Late 20's!!!

Is there a better way to wake up to your birthday than like this:

I can't believe I caught a cold! I mean, I stay outside in the fresh air and wear gloves all day! It's not like I work in a petri dish! Oh well. Bevan said the best cure for me is to do a little of this:

So we did. I can't believe how much better I feel! After skiing, we had a little lunch with the inlaws, did a little bit of birthday shopping and it made me completely forget how old I am! Now it's time to frost my birthday cake and eat it all before it goes stale

Valentine's Day and Igloos

I know that Valentines Day was almost a month ago, but I almost forgot to post about this one! First of all, we had my sister Nora and her family at the cabin for a week! It was non-stop fun and food. She took some good pictures, but here are some of consequence:

I made Bevan a cake on Valentine's Day but I'm the one who ended up eating most of it. Shame! It tuns out that he can eat "only so much cake". Rubbish. I decorated it with random marshmellows, chocolate chips and chunks of cake crumb that I trimmed from the middle layer. Yep, I'm ready for my own cooking show!

The next day was skiing blackout, due to President's Day. We decided not to tackle something so strenuous as our last blackout adventure so we decided to build an igloo instead. I mean, how hard could it be?!

First we watched the instuctional video that came with the igloo maker. Wow! It only took those guys about an hour, so I thought we should plan for 2 hours, just to be safe.

About 5 hours later I was digging Bevan out of the igloo. He had to stay inside and hold up the form so I could pack the roof. And the last part of igloo making: digging out a door and getting you buddy into some fresh air. Oops, I had to go find the headlamps first, but he made it! In the end we had a fine-looking igloo. We have good intentions of sleeping in it one of these nights, but I fear the structural integrity has been compromised with a week of 40-degree weather.

A Dinner by the Fire

This year is Bevan's 10-year anniversary with Deer Valley and to show their gratitude they gave us the option of some lovely Deer Valley logo items or a $100 in money that can be spent within the company. We chose the money. They have a dinner here that cooks your food completely over a bunch of fireplaces in the lodge. We decided to try it out. I thought it might make a good blog entry. I was right!

First Course:
Raclette cheese drizzled on a plate and a bunch of crackers and meats for dipping.First of all, what doesn't taste good covered in melted cheese? Second, how much does this guy get paid to stand there and babysit the cheese wheels? Our table was further from the fire than him and we were ROASTING! He probably drank a whole gallon of water in that hour. We gave him the nickname "The Cheeseman"!

Second Course:
Stews and soups all cooked in dutch ovens.
Some of the stews were burnt to prove it. It was barely picture-worthy, but still tasty. You know you're at Deer Valley when "wild mushroom" and "veal" creeps it's way into a stew.

Third Course:
Leg of lamb roasted over the fire.
As you can see from the picture, the legs were literally dangling from the hearth by strings. The lamb was a little grissley, but by this time we were getting pretty full and we knew what was coming for dessert:

Last Course:
Chocolate, white chocolate, and caramel fondue!
This should be the first course! Forget about the cheese, what doesn't taste good covered in rich melted chocolate or creamy caramel. They had your usual fondue items, including those hard cookies they serve us as employees, only now they were fresh-baked! What a difference.

The drive home was painful and I felt pretty nauseous the next morning, but it was a totally unforgettable experience! Forget about lift ops. You could totally burn more calories being "The Cheeseman"!