February 9, 2018 - AVALANCHES and All about Soul Food

Tanya's Daily Scoop
Covering the West Coast & the World
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: BRECKENRIDGE

There was a what???

It's Friday and it's a bittersweet day for me here in Breckenridge, as it will be our last day on the slopes here for this 2017-18 season, but it is yet another day for us on these beautiful runs!

As yesterday was another grand day out here in the mountains, although my dear Dominic had decided to take the day off.
So it was just Cosette and I eager to get back out there and play in the snow.

Me and my superstar (Epicmix)

Lovin' every minute (Epicmix)

Thanks Epicmix

It was the first day that we hit and skied all of Breck's Five Peaks:

Peak 6 - the newest Peak added, debuting in the 2013-14 season. It was the biggest expansion in North America in more than a decade, notching the resort’s skiable acreage up by 543 acres (400 acres of lift-served terrain and 143 hike-to).

And from what we can tell - it is pretty much always a windy ride up the Kensho SuperChair which runs above timberline to an altitude of 12,302 feet.

Peak 6 is geared primarily to intermediate skiers and riders, but also includes a large amount of advanced terrain and chutes via a short hike from the top.

Peak 7 - has bowls that are accessible by hiking from the T-Bar or a traverse from the top of the Imperial Express SuperChair. While the lower part of Peak 7 is an area of fun rolling intermediate trails.

Peak 8 - is the heart of Breck. This is where it all began, go back 50 years, and Peak 8 is all there was.
Lower Peak 8 consists of beginner trails, as well as many intermediate trails mixed with some advanced runs. 

Peak 8 is home to some of the premier terrain parks in the country. The back bowls, and upper part of Peak 8, are composed of advanced and expert terrain. And the Peak 8 back bowl area is composed of expert chutes. 

Peak 8 is where you'll also find the Imperial SuperChair - which is at 12,840' and if you recall I've already shared with you a few times as being the HIGHEST lift in North America! 

Bottom of the Imperial Chair (c)travelincousins.com

Heading up (c)travelincousins.com

From the top (c)travelincousins.com

What a view (c)travelincousins.com

There ya have it (c)travelincousins.com

Mom needs a picture (c)travelincousins.com

Top of the lift (c)travelincousins.com

Here she comes (c)travelincousins.com

As we were riding up on our second ride of the Kensho SuperChair, we rode along with a member of ski patrol who had pointed out that they just had an..

AVALANCHE!!!

This took place just earlier and was initiated by a charge.

DID YOU KNOW: As a skier, you become quite accustom to hearing the sound of Dynamite charges go off all day long???

Well the oddity was that mentioned by the ski patrol was that they hadn't had an avalanche in this location since opening the Imperial SuperChair (2012).
​And since there was a decent snowfall early this week, and then a super windy day yesterday - this happened!

Remnants of an Avalanche (c)travelincousins.com

Remnants of an Avalanche (c)travelincousins.com

Remnants of an Avalanche (c)travelincousins.com

There were quite a number of "Avalanche Geeks" as the ski patrol put it, up there examining the layers of snow and trying to decipher exactly why this Avalanche took place - regardless of the charge.

We had even found out that there is a nearby Avalanche School who had students onsite. There are also Avalanche Training courses and ongoing field courses.

My two cents and all I can say is that Avalanches are super scary!!!

Happy to have missed the Avalanche (c)travelincousins.com

More about the Peaks here at Breckenridge:

​Peak 9 - The second oldest peak, the lower part of Peak 9 is a beginner learning slope. On the upper part of Peak 9 are intermediate blue runs, while on the north side of Peak 9, facing towards Peak 8, are the North Chutes, double black-rated chutes.

Peak 10 - The southernmost peak on the mountain, comprising black and double black trails. The advanced terrain on Peak 10 varies, from groomers underneath and near the lift, to glades on the north side of the Peak 10 ridge, and double black chutes on the far south side.
​
We skied our little hearts out across all of the peaks and then when we came back to the lodge Dominic was all ready for us to go to our movie theatre reservation. Not knowing much about it our movie choice was Battle of the Sexes with Steve Carell & Emma Stone.
A biography of sorts about Billie Jean King. Let's just say that although I lasted through the entire film - this was not our favorite movie. I'll leave it at that.

The kids then enjoyed several games of billiards and then up to our suite we went and to my surprise the Olympics were on!!!

I love the Olympics and was looking very forward to the opening ceremonies as well as catching as much of the events as possible. So I was a bit confused to see that the events were going on and thought that we missed the ceremonies. 

Well the ceremonies are TONIGHT and I don't quite understand why the events begin before the opening - but alas I didn't miss it & I will plop myself in front of the TV tonight (which is a rarity) and watch!

But for now - we are off to hit the slopes!
-Travelin' Tanya

Elisa's Daily Scoop
Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs
​CURRENTLY ON LONG ISLAND

All about Soul Food

Howdy and TGIF!!
Although this week went by fast, it was quite busy, filled with lots of running around!

Yesterday was a pivotal day as my little girl (nearly 14!) was measured for her new high school uniform for the Fall.  This kid is getting so grown up and she is taller than her mama!

I know the next four years are going to be very exciting for my Gianna.

Gianna getting measured for her new high school uniform skirt (c) travelincousins.com

Gianna getting measured for her new school blazer (c) travelincousins.com

As I mentioned yesterday, I will be going to the African American Museum of Nassau County tomorrow. Really looking forward to it and to sharing more information with you about this Long Island Museum, as part of our nation's celebration of Black History Month.

As a tribute to this month, I thought I would tie in a fun Travelin' 25 for Foodie Friday about traditional soul food and cooking!!

25 Fun Facts About
​Soul Food

1. Soul food is a genre of cuisine originating in the Southeastern United States, common in areas with a history of slave-based plantations with early influences included African and Native American cuisine.

2. It has maintained popularity among the Black American and American Deep-South "cotton state" communities for centuries.

3. This variety of food is now the most common regional cuisine in southern cities such as Charleston (South Carolina), New Orleans (Louisiana), Houston (Texas), Charlotte (North Carolina) Birmingham (Alabama) and Atlanta (Georgia).

​4. In the 1960‘s, Southern-style cooking by Black Americans was renamed “Soul Food” in honor of black cooks who prepared food during the slavery era. It was also a reminder that these cooks paved the way in the development of African American cuisine - now soul food.

5. The term soul food became popular in the 1960s, after Alex Haley recorded Malcolm X’s life story in 1963.

A traditional soul food dinner consisting of fried chicken with macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and fried okra (photo credit: wiki.org)

6. Between 300 -1619, the first group of Africans landed in America in Jamestown, Virginia. African American slaves were farmers, cattle raisers, and fishermen and introduced several plants and seeds to plant such as black-eyed peas, okra, sweet sorghum, and watermelons as part of American’s crops and foods.

7. The slaves created their own meals from the leftovers that their masters did not eat. They often exchanged recipes verbally with each other which led to the development of African American cuisine. 

8. By the end of the Civil War, Black Americans cooked on cattle farms and were pioneers as farmers and survived off the land. During these hard and difficult times, they adapted their own cooking habits and techniques and formed many new ones along the way.
​
9. To Malcolm X, soul food represents both southernness and commensality, which means "The act of eating together."

10. Those who had participated in the Great Migration found within soul food a reminder of the home and family they had left behind after moving to unfamiliar northern cities.

Ham hock and black-eyed peas (photo credit: wiki.org)

​11. Soul food restaurants were Black-owned businesses that served as neighborhood meeting places where people socialized and ate together.

​12. Because it was illegal in many states for slaves to learn to read or write, soul food recipes and cooking techniques tended to be passed along orally, until after emancipation.


13. A traditional soul food dinner consisting of fried chicken with macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and fried okra, Hushpuppies, Skillet cornbread, Ham hock and black-eyed peas.

14. It is tradition for African Americans to eat a lot of food for breakfast. They may eat chicken, waffles, grits (dried and boiled grains from corn), ham, corn fritters, and bacon. Traditionally in the South, a Sunday breakfast includes fried apples, grits, and pork sausage.

15. Two of the first soul food cookbook are attributed to Abby Fisher, entitled What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking and published in 1881 and Good Things to Eat was published in 1911 by author, Rufus Estes, who was a former slave who worked for the Pullman railway car service.

16. Black American cookbooks often have a common theme of family gatherings.

17. Traditionally-prepared soul foods tend to be very high in starch, fat, sodium, cholesterol, and calories.

18. An important aspect of the preparation of soul food was the reuse of cooking lard. Because many cooks could not afford to buy new shortening to replace what they used, they would pour the liquefied cooking grease into a container. After cooling completely, the grease re-solidified and could be used again the next time the cook required lard.

Barbara "B" Smith - celebrated restaurateur, author, model, TV personality, spokesperson, and culinary ambassador. (photo credit: huff post.com)

19. Moving towards healthier eating habits, some cooks have even adapted recipes to include vegetarian alternatives to traditional ingredients, including tofu and soy-based analogues.  

20. Celebrated traditional Southern chef and author Edna Lewis wrote a series of books between 1972 and 2003, including A Taste of Country Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf, 1976) where she weaves stories of her childhood in Freetown, Virginia into her recipes for "real Southern food".

21. Though soul food originated in the South, soul food restaurants — from fried chicken and fish "shacks" to upscale dining establishments-are in every African-American community in the nation, especially in cities with large black populations, such as Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

​22. The Scots, and later Scottish immigrants
to the southern United States, had a tradition of deep frying chicken in fat as far back as the middle ages, unlike their English counterparts who baked or boiled chicken. When it was introduced to the American South, fried chicken became a common staple.

23. Hog jowl is a staple of soul food, but is also used outside the United States, for example in the Italian dish guanciale. The stomach lining of a pig; it is very muscular and contains no fat. As a soul food dish, hog maw has often been coupled with chitterlings, which are pig intestines.

24. Sylvia's Restaurant, the “The Queen of Soul Food”, was founded by Sylvia Woods , in 1962,  established in the historic village of Harlem. Sylvia's is a community favorite, known as the world's kitchen, serving authentic soul food for over 55 years.
 
25. Today, people from all walks of life, young and old, enjoy soul food cuisine. Soul food is also prepared in many households in America for family gatherings and special celebrations. ​

Here's to a great Friday!!
-E
xoxo