Once a year? That's tradition

Last year, Rohit and I went to Hunter Mountain for a ski weekend. We stayed at the lovely Rosehaven Inn, a small 4-room inn run by a lovely woman named Kelly and her mother. Last year, we stayed in Room 1, a cozy little room with an electric fireplace, DVD player, TV, and jacuzzi. This year, we stayed in Room 3, which has the same amenities, but is the largest room in the house.

Hunter Mountain and the surrounding area has a stigma. Perhaps, one that I have applied to it. Because it's small town, and little pokey and not Manhattan, I assume that the restaurants around aren't up to par with my standards. Not that I have tried many of them, and have the right to say, but I'm a snob, so what are you going to do?

Last year, as well as this year (and when you it more than once, it becomes something of a tradition) we brought cheese, a large round of bread, olives, assorted finger foods like stuffed grape leaves and cookies. This year, we did the same- all of the above, including my mom's persimmon pudding, which is one of my favorite desserts, mini brownies, cookies, raspberry lambic, two bottles of red wine and a bottle of Piper Heidsieck. We didn't get to all of it, unfortunately, but we had a grand old time. The lovely thing about skiing and staying at a B & B is that you have a HUGE breakfast in the morning, usually eggs, pancakes, the like, and don't eat all day long while you're skiing, other than a hot chocolate or a beer. Then when you get home, you're ravenous, having worked up a healthy appetite on the freezing slopes.

On our first day, we actually craved a little more than a cold dinner and stopped at a little Italian restaurant that was part of a motor lodge, run entirely by Russians. We ordered an Eggplant Rolatini and Penne Vodka, which they wrapped for a take out order in aluminim foil, preserving the heat but not keeping all that particularly well.It was nice, though, to have a hot meal- in addition, of course, to our breads and cheeses. It's become a tradition now, to take a whole wheel of bread and polish it off over the course of two or three days. Two hungry skiiers...two big appetites.

Bistilla/Pastilla

The Moroccan delicacy isn't that difficult to make. In fact, I made it twice upon my return from Morocco, once with ground turkey and once with sliced chicken breast. But the dish is relatively easy, yet comparatively difficult. What does this mean? For me, the crust is the hardest part and I can never quite get the crust flaky and browned perfectly the way it's supposed to be. My mother, on the other hand, make a pastilla which had perfect crust, but the inside wasn't as flavorful as the one I had made with ground meat. The ground meat is key; sometimes they just tell you to slice it, but it really matters that the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and other goodies all mash together and become one harmoniously.