Peggy Smith

The Smuggler’s Notch road has been closed for the season. This is one of the first signs that winter is just around the corner. Of course reaching this conclusion is not much of a leap when it’s already snowed enough for a few brave skiers and riders hit the hill. Along with that, temperatures have been cool enough for the Stowe Mountain Resort to have the snow guns going. You can see the mist raise off the top of the Mountain like fog.

The surest sign is my daughters constant praying for snow and praising of her new skis. Oh and how she’ll need a helmet this year, so she doesn’t knock herself out upon her return to downhill skis from teley after 18 years.

Yes, winter is knocking at the door in Stowe, Vermont. And if the early snow is any signal, we’re in for another good year of snow!

Last weekend my son & daughter-in-law came up for the weekend. For something different to do, I took the whole family to see Indoor/Outdoor at the Waterbury Festival Players. It was a funny little play about the relationship between an indoor cat (Samantha) and her owner. The play-write throws in a savvy outdoor cat for Samantha to fall in love with and the events that follow remind me of having a 13 yr old daughter!

The play was hysterical, the second act did outshine the first act, but overall it was a fun way to spend an evening. Of course my son & his wife had already seen the play in NYC, but it still got them chuckling out loud! It is still playing through tomorrow, so if you are looking for something fun to do check it out.

You can get all the details here: Waterbury Festival Players, Indoor/Outdoor

Enjoy!

The antique car show is a long standing summer tradition in Stowe VT. Going into it’s 51st year this year at Nichol’s Field. We’ve been watching cars roll into town that were built as far back as 1961!! The car show is one of my husbands favorite things to photograph, if you haven’t been I suggest you stop by Nichols Field right of Route 100 on the way into Stowe this weekend.

The Antique Car Show starts today and runs through Sunday. For more information check out their website by clicking here.

Looking for something to keep you busy this weekend? I will be attending the Taste of Stowe Arts Festival, put on  by the Helen Day Arts Center. Shap, my husband, is on the board at the Helen Day, so of course we will get out to support the event, but that is not the only reason why, they actually have great stuff! Who could think of a better combination of events than all the finest restaurants from the Stowe Area and fine crafts from all over the area. It is my idea of heaven. We are big fans of the Stowe Craft Fair in October, but this new Art Show is proving to be a good competitor.

Hope to see you there!

If you are in Stowe this weekend and looking to enjoy the beautiful setting of the Green Mountains; what better place to do it than the meadow at the Trapp Family Lodge. This Sunday the Vermont Mozart Festival comes to Stowe, featuring Beethoven on the Mountain. Ticket are $30 a person and can be purchased online at www.vtmozart.com

Pick up some yummy picnic items and a bottle of wine at the Harvest Market on the Mountain Road in Stowe, grab a blanket and head to Trapps. Watching the sunset over the hills with Beethoven in the background, is a fine way to end the week.

I just happened upon this information and thought how perfect wine tasting and chocolate sampling on the same day! Not a drinker myself, I’ll be heading straight for the chocolate.

If you are looking for something to brighten this gloomy Vermont day, right here in Stowe, check out these two events today, June 6th:

Wine Tasting in the Trapp Family Lodge Wine Cellar, 4-6PM
Indulge in a selection of wines from Washington State’s Columbia Valley. A sign up sheet is available at the front desk, call 253-5742 or 800-826-7000 to sign up! There is a $15/person fee for this event.

Laughing Moon Chocolates Benefit Chocolate Tasting, 3-7PM
This event benefits the African Food Aid and Water treatment programs in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. A $5 donation is requested, in exchange you will be treated to make your own chocolates, plenty of samples, give aways and dipping demos! Enjoy.

After drinking all that wine and eating all that chocolate you may want to walk or run it off… what better way to do that then to join the NCAL MUTT STRUTT on Saturday June 7th. It is too late to register online, so head over to the event at 8AM tomorrow to pledge or donate. Now you are supporting 2 great cause in 1 weekend. Check out my daughter’s NCAL Mutt, Gizmo, below!

Next weekend June 13th - 15th the Stowe will be hosting the Green Mountain Corvette Classic! You’ll find these rides hard to miss as they weave their way up and down the Mountain Road in packs of 3-10 cars at a time!

Interesting in buying a Corvette? The Green Mountain Corvette Classic is a great place to start. On Saturday, June 13th they Corvette’s will be corralled at the Ye Olde England Inne for your convince!

I have been a long time board member of the Stowe Land Trust. It has been our goal to conserve scenic, recreational, and productive farm and forest lands for the benefit of the greater Stowe Community.

We put our head together and came up with the idea of having a flea market to fund raise for our cause. What better way to continue our goals of conservation and clear out our basements! We’re jumping on the GREEN train and what you to join US!

Grab a booth to sell your goods or stop by to help Reduce, Recycle and Reuse!
Saturday, May 24th from 8AM - 3PM

Admissions to buy is $2.50 for adults, children are free. More than 60 vendorsthere is food available and rock bottom prices!

Booths are still available for $35 (8′ x 6′ space). Click here to register!

If you are interested in finding sugarhouses in Vermont go to this website:

http://www.vermontmaple.org/

If you would like to try another great maple syrup recipe, try this one:

SUGARBUSH MOUNTAIN MAPLE MOUSSE
1 envelope plus 2 tsp. unflavored
gelatin
1/2 c. cold water
4 egg yolks, well beaten
1 c. pure maple syrup
1/2 c. light brown sugar
4 egg whites
2 c. whipping cream, chilled
Sprinkle gelatin on water; let soften 5 minutes, then set cup in pan of hot water. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Add gelatin to beaten egg yolks, mix into maple syrup and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats spoon. Do not let mixture boil. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar, blending well. Transfer to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Whip cream only until stiff enough to hold its shape. With rubber spatula, fold cream gently into maple syrup mixture. Then fold in egg whites until whites no longer show. Spoon mousse mixture into a 1 1/2 quart mold that has been rinsed in cold water. Cover top with plastic and chill at least 4 hours or until firm.

If you love this recipe, pass it on to a friend to try. Here is a way to win a jug of maple syrup:

Tell your friend to make a comment on my blog and you both might win a jug of maple syrup. Your friend has to mention your name and you have to make a comment on my blog also. Oh and you have to try the recipe.

I am sitting here watching it pour rain and thinking that March is one of the most maddening months in Vermont. It can be absolutely the best skiing of the year with the most spectacular sunshine and warm days on the mountain that you have ever experienced, or it can be like it is today - pouring rain. But despite the change in weather almost daily, it is one of my favorite months.

Why? Because it is maple sugaring time. The sap has begun to run in the trees, you drive down one of the roads in Stowe and you see a trail of blue lines decorating the maple trees. When I am showing people real estate they ask me what the process is to make maple syrup. Most of them know the syrup comes from trees and that it taste good.

Back in the day, as they say, the maple trees were tapped with a spigot from which a bucket was hung. Sometimes a tree could have three buckets on it at once. Oh, I forgot to mention that there are various types of maple trees but the ones that produce the syrup are sugar maples. Makes sense doesn’t it? Anyway, collecting the syrup from a full bucket meant that you had to team up the horses or start up the tractor , then with a holding tank on the back of a sled, you dump each bucket into the holding tank. Taking the holding tank full of sap back to the sugar house, it is siphoned into a larger holding tank, that feeds into the evaporator. From there it goes into the back pan where it boils over chambers to the front pan where it boils through a series of chambers until it becomes syrup.

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