This past week we were in West Virginia at Snowshoe Mountain. I was learning to ski, and my husband, being the classic over-achiever was learning to ski and snowboard. By the end of the week, we were bruised, battered, and I have two toenails that are so injured and black, I don’t think I’ll be able to wear anything but flip-flops for a few weeks. Over the past week, because of our vigorous workouts, I haven’t been watching my diet, and over-indulged at the restaurants at the resort, especially at a place called Embers. All the food I had there was beyond amazing, but my favorite was the slow roasted duck confit “mac & cheese.” One of the fun things they do there is to bring cotton candy with the check. It’s so much fun. This restaurant, even though it appears to be the more adult, was the most kid-friendly restaurant we visited while there.
The first night we got there, it had rained and froze over, so everything was super slick. This made it pretty difficult, especially for me, to learn the art of skiing. I was so busy trying to ski, falling or throwing snowballs with my son, I didn’t take many pictures. I didn’t want to lug around my big rebel, and I was also afraid I’d break it, and couldn’t operate my little Nikon very well with my gloves. I got a few here and there and snapped this pic just before we left of our view from our room. It didn’t start snowing again till our last day. Then, like magic, I could ski easily, and not fall left and right.
This cauliflower soup is one I made several weeks ago and had scheduled on Babble for Friday. It’s a delicious and creamy cauliflower soup full of pancetta. I added a potato, instead of milk or cream to save on calories.
Yield: Serves 4
1 head of cauliflower
1 baking potato, peeled
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 pound pancetta
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
8 cups chicken stock
olive oil
1. Preheat large soup pot. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onion, and pancetta. Saute until onions are translucent. Add cauliflower, garlic and potato. Saute for a few minutes more and then add chicken stock. Then add white pepper and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer for 25 – 30 minutes, or until potato and cauliflower are very tender. Using a submersible blender, blend soup until it is very creamy. alternatively, you can puree the soup in batches in a blender. Serve.
Makes 4 servings
