Taking another blog break from cooking to reminisce about our departure from Jackson Hole.  It has been a few weeks since we left behind our magical winter, limitless ski days, and new friends.  When planning our winter out West, Chris and I were so focused on the luxury of being able to ski everyday, that we hadn’t thought about what the people would be like.  We showed up not really knowing anyone and quickly realized that we basically just had each other.  Luckily Jackson Hole is overflowing with awesomeness and the people that flock to this small community are some of the friendliest and best out there – not to mention the most physically active humans on earth.  We first met up with Chris’s family friend, Kristin, and her boyfriend Andrew who have lived in Jackson for years and were the most amazing hosts to us all winter.  Chris and I joked that at first our social life consisted of us waiting by the phone for Kristin and Andrew to call and if they didn’t then we stayed at home – ha!  I am so grateful to them for allowing us to piggy-back on their lives this winter and for their thoughtfulness and generosity.  I miss them terribly!

The Swanson’s also might have been one of the most successful friend “set-ups” of all time.  My friend from college made sure we were introduced (thank you Tommy!) and Matt and Alie quickly became some of our best ski buddies.  Matt and Chris are both equally relentless in their pursuit to “shred” so the friendship worked out well.

Jax and Lance lived in the apartment next to us with their adorable pooch Loki.  So very lucky to have them as neighbors.  They are both inspiring and dedicated athletes and probably two of the most known people in town for their weekly blog posts on the Jackson Hole website: http://bit.ly/QY13Ag

Maybe it’s all of that fresh air or perhaps the fact that the mountain received over 500 inches this winter that put everyone in an especially good mood, but I’m pretty sure there’s just something about Jackson Hole that draws an exceptional crowd.  I am thankful and ridiculously lucky to have spent the winter  getting to know this special place and the people that inhabit it.   Our final days at Jackson did not make it easy to leave with more snow, amazing dinners, one final pair of fantastic visitors (Tom and Erin!), and something called Rendezvous weekend which consisted of outdoor concerts and a big party in the parking lot beneath the mountain.

In total, 70 ski days for Chris, 63 for me, and countless “face shots” for Izzy.  Our last day, I might add, was a powder day.

Somewhere out back…

Can you spot Chris in this?Late February Four PinesHeadwall skiing – my personal favorite Sleeper Tuesday powder day & first tracks down Hobacks We love you Jackson Hole, please don’t have too much fun without us!!

I thought I’d take a break from cooking today to comment on the endless snow that has been blessedly falling for the past several weeks here in Jackson Hole and how special it is to watch the winter Olympics with such a powdery, winter-idyllic backdrop.  During the past month we’ve scored and scored on the ski mountain (Sunday will officially be my 40th ski day, Chris is probably on his 45th).  In our relentless pursuit to ski as much as humanly possible, I snap on the TV at night and smirk to myself that I could ski 1450 days in a row and never even come close to what Ted Ligety, Bode Miller, Hannah Kearney, Julia Mancuso, and the many other heroic skiers are throwing down.  They have been inspiring me each and every day (and God knows if their skiing isn’t incentive to choke you up, those Thank You Mom P&G commercials will get you every time!).  A very enthusiastic congrats to our U.S. ski team – they are making us proud!

But back to our little corner of the world in Jackson, WY, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share a couple of photos of two much more modest skiers.  While Olympic medals are not our reality, the amount of powder these 2 East coast skiers have experienced is enough to feel like we’re earning something special.

Our first trip down Headwall – also known as a 20 minute boot pack hike up “Pepi’s Bench.”  Personally, I have never been one to hike up to earn my turns – I’ve always  been of the chairlift variety – but here it’s fairly standard behavior and I have to admit it’s a great way to burn some calories and does yield some heavenly un-tracked lines.

Skiing below expert chutes is always guaranteed goods.

Chris blatantly posing in front of Snag Tree.  It looks like he’s skiing on the moon in the photo.

Yew!

I love this photo – mainly because I took it.  Doesn’t Chris look like such a ripper?

One morning we were lucky enough to score first tracks  in Tower Three (named after the third Tram tower).  Skiing chutes was not something I typically did prior to skiing here, but this “trail” has become one of my favorites on the mountain and makes you feel like a hero.

Unusually sunny day at the top of tram right before the snow really began in late January.  If you happen to visit Jackson Hole the chances of witnessing the top of the tram with visibility and minimal wind is slim to none.  The tram has been shut down three separate times in the past week due to high winds.  It’s not for the faint of heart, but I’m glad we were able to experience it on this clear day.

There is no dish that speaks to me more on the snowy ski slopes than a hot bowl of thick, hearty chili.  It’s perfect for making the day before and heating up later on or throwing into the slow cooker and serving up when you arrive home in the afternoon – in fact, it tastes better the longer it sits.  The versatility of this recipe is endless.  I’ve made it with different meats (or meatless) and even with fish.  If you are inclined to black instead of white beans, more heat, extra veggies, handfuls of toppings or served up plain, chili is the perfect recipe to tweak again and again subject to taste.  For me, I’ve found that I like my chili best with ground chicken.  It’s not dry, it soups up the flavors of the spices and veggies like a sponge and it crumbles nicely.

I add finely diced red and green pepper, jalapenos, carrots and onion.  While it looks like a mountain of vegetables to begin, they will cook down well.

This will come as no surprise to those that make chili often, but the secret weapon of this recipe really is the BBQ sauce.  My Mom originally taught me how to make chili many years ago and always threw in a little BBQ sauce to thicken and sweeten.  You don’t need much as too much BBQ can overpower, but about a quarter cup for the entire pot works perfectly and adds just a hint of tanginess.

As I mentioned above, any number of toppings and sides can accompany chili.  I like to top my bowl with a little shredded cheese, avocado and onion (in this case I had some leftover green onions) and some crunchy garlic toast to dunk and sop up every last bite.

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I have been gone (yet again) a long time, but am back and ready to blog.  This time around there is no excuse but to record the upcoming meals and adventures as my husband and I are living in Jackson Hole for the winter (insert elated screams of joy here).  The move was really the brain child of my brilliant husband.  He was blessed with the good fortune of taking a leave of absence from his job and I (obviously) jumped on board.  We will live here until the end of March and in that time I hope to record all kinds of toasty, heart-warming recipes because let’s be honest Wyoming is COLD.  I don’t believe it’s been above freezing since we’ve arrived and even that is generous.  The average temperature has hovered at around a cool, chilly 15 degrees.  The only food this kind of climate calls for is hot stews, scalding soups, creamy, saucy casseroles, roasts, bakes and anything, well, that is piping hot.  Expect a lot of that to come.  For now, here are a couple of pictures to capture our first week here in Jackson Hole.

Our first day at the Ranch lot

Easy Does It

Powder!

Get me out there!

The fastest of racers!

Fishing in January?

Our new backyard – not too shabby

I have been so busy lately I feel as though I might lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body.  There have been two major things happening in my life; one is that my sister is getting married at the end of May and two is that we brought home our gorgeous brand new baby girl puppy this past weekend.  Many more guaranteed updates to come on the puppy front, but first I’m back tracking to the shower (pre-puppy).

As I said above, my little sister, Connie, is getting married at the end of the month which has kept me quite busy as maid of honor and a couple weekends ago was the bridal shower which my Mom and I have been planning for months.  We reserved a suite in the Waldorf Astoria and as much as I’d like to think of myself as one that normally throws a bridal shower at the Waldorf, our good family friend is a hotel manager there and offered us an incredible deal for a fraction of the normal price (thank you Casey!!).  So we took her up on the offer and threw the party at the Waldorf.  It was everything we hoped it would be and was so much easier to have it catered than attempting to cook everything ourselves.  We started the afternoon with slender flutes of chilled sparkling champagne and crisp white wine.

The food was delicious and fresh.  We nibbled on mediterranean inspired favorites such as grilled shrimp and chicken, a delectable orzo salad, tart vinegar marinated tuna salad, grape leaves gently stuffed with cheese, caprese skewers and a medley of balsamic drenched grilled veggies just to name a few.  There were nearly 40 guests so despite the banquet-like appearance of this table chock full of goodies, we weren’t left with many leftovers.  I also thought the kitchen did a fantastic job given the amount of food they had to prepare.  All of it was fresh and deliciously spiced and cooked – sometimes you never know what you’ll get on your plate when it comes to mass quantities of prepared food, but the Waldorf certainly satisfied me…grade letter = A.

I always find the gift opening portion of the day to be interesting.  I’ve been to showers where everyone sits in silence while each package is unwrapped, painfully awkward.  Luckily my family is not shy when it comes to speaking up and the present portion of the party was festive with light chatter everywhere (sweet relief) and as always lots of laughter.  Connie made out like a bandit.  In spite of sounding like a gluttonous, overly consumptive American, the suite was a wasteland of wrapping paper and packages after all was said and done.

And to complete the process, a gorgeous bouquet of ribbons to boot.

I think it is important to note at this point that while I adore my sister and all of those friends and family that have bridal showers (and I’m sure if I get married that I’ll have my own one day), I can’t help but poke fun at the fluff and frills just a tad.  I understand why showers are necessary, but the girly factor cannot be ignored.  Gasping Oh Wow over a spatula or dramatic murmurs of she’ll really use that a lot in response to a new (umm) hand-soap dispenser do make me snicker just a little.  A lot of people take the day a bit too seriously (I defer to the scene in Bridesmaids when they give out puppies as party favors), but thankfully this shower was devoid of puppy giveaways and chocolate fondue fountains.   Our party favors were a touch more tasteful – we gave out these gorgeous scented jarred candles made by a family friend.  These were beautiful, affordable, and helped support a friend’s business – all things I’m always in favor of.

But enough with the playful mocking, I couldn’t help but have a blast.  I think my favorite part about showers is the generations of women that come together.  Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends new and old – a wedding shower is truly a collection of the most important women in your life.

The biggest shout-out I would like to make is to the cupcakes at Baked in Red Hook, Brooklyn: http://bakednyc.com/  I picked up 3 dozen on the morning of the shower and although the location is a bit of a hike, you will not be sorry for making the trek.  Please take it from a person that does not have a sweet tooth, these cupcakes are out-of-this-world.  They have a variety of playful flavors such as the Citrus Passionfruit, Oopsy Daisy and the Hummingbird, but I went with Connie’s 3 favorites: lemondrop, pistachio, and my personal favorite the sweet and salty, which is basically dark chocolate cake infused with carmel, caramel chocolate ganache and topped with a light dusting of crunchy sea salt – mouth-watering.  I would absolutely recommend this quaint bakery tucked in the southern tip of Brooklyn, they were a hit!

What I love most about cooking is the constant reinvention.  Adding more of this, a splash less of that.  Grilling instead of frying, poaching instead of scrambling, etc.  This recipe was literally taken from what I’ve cooked in the past couple of weeks and although the finished product is original – the recipe is inspired by all kinds of different sources.

I cooked caramelized shallots (Barefoot Contessa Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/caramelized-shallots-recipe/index.html) last weekend for my boyfriend and I with steak.  On their own they are HEAVEN on a plate.  I did not document this meal, but if you want an impressive side to accompany your steak, these sugary, buttery bulbs do the trick.

After making them, I started to think about other dishes/ways I could use them.  A pizza came to mind, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  As I was perusing one of my favorite food blogs this past week (http://alwayswithbutter.blogspot.com/2011/03/zucchini-ricotta-galette.html), it hit me that a galette would be the perfect vehicle to use the caramelized shallots.  Always with Butter makes a fantastic looking zucchini galette that I would also like to try out sometime, but for now it would be shallots.  The crust came out buttery and flaky…

Paired with a nice brie, this galette resulted in a cross between a pastry, an appetizer, and a meal.

I decided to invite a friend over and we feasted on thick slices paired with a simple arugula and cherry tomato salad.  You really don’t need much of this rich savory tart; it is reminiscent of a baked brie, but the galette style gives it more of a proper meal type of feel.  I hope you enjoy as much as I did.