to ski or ski or ski?
Last night, we couldn’t decide what to do today – to downhill ski at Eldora, to tele ski at Eldora, or to cross country ski at Brainard. I wasn’t keen on going to Eldora just yet, after all it is opening weekend and only a small percentage of their runs are open. We packed up the skis and dog and set off for Brainard Lake, the staging ground for many excellent hikes and climbs. The road is now closed at the gate and people were hiking, snow shoeing, and skiing in. Parts of the road were so melted out that there were only thin sheets of ice to ski across (instead of rutting up on the asphalt). But other parts, and especially off the road, there was nice deep powder.
where someone else postholed, i glided across without a worry
ski whore – jeremy tries to cross in sparse places on 1/8 inch thick ice
It was so nice to cross country again – we hadn’t done this in several years! Kaweah really got on Jeremy’s nerves at the start, but when we hit some deep snow, I told him to let her off leash and she went about tiring herself out in due time. On the way back to the car, she was very good off leash and Jeremy could actually enjoy the skiing without the non-linear component known as the kaweah force. It was a warm day (maybe 32?) but the winds were pretty stiff at the lake. A good workout because I can feel it in my butt right now (sore).
And tonight I finally tackled that project of mine: the crusted roast. The key to this recipe: the fresh herbs that go into the crust: thyme (one of my favorites), marjoram, garlic, shallots. It smelled fabulous in the oven for the hour that it was roasting. The pork loin I bought was so damn big that I only used a third of it and saved the other two thirds in the freezer. I seared the meat on each side in my sauté pan and was left with some fond which I deglazed for a nice wine sauce.
fresh is best
ready for the oven
deglazing
finis
The roast was a success! Jeremy and I both liked it a lot (good thing too, we have plenty leftover). I will probably reduce the salt in the recipe since you have to salt and pepper the pork before searing it. Tender and juicy. This will eventually get filed in my photo recipe archives.
I was bad today, and I ordered some stuff from Patagucci. Hey – at least I buy stuff on sale! I also got a top for Jeremy. Their silkweight capilene is the best.
