There’s a really neat cocktail bar in town called Cheshire. It markets itself as a pre-Prohibition Era style establishment, but we researched some of the drinks and found out that many of them were developed long after Prohibition. The bar’s primary charm, though, comes from the mixologists (and I don’t use that word lightly) themselves. Watching them make drinks and peel fresh fruit for garnish is a bit like watching a Food Network show; there’s nothing and then poof, magic.
Hi! Sorry for not posting last week. I was on vacation in Utah with my family and wanted to focus on them. I also read four books. And skied. And ate excellent food. It was delightful.
When I was in high school, we used to go out to Park City, UT over February Break to go skiing. I haven’t been out there in years because of college and graduate school, so it was especially nice to be otherwise uncommitted this February Break. My brother is still in high school, my sister is in college in Canada where she has a week off in February rather than a week in March, and my boyfriend took a few days off following the financial world’s holiday on President’s Day. The six of us arrived on a Saturday, left a week later, and enjoyed good snow, great food, and excellent company in between.
I’ve skied on various resorts around Park City before, some of which I like better than others. This year’s adventures took us back to Park City and Deer Valley; I also explored Solitude and Brighton for the first time. The following are some pictures that I took while skiing. I really do love winter . . . but now that I’m home and it’s still cold and snowy, I’m ready for it to end.
Park City at sunset
Looking down on Park City from about halfway up the mountain
Deer Valley
A very solitary powder day at Solitude
There, I said it. Food is good!
And what makes me even happier is cooking, especially cooking for others. Maybe that’s because I’m Jewish and grew up in a household in which food was at the center of everything, always. (And yes, my mum’s matzah balls and hamataschen are better than your mum’s matzah balls and hamataschen.)
For Chanukah this year I received a wonderful new cookbook devoted entirely to vegetables. This is an amazing thing. While I’m not a vegetarian, I don’t eat red meat and only rarely eat poultry, so a whole cookbook devoted to things I eat was very exciting. Even better, this cookbook is by a British chef raised in Israel, so his food takes me back to my favorite place on Earth.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty turns vegetables into works of art, has encouraged me to use spices I’ve never heard of, and makes it incredibly easy to make delicious, restaurant-caliber food at home.
I know I sound like I’m advertising . . . sorry about that. I just happen to be eating dinner, which features a saffron cauliflower dish from Plenty. You can take a look at the cookbook here. Happy cooking, and happy eating!
By Rebecca Michelle 