weekend recap

How can it be the end of January already?  We had a nice northern Utah weekend, full of skiing, friends and food.  To recap:  on Saturday, H went skiing solo, doing runs all over Alta.  Despite the dearth of new snow this month, almost everything is open, except for the Sugarloaf side of Devil's Castle.  Ski patrol even opened East Castle and a few intrepid souls were willing to sidestep all the way up for some freshies.  I've done that hike twice, once boot-packing and once sidestepping and, let me tell you that boot-packing is much, much easier.

Very rustic apricot galette (I should have 

kept it in a touch longer to brown more)

Meanwhile, down in the valley, Milton and I did a four mile walk before I ensconced myself in the kitchen for some therapeutic cooking.  I did a batch of scratch brownies, a rustic galette with this past summer's apricots, prepped for Sunday dinner and started the dough for an olive bread that had to prove at room temperature for 18-24 hours.  When H got home from skiing and cleaned up, we drove up to town to meet friends at Piper Down for beers.  We hadn't been there for years and were pleased to learn that they now have an extensive vegan menu.  And Guinness!

Overdressed for the temperature but actually warm for once

Sunday was sunny and warmer than the day before.  Although I was probably overdressed, this was my first ski day this season where I didn't have to go in after four runs to thaw my toes.  After riding the Sunnyside lift up, we went directly to Supreme for four runs, then over to Sugarloaf.  We'd had a small storm a couple of days earlier and while it was all tracked out, some stuff was still skiing fairly soft.  

Razorback

We did a run down Chartreuse, which is a trail I like a lot, although in one spot the bumps were huge.  We also did the bumps on Razorback, during which we noticed that Cecret Saddle was open.  First though we went to Collins and skied a few runs on the front side.  Ballroom was okay - being in constant shade preserves the snow - and Corkscrew was skiing about the best it ever has.

The avalanche rubble on Cecret Lake

When we went back to Sugarloaf, we gave Cecret Saddle a try - fairly soft, with close-up views of the avalanche carnage on Cecret Lake - and then did a run through the cabins.  As it closed in on 1 p.m. we were starting to get peckish, so after a run down Rock N Roll and in through the low gate there, I skied out.  H squeezed in one more run before we caught the bus for home.

That's not half bad looking (#rustic)

And then, I managed to produce a halfway decent loaf of bread: @legallyplantbased's no knead olive loaf!  I had to add a lot more flour to compensate for the high altitude baking issues, it needed to rise a but more and I didn't disperse the olives well ... but it baked well, had a good texture and tasted good!  Woohoo baking!

Decent-ish crumb; bad olive placement