Ski Weekend in Stratton

About a month ago, I was at Mai & Paul's place mentioning how I really wanted to get back into skiing regularly this year, but it was hard to match up schedules with my few friends who do ski. They quickly told me how they had found a great deal on lift tickets at Stratton on liftopia.com, invited me to join, and in a matter of 5 minutes, I was on my way to booking my first ski weekend of the season. What a fun and yum weekend it was!

Naturally, the first thought we all had for the 4 hour ride up to Stratton was "what snacks should we pack?". My first choice was assorted cheese and charcuterie. Much to my delight, Bedford Cheese Shop opened up on 19th and Irving - in between the subway and my apartment. Perfect location! I stopped in on Thursday night and picked up some prosciutto. I stopped in again on Friday afternoon and picked up 3 different cheeses and even more prosciutto. The staff at Bedford Cheese Shop are very knowledgeable about the products they sell and really helpful and friendly. For example, the cheese monger person asked me how I like my prosciutto  I said "not too salty, but melt in my mouth" and he let me sample a few pieces before I made my selection. I also told him what kind of cheeses I liked, and he made excellent suggestions and helped me find something I loved. The store also offers classes, of which I will be researching once I am back after the new year.

On our drive, we went through the first 0.5 lb of prosciutto faster than one could say "di parma". #animals.

We arrived at our hotel about 35 minutes before the hot tub shut down for the evening, so we raced to our room, jumped into our bathing suits, and took some snacks with us for some avant ski.

{Sugar and pepper roasted nuts - sweet AND savory!}

{My favorite store bought cookie of all time}

Back in the room after our quick dip in the sauna and hot tub, Mai made us cosmos.

{Mai shaking up cosmos with precision and speed}

{Kampai!!}

At Bedford Cheese, I told the cheese man I like sheeps milk cheese, and he pointed me to this cheese, the Fleur de Maquis. He then suggested a goats milk cheese, La Tur, and I happily added that on as well. The last cheese I picked was an appenzeller. It is a harder cheese, and I think next time it will be a perfect addition to fondue.

{In the store, this cheese description said "best served
with Barolo and contraception". Take heed!}

{My new cheese tray}

{Cheese, crackers, prosciutto, cosmos, and a fireplace}

My favorite part about skiing is that I don't need an excuse for hot chocolate and an extra hearty meal. I saw the bacon cheeseburger and, while I knew it was not going to be up to Minetta Tavern standards, I decided to have it anyways. The fries were perfectly crispy, as was the bacon, a miracle!

{Too medium well}

Stratton is amazing. At the end of the ski day, the staff hand out marshmallows and hot chocolate to kids and adults, and everyone roasts the marshmallows around the fire pit. Can you guess who was first in line for the hot chocolate?

I always end up charring my marshmallows, but Mai said the trick for a puffy and browned marshmallow is to get it under the flames.

{Oops}

{Focus and determination}

{Twinsies!}

After our long day of skiing, we naturally were ready for apres ski. We decided to keep it as classy as possible by mixing up our beverages in a...nalgene. The hot tub area forbid glass, only plastic! 

{Moonshine in the sink}

{Hot tub & booze. Perfection}

{Polishing off the remainder of the cheese}

For dinner that evening, we simply crossed the street and visited Organic Pizza Company. Paul was not so sure this would be good, but, we decided to give it a go. I ordered the Victory Pie - which came with sausage, pepperoni, caramelized onions, and peppers. The sausage came from a local purveyor in Vermont, which was a nice touch. I really enjoyed my pizza, good work! 

{Andouille sausage with artichokes and broccoli rabe}

{Pesto Pie}

Next door to Organic Pizza Company was a bar that had buck hunter!

I was impressed with Stratton's food selection. There was a salad bar, the usual burgers, soups, and noodles! Not quite Ippudo, but really hit the spot on Sunday, as it was freezing and I thought my hands were going to fall off.

I am newly into peanut butter flavored things. This cookie was excellent. The chipping manicure, not so much.

Oh my goodness! I found a panda bear! Mai loves pandas, and she found a panda hat at the lodge gift shop.

At the end of the day, we retreated back to our hotel for one more dip in the hot tub. Mai brought out some honey plum wine, and it was the perfect apres ski drink. Mai said that a lot of families in Japan make honey plum wine at home (getting the wine and plums). I approve! After about an hour of hot-tubbing and sauna-ing, we decided to

We loved Stratton so much that we are hoping to go back the first week of February. Stay tuned for Stratton version 2.0!

Cosmopolitans, recipe adapted from here

Makes 1 serving, just double/triple up for more.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1/2 - 3/4 ounce triple sec
• 1/2 ounce cranberry juice
• 1/2 of a freshly squeezed limes

Mix the vodka, triple sec, lime, and cranberry juice in a shaker filled with ice. Mai had to play around with the ratios to get it just right, presumably you will have to do the same, but she added a bit more triple sec and it seemed to be the magic trick.

Strain into glasses (or a Nalgene) and serve with a lime wedge.