This is the view from of Deer Valley from the living room window this morning. The landscape laden with snow seems far from teaming with life, but the trees are alive and well sleeping naked under their white blankets, the birds are still chirping, the deer strolling, and the humans racing about.
It seems that I find my appetite to grow substantially during the winter. I want to eat hot, heavy food. Food that sits in my stomach like a warm stone. Food that grounds the body. It turns out I am not alone. A University of Houston 2008 showed that adults take in 6% to 7% more calories in the winter. It is some sort of biological memory hardwired into our bodies prior to our agricultural revolution.
This ski trip seems very food centered for me, because a. I am pregnant and b. I am not skiing so I am the one responsible for shopping for our evening meal, which Chef inevitably does most of the preparing with me a modest assistant. Our meals have to be simple and hearty to meet the requirements of our fellow ski party members, whose palettes lets just say are very "American." Thus so far....hamburgers (Julia Child style...ground beef with butter, salt, and pepper kneaded in), barbecue pork (Boston butt roasted for ages due to a faulty oven), spaghetti and meat sauce (there is little to add here. jar sauce, meat, noodle), with two evenings of take out, one local pizza and the other the worst Chinese food any of us have ever eaten. Word of advice: Do not eat Chinese food in the small mountain towns of Utah.
Our meals have been comprised of simple food, but far from elegant. I have made a green vegetable a requirement of every meal, a simple salad, peas and butter, what have you. Just a little plant to brighten up the plate.
This ski trip seems very food centered for me, because a. I am pregnant and b. I am not skiing so I am the one responsible for shopping for our evening meal, which Chef inevitably does most of the preparing with me a modest assistant. Our meals have to be simple and hearty to meet the requirements of our fellow ski party members, whose palettes lets just say are very "American." Thus so far....hamburgers (Julia Child style...ground beef with butter, salt, and pepper kneaded in), barbecue pork (Boston butt roasted for ages due to a faulty oven), spaghetti and meat sauce (there is little to add here. jar sauce, meat, noodle), with two evenings of take out, one local pizza and the other the worst Chinese food any of us have ever eaten. Word of advice: Do not eat Chinese food in the small mountain towns of Utah.
Our meals have been comprised of simple food, but far from elegant. I have made a green vegetable a requirement of every meal, a simple salad, peas and butter, what have you. Just a little plant to brighten up the plate.One thing that has been nice is that we have all sat down to breakfast together every morning. Eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, the works. I love sharing a big breakfast with people I love. This morning after the skiers set off, I put on the giant pair of pregnant lady snow pants and Lil' Bit donned her adorable snow suit and we set off to make some snow angels.
Let's just say she isn't a big fan of the white stuff. We plopped down in a snow bank and she stared down at her boots and broke out in tears shouting "shoes! shoes! dirrrtyyy!" After spending ten minutes trying to convince her snow was not dirty, but fun...I scooped her up and we went for a walk.
Let's just say she isn't a big fan of the white stuff. We plopped down in a snow bank and she stared down at her boots and broke out in tears shouting "shoes! shoes! dirrrtyyy!" After spending ten minutes trying to convince her snow was not dirty, but fun...I scooped her up and we went for a walk. She was appeased for a short while listening for birds. As we stood there trying to place their chirps I couldn't help but wonder what on earth they ate during the winter. Maybe this tree knows...
Then the winter hunger struck again. Lil' Bit and I staggered back indoors. I took off my snow crusted boots and chunks of snow spread about the floor. Lil' Bit proceeded to tell me it was ice and eat it. I flipped on the gas fire and once she was done cleaning the floor we shared a bag of popcorn, snug in the comfort of little modern luxuries. Not a bad way to spend a morning in Utah.
Then the winter hunger struck again. Lil' Bit and I staggered back indoors. I took off my snow crusted boots and chunks of snow spread about the floor. Lil' Bit proceeded to tell me it was ice and eat it. I flipped on the gas fire and once she was done cleaning the floor we shared a bag of popcorn, snug in the comfort of little modern luxuries. Not a bad way to spend a morning in Utah.
Posts
1 comment:
Kids are sooo funny... she doen't like the sand or snow!! She'll grow out of it.. we all had our little quirks when we were little. some we grow out of and some we don't, but I think these will pass!!
XOXO,
Ash
Post a Comment