Deer Valley, Utah

What a wonderful time, skiing, eating, laughing, talking, we had in Deer Valley. Thank you, thank you Perry and Sally for your warm hospitality. Besides Perry and Sally, with us were: Sally and Dave Hall and Lizzy and Dee Lowrey.
Here is the Sorenson's beautiful house tucked into the hillside.

The ski slopes of Deer Valley are calling our names.

There is the usual morning chaos and pain..."where are my goggles? I can't find the tag to retrieve my skis, has anyone seen my hat and the perennial...oh my god I don't think I can get my boots on and ohhh this hurts." (Could be boots, could be muscles.)

Finally suited and booted up we hit the slopes. Lairds pose with Dee and Lizzy Lowrey. Check out the background.

Lovely view from the slopes.

Beautiful view and a favorite run, Bandana. It is on the way to one of the lunch spots too.

A favorite run on the way home takes us by these bears. Someone with a great sense of humor lives in this place.



The end of a great day..the hot tub.

We have fun off the slopes too. Here is the gang after dinner at The Blue Boar..delicious!

One treat for me was seeing my friend Ingrid and her husband Steve. Ingrid and I go back to my Puerto Rico days.

Ingrid and her adorable grandchildren.

One night we went to the Hyatt for drinks. It is perched on a hillside above the base of Deer Valley.

One of my other favorite slopes seen from the Hyatt patio.

A young man suddenly appeared on this large boulder with a huge knife (like a machete) and a bottle of champagne. He told a story about Napoleon opening champagne with a similar knife. He told us Napoleon cut the tops off the bottles and the force of the bubbles blew the glass away and the champagne was safe to drink. Which is what the young man proceeded to do.


Here he has just chopped the top of the bottle off. If you really look closely you can see the spray of champagne.

The glasses arrive.

The champagne is poured.no glass in the drink.

Or you can look at the view through your glass of wine.

As you can see by the hunched shoulders it is nearly time to head back to the Sorenson's and light a fire.


Looking down the track, waiting for the funicular to come get us.

Here she comes.

The bottom of the hill awaits.

Yes, a good time was had by all. That couch looks like it was made with alligator hide.

The sunsets over Deer Valley and we say good bye and thanks again, Sally and Perry, for all the good times and good memories.

Two Recipes

Here are two recipes I've tried lately. One is corn pudding, which I've cooked twice and people have loved. The other is a lentil soup I made on Sunday when friends came up from Courtenay, we all thought it was terrific.

Baked Corn Pudding with Chiles, Onions, and Cheese
4 tablespoons of butter – divided

1 kilo (about 2 pounds) of frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 cup whole milk
2 cups finely chopped onions

6 green onions chopped

1 tablespoon (packed), chopped and seeded Serrano chilies (I used canned Ortega chilies)
4 large eggs

1 tablespoon all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 11x7x2 inch class baking dish.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Add corn and sauté for 5 minute.
Add milk.
Reduce heat to medium and cover, and simmer until corn is tender (about 5 minutes).
Transfer to processor and blend to course puree.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in same skillet over medium high heat.
Add all onions and chilies; sauté until onions are tender, about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in corn puree and cool for 15 minutes.
Beat eggs, flour, salt and pepper to blend in a bowl.
Mix in 1 cup of cheese. Transfer to baking dish.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cheese.
Bake until golden, about 40 minutes.

Be careful the flour doesn't clump. I mixed it with water before adding the egg and that seemed to help. If it clumps just beat the heck out of it until it is smooth.


Apricot Lentil Soup
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dried apricots
1 1/2 cups red lentils
5 cups chicken stock (I used vegetable broth)
3 roma (plum) tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
1.Saute onion, garlic, and apricots in olive oil. Add lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
2.Stir in tomatoes, and season with cumin, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3.Stir in lemon juice. Puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender, then return to the pot. Serve.
I served it with sour cream and toasted sunflower seeds as toppings.
Serves 6

Storm

On Tuesday night we were warned a storm, with high winds, was headed our way. Just as it got dark snow started to fall. We had accumulated several inches by bedtime. Around 6:30 am the wind started to howl and then a few minutes later the power went off. We were warm under our quilt so stayed in bed watching the storm through our wonderful bedroom windows until we were hungry and needed to start our day.

We have a propane heat stove and a propane cook stove so we were able to get warm and to eat. Here is Buck, notice his hat..before it was warm, trying to make coffee without electricity. He poured hot water into the electric pot and voila..coffee!

It was a crazy weather day. It was dark and cloudy and then the sun came out..minutes later it was dark again. Then more sunshine.

Here is the ocean in the morning sun.

See the stormy coming towards us again?

We bundled up and went to the beach during a sunny spell.

The surf was beautiful and almost worthy of being compared to a Hawaiian surf.

More waves.

Looking back at the house, the snow makes it easier to see the path.

Beautiful driftwood on the beach.

We found a piece we couldn't resist. Buck hauled it up the path.

Here is our treasure in the rock bed in front of our bedroom.

The thermometer at day's end shows we have a heat wave! Well, sort of:>

The clouds and mountains at the end of a very unusual day. (Power came on around 1:30.)

Maple Syrup

Much to our surprise our maple trees here on Quadra can be tapped and we can make maple syrup. Our neighbor down the road, Helene Le Page, (from Quebec) is an expert and gave a group of us a lesson at David Brown's place, also down the street. It is actually very simple and we plan to do it next winter.
Here is a bucket set up with a stile and tube ready to collect maple water (sap) which is clear and slighty sweet.

Helene's truck..wish I had one!

Helene is drilling holes in the buckets she gave us so we too can collect sap.

Discussing the equipment we will need and how to set it all up. Don't you love her hat and coat?

Buck is skimming the boiling syrup. It takes 40 liters of sap to make one liter of syrup which means lots of boiling.

Helene is watching to make sure things don't boil over and the pot is taken off the stove at the right moment.

Pouring the syrup into jars. It tasted delicious! Look at the lovely color. Remember, the sap started off clear.

Celebrating the syrup with a glass of wine.