING food drive for the local food pantries. Food pantries need food and household supplies so this year Blair and Jessie are accepting:

toilet paper, dish soap, laundry soap, canned foods and dry packaged foods, cleaning solutions, canned meats, as well as milk, eggs, and bread. They have an extra fridge to store these items before delivering them to the food pantry. Donations will be accepted all week.

Last year Halloween visitors from the community filled their SUV with food pantry goods. Let's fill a few SUVs this year. Grab an item or two for the food pantry and take your family to visit 250 N 500 W in Heber City. You'll enjoy Blair and Jessie's love of Halloween as you stroll through their yard and get spooked.

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Outdoor Lovers Unite

Outdoors men and women, help bring some Wasatch County trails back to life! Join the USDA Forest Service to work on some hiker-biker-horseback rider trails near the bottom of Daniels Canyon.

Where: Meet at the Heber-Kamas Ranger District Office at 2460 South Hwy 40 in Heber City.

Who: You, your mom, your dad, your 7 year old, your neighbors, your coworkers, your significant other, your friends from the gym. Everyone is welcome.

When: Saturday September 30th at 8:30 am.

What to bring: Closed toed shoes, long sleeve shirt, pants, small pack for carrying water and snacks, friends, and family.

What will be provided: Tools such as tree trimmers, loppers, and hand saws, as well as personal protective equipment.

It's the perfect kind of day to get out in this gorgeous valley we live in and give a few hours of your efforts to make it even better. If you think this is a good idea, please share it!

Brought to you by Heath @ HeathsHomes.com

Head to Concert in the Park prepared this week!

Despite all the great food vendors at Heber City's Concert in the Park, we packed our own picnic dinner last week when we headed out for some summer evening enjoyment. It was delicious and so so easy. Here it is, the perfect filling yet light, cool picnic salad.

CONCERT IN THE PARK SALAD
3 cups of chicken broth or water and bouillon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 tsp ground ginger, divided
1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water and bouillon
1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice
1 tbsp butter
1 10 ounce pkg frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup sliced green onions
6-8 sweet baby peppers, all colors
DRESSING:
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
1 garlic clove, minced
dash of ground ginger

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot combine chicken, lemon juice, garlic, 1/4 tsp ginger, 3 cups of chicken broth (or use 3 cups water and 3 tsp bouillon) and bring to a slow boil. Cook chicken over low heat until done. Remove chicken and cool.

Cook rice in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 1/2 tsp bouillon), 1/2 tsp ginger, butter and salt. Fluff with a fork.

Put rice and chicken into a large bowl and cool. Add peas, onions, peppers, and whatever else is in your fridge that sounds good. I had some broccoli and cauliflower that I added and the peas were fresh from the garden.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and drizzle over salad. Toss to coat well. Refrigerate for a few hours.

We made some biscuits to go with our salad and it was the perfect summer evening light dinner to go along with the music and atmosphere of the concert in the park.

This week we get to hear harmony, acoustic, contemporary, folk, pop, and rock all wrapped into one with Mister Sister, a local band. Don't miss it this week, Thursday, July 20th at the park on Heber City's Main Street. The Farmer's Market begins at 4:00 pm and the concert starts at 6:30 pm.

Brought to you by Heath Harvey @ HeathsHomes.com