Fire Department's 24th of July

It's time again for the Garden City Fire District annual Pioneer Day picnic! This will be held at the Garden City Heritage Park at 6 pm on July 24th. Free hotdogs and burgers. There will be water fights for the kids, fire apparatus and good friends.

All are invited, residents and visitors alike.

See you all there!

Bear Lake Cake (I had never heard about and I lived there for 55 years)

Kathleen M Dayton

BEAR LAKE CAKE

(This is MY true Bear Lake Cake when you add cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, 1 tsp. EACH)

and my boys requested this cake for their birthdays EVERY year.

prep time: 20 MINUTES cook time: 20 MINUTES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKE

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, (one heaping)

• 2 cups sugar, (one scant)

• 1 tsp. EACH cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg

Whisk these dry ingredients together in large bowl.

In med. saucepan add:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

• 1/2 cup Crisco lard

• 4 heaping & packed Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 cup water

In small bowl or 2 cup Pyrex measuring container add & whisk:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk plus 2 Tbs

• 2 large eggs, beaten

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. baking soda minus 1/8 of it and WAIT to add the soda until JUST before adding to chocolate/flour mixture)

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 F Grease & flour 18x13 SHEET CAKE PAN with edge .

• (In 9x13 pan bake at 375F and check with toothpick for doneness. Will take longer than 20 minutes. )Better cake on sheet cake pan though.

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and spices with whisk

• In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter & Crisco shortening

• Whisk the cocoa powder in until thoroughly combined.

• Add the one cup water and turn up the heat to medium. Whisk mixture & bring to boil for 30 seconds and THEN

• Pour the cocoa/butter mixture over flour mixture, and whisk rapidly until mixed

• In the the Pyrex measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla AND baking soda.

• QUICKLY whisk this buttermilk mixture into chocolate/flour mixture until well incorporated then pour/scrape onto prepared sheet cake pan.

• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. CHECK with toothpick. Do NOT over-bake. This cake is meant to be shallow, thus the sheet cake pan.

THE FROSTING

• 1 3/4 sticks butter

• 4 HEAPING! Tbs. (packed) unsweetened cocoa powder

• 6 tablespoons milk or 1/2&1/2

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 pound (minus 1/2 cup) confectioners' powdered sugar (give or take)

DIRECTIONS

• While cake is baking, make the frosting. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in cocoa powder until thoroughly combined & remove from heat. Add milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Beat with electric hand mixer until all ingredients are fully incorporated and frosting holds shape. Pour over warm cake using an offset spatula to spread the frosting all over the cake.

•

• You may sprinkle finely chopped pecans over the frosting immediately after spreading frosting on cake if desired.

I adjusted this recipe already to high altitude

HIGH ALTITUDE CAKE ADJUSTMENTS

Adjustment for 5000 feet:

1. Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.

2. Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 0 to 2 tablespoons.

3. Increase liquid: for each cup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons.

4. Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees F.

Alternative Frosting

NOTE: (from 12 Tomatoes)

Try making Buttermilk Frosting for any kind of cake.

Let us tell you, this stuff is addictive and quite possibly our favorite chocolate frosting. Buttermilk wouldn’t be our first guess of star ingredients, but it really balances out the flavors here in chocolate cake. It adds tang, but it also balances out all the sweetness of the recipe and keeps this cake from being too sweet.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

5 tablespoons buttermilk

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, packed

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

OR

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

(the best chocolate thing I've ever tasted)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 tbs butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

Cream the butter and cream cheese together with a mixer and gradually add the sugar and cocoa. Try not to eat the whole bowl with a spoon. This will frost a 13 x 9 inch sheet cake or about a dozen cupcakes.

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Karen D Nielson

I have that cookbook and my family has been loving it for over 40 years!

It's coming!

 

Sky Watch

 Look to the heavens on July 17th and 18th to see 5 planets line up.

Bear Lake State Park

Overnight Temp.    Daytime TempLowDdddTemp:

52° F

High Temp:96° F

Level:5914.50′

Ice Conditions / Thickness:LMore Conditions Information

68.5° F lake temp

SplashBack-John Holman (Bear Lake Watch)

 

Where Things Stand Going Into High Summer! July 10, 2026

The complete Water Supply Reports from Utah and the USDA are at the links below. Utah Water Supply Report (click here) USDA Water and Climate Report (click here). If you’ve noticed the riverbeds looking a bit low or the hillsides turning brown earlier than usual, you aren't imagining it. The latest numbers from the USDA’s weekly climate update confirm that our region is transitioning into a very dry, hot summer stretch. Here is a quick breakdown of what is happening with our local water right now: While we had a decent amount of total moisture fall over the winter, the tap essentially turned off once spring arrived. Over the last three months (April through June), the Upper Bear River Basin received only 50% to 75% of its usual rainfall. Because our winter snow melted away nearly a month ahead of schedule, we didn't have the steady, late-spring snowmelt that usually keeps our rivers flowing high into June. Because the spring was so dry, the U.S. Drought Monitor has officially placed northern Utah and our neighboring corners of Idaho and Wyoming into Severe to Extreme Drought. In fact, conditions are serious enough that some local counties have been designated as federal Drought Disaster areas. Right now, the ground is incredibly thirsty. Deep soil monitoring stations in our mountain areas show that moisture levels just 8 inches down have plummeted to a meager 12% to 25% of full saturation. Parched soil acts like a sponge; whenever it does rain, the ground soaks it all up instantly, meaning very little water actually makes it into our creeks and rivers. Compounding this, a massive summer heat dome is expanding into the West, threatened to bring blistering temperatures that will bake our soils and plants even further. Looking ahead through September, weather forecasters are flashing a yellow caution light for our region: We have a very high probability of experiencing above-normal temperatures for the rest of July, August, and September. While southern Utah might get a temporary boost from late-summer monsoon rains, our northern neck of the woods has equal chances of being wetter or drier than normal. Because of this, federal scientists state that drought conditions are expected to persist through the end of summer.