The mountains are frosted white
— nearly two feet of snow in the past week and that’s bound to be topped
up by the time you read this — and skiers and riders are pumped with the
opening of Whistler Mountain yesterday and Blackcomb today.
Sure, we all know there is The B.S.
(Before Skiing) of Whistler, as the local museum video reminds us —
namely that skiing, and the other “s” sport, snowboarding, aren’t the be all
and end all of the resort. But on a chilled day like today, it hits deep in
your bones that they are its
raison d’etre
. And with the Peak 2 Peak Gondola about to swing into action, the
concept is only heightened.
So how do you feed your weary self
after a day on the slopes?
I sometimes wonder what Joe Houssian
would eat when he gets home all knackered. Or Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise —
but, hey, those guys have room service.
And sure, you can stop for a Subway
sub or a Sushi Village special on the way home, but sometimes you just want to
go home, if you know what I mean. So if you’re tired of nuking leftovers or
slicing weenies into Kraft dinner, and a homebody of a roommate who loves to
cook or a good-natured mom who lives up the street aren’t viable options, then
you’ve got to get creative.
Crock-Pots — remember those
things from the ’70s? — or slow cookers, if you’re into the non-brand
thing, are making a comeback. Think of them as a perfect surrogate mom who
doesn’t ask any embarrassing questions but has a great hot meal on stand-by the
minute you walk in the door.
You can pick up a decent new one for
$50 or less; Value Village carries the original oovy-groovy retro models for
less than half that price.
Go for one with at least two timing
options — on high for 2-3 hours means, what, a few quick runs? Or low for
7-8 hours gives you a full day swooshing and carving.
Even though they’re always touted as
being “energy efficient”, the jury is still out on just how much of an energy
saver they are. One study puts a Crock-Pot’s low setting for 7-8 hours on
energy par with an hour’s worth of oven use. Another says they are more
efficient than using a stove.
Either way, a Crock-Pot or slow
cooker will serve you well for certain dishes, say, a roast when you throw in
the vegetables, too, so you aren’t using a stovetop as well. And how cool would
that be to have a big old roast beef all tender and juicy for dinner when you
get home, and you’ve barely lifted a finger?
But one way they will save you, hands
down, is the temptation to buy expensive pre-packaged/prepared food, which is
often pretty bad both in terms of taste and nutrition. And while it’s nice to
eat out sometimes, they’ll definitely let you be the boss of your dining out
habits, instead of leaving you stranded in the
I’m-starving-and-I’ve-got-no-options loop.
As for size and shape, if you want to
do roasts, especially roast chicken, an oval one is nice. I always liked M.F.K.
Fisher’s idea of wealth — having a cold roast chicken in your fridge that
you can pick at anytime. A Crock-Pot will definitely make you feel like a
wealthy woman — or man — with such luxury at your beck and call.
As for size, most Crock-Pot recipes
mean you’re cooking with the thing two-thirds full. Depending on how many
people you want to feed at one sitting, or how much leftovers mean to you, you
might want to consider a 4- or 5-quart one to cook for four people.
And don’t think that Crock-Pots are
just for retro meat-eaters. Lots of recipes today for slow cookers are
vegetarian, sampling from exotic world cooking that’s as hip as a double
Americano: Creole Black Beans, Carrot Orange Bisque and Brunch Florentine are
just a few of the tasty offerings from the official Crock-Pot website.
CROCKLESS BUT NOT POTLESS
Of course, if you aren’t into
appliances or seeking a Crock-Pot shopping experience, a million tried-and-true
recipes have evolved over the years to feed the cold, hungry, rosy-cheeked
masses back from a day of snow sports.
Whistler Recipes
, available from Whistler Museum & Archives, has the
following offering from Ruth Howells, about as home-grown as you can get. You
can prep it in the morning, pop it in the fridge, then bake it once you get
home:
Hamburger “99”
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
3 medium onions, sliced
2 cans mushroom soup
4–5 medium potatoes, finely
sliced
1/2 c. grated sharp cheese
Pre-heat oven to 350. Cook the ground
beef and season to taste. Remove excess grease if necessary. Add the soup; heat
till bubbly. Line a greased casserole dish with layer of finely sliced
potatoes, followed by half the sliced onions. Pour beef mixture over this. Add
the remaining onions and sliced potatoes. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about
an hour, or until the potatoes are soft. About 15 minutes before serving,
sprinkle the cheese on top and broil to form a crust.
And here’s a favourite from my
family. My mom used to serve this to a ravenous crew after a day tobogganing.
We would have been skiing, honest, but our hills were pretty pathetic in
Edmonton.
Joyce’s Patio Baked Beans
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. instant coffee
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix together in
a saucepan and cook over low heat for about 5 min. In the meantime, cut one
onion into thin slices and arrange in alternate layers with 2 large (20-oz) or
3 regular-sized tins of pork ’n’ beans in a 2-qt. casserole. Pour over the hot
sauce, and cover & bake in a 350-degree oven 45 min. At this point stir in
1/4 c. cognac, rum or a good brandy (not vital, but it sure adds a nice touch),
and place 4 slices of good bacon cut into 1-inch pieces on top. Continue baking
without a cover for 30 min. longer. Serves 4–6 hungry skiers, boarders or
tobogganers.
Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning
freelance writer who always has a couple of tins of pork ’n’ beans on the shelf
and doesn’t mind saying so.