Skiing in the Poconos

The three day week­end over Martin Luther King Day cre­ated a won­der­ful oppor­tu­nity for a long week­end of skiing, delicious food and great com­pany in the Poconos.

We stocked up on gro­ceries, arriv­ing on Friday evening at our friend’s week­end home and set­tled in for the night. Our hosts were arriv­ing the fol­low­ing day so I had time to make one of our favorite fam­ily meals — Spaghetti Bolognese — per­fect after a day in the slopes.

Bolognese

• 1 onion
• Olive oil
• 1 to 1 & 1/​2lb ground beef
• 1 car­rot and 1 stalk celery-​finely chopped.
• 1 cup dry wine (I use red)
• 1/​2 cup milk
• 1/​8 tea­spoon nutmeg
• 1lb can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato purée
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/​4 cup tomato paste
• 2 table­spoons chopped pars­ley and basil
• 1 tea­spoon thyme
• 1/​2 tea­spoon black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/​2 lb mush­rooms sliced

Sauté onion
Add meat.
Stir in car­rot and cel­ery
Add wine and sim­mer till it evap­o­rates, 8– 10 min.
Add milk and nut­meg till evap­o­rates.
Remove from heat and add rest of ingre­di­ents except for mush­rooms.
Simmer for at least 45 min until sauce is thick.
Stir in mush­rooms and cook for 15 min and toss with pasta of choice.

The house, sur­rounded by trees, backs onto a stream which makes a beau­ti­ful set­ting for warm­ing by the fire. We broke out the hot cider which should never be served with­out a shot of rum and a top­ping of whipped cream (except with kids!)

Jennifer’s Hot Apple Cider

• Hot Apple cider
• Shot of dark rum
• Cinnamon stick
• Top with whipped cream

The ski con­di­tions were per­fect on Saturday and not too busy at Camelback Ski Resort. We were thrilled to dis­cover that the girls seemed to remem­ber all that they had learned on the slopes last year. Returning to the house we found our hosts Andrea, Abid and their four hand­some sons had arrived. Andrea, born and raised in Australia was busy whip­ping up “Sticky Date Pudding”.
The UK and Australia have many com­mon dishes-​this being one of them. Between the spaghetti and deca­dently sweet pud­ding with caramel sauce, we were stuffed!

Sticky Date Pudding

Pudding

• 1 cup stoned dates
• 1 cup water
• 1 level tea­spoon bak­ing soda
• 2 oz butter
• 2 eggs
• 3/​4 cup sugar
• 1 1/​2 cups self rais­ing flour
• ¼ tea­spoon vanilla extract

Cook dates in water until they make a jam con­sis­tency. Beat in remain­ing ingre­di­ents and mix well. Butter and flour a jam roll tin and pour in mix­ture. Bake on cen­ter shelf of pre­heated 375 degrees F oven for 25 min­utes or until pud­ding is cooked.

Sauce

• 3/​4 cup dark brown sugar
• 5 oz heavy cream
• 4 oz butter
• ½ tea­spoon vanilla extract

Place but­ter and sugar in pan, stir until sugar has dis­solved then add remain­ing ingre­di­ents. Bring to boil, and boil for 5 minutes.

To serve: Cut pud­ding into wedges and serve with sauce and cream or ice-​cream. YUM!

Our sec­ond day of ski­ing was superb, sunny skies and open slopes with our friends. We arrived back at the house and were greeted by snow­man topped trees.. very inven­tive! Andrea had stayed home with two of her boys and again been hard at work, home-​made tomato soup (com­fort food for English and Aussies alike)- what a treat! We added the pre­vi­ous nights left overs and had a feast.

Homemade Tomato Soup

• 1 (14-​ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 3/​4 cup extra vir­gin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stalk cel­ery, diced
• 1 small car­rot, diced
• 1 yel­low onion, diced
• 2 cloves gar­lic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 table­spoons butter
• 1/​4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/​2 cup heavy cream, optional

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Strain the chopped canned toma­toes, reserv­ing the juices, and spread onto a bak­ing sheet, sea­son with salt and pep­per, to taste, driz­zle with 1/​4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remain­ing olive oil over medium-​low heat. Add the cel­ery, car­rot, onion and gar­lic, cook until soft­ened, about 10 min­utes. Add the roasted chopped canned toma­toes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and but­ter. Simmer until veg­eta­bles are very ten­der, about 15 to 20 min­utes. Add basil and cream, if using. Purée with a hand held immer­sion blender until smooth.