Vermont
Chef-Owned Wolfpeach Alchemizes Food and Herbal Medicine
5 years in the past, Fiona Lucia Genadio-Allen educated at Eire’s illustrious Ballymaloe Cookery College. The immersive schooling — which she known as “Hogwarts for meals” — was centered on a 100-acre natural farm and gave her the talents she wanted to prepare dinner professionally at eating places in London.
However even in these prestigious culinary circles, the younger chef did not discover what she was on the lookout for: drugs in meals type.
“I would get actually pissed off working in kitchens,” Genadio-Allen, 30, stated. “Like, Why are you utilizing this shitty salt when you can be utilizing superb, mineral-rich Celtic sea salt?”
As a youngster in Vermont, Genadio-Allen was taken with herbalism, creating her data of highly effective crops via unbiased research, mentorship and packages such because the Vermont Middle for Integrative Herbalism. She usually made tinctures for her household to attempt, however they weren’t bought on the bitter flavors.
“That is the factor about natural drugs,” Genadio-Allen stated with fun. “Loads of instances, it does not style excellent.”
After attending culinary college, she discovered herself pondering increasingly about producing natural formulation that individuals would truly take pleasure in. In 2021, Genadio-Allen returned house to Vermont and launched Wolfpeach, a Morrisville-based apothecary kitchen with a web based store.
Wolfpeach affords a full line of oxymels, tonics, fragrant salts, honey-and-herb electuaries, digestive bitters, and scorching sauces. Barring the Celtic sea salt, virtually all of the components are sourced from Vermont farms. The result’s a rainbow of pantry staples which are as tasty as they’re helpful — and so they’re popping up like vibrant beacons at bars and eating places across the state.
Wolfpeach’s hottest product is Nectar of the Gods, a citrusy, bright-orange oxymel made with sea buckthorn berries, uncooked honey and uncooked, barrel-aged apple cider vinegar. Oxymels are historical tinctures that predate alcohol distillation, Genadio-Allen stated, combining vinegar and honey to extract medicinal worth from crops and protect their taste. She describes Nectar of the Gods as a vitamin C-rich “vitality tonic” that may be consumed by itself or in a mocktail or cocktail.
“The oxymels are very easy [to use],” Genadio-Allen stated. She usually makes a zero-proof cocktail by throwing a splash of Nectar of the Gods in with glowing water on ice and including a pinch of Mermaid Mud, a pink-and-purple fragrant salt with rose petals, calendula and seaweed. The combo of vinegar, honey, water and salt creates a full-spectrum electrolyte drink, she stated. To booze it up, she provides a shot of excellent gin and strikes the salt to the rim.
Genadio-Allen began her biz by promoting merchandise at farmers markets in Waitsfield, Stowe, Burlington and Winooski. Now that she has a longtime buyer base, she’s shifting her focus to supplying ingesting and eating locations round Vermont, together with the Oasis in Morrisville, Doc Ponds in Stowe, Zenbarn in Waterbury Middle and Fireside & Candle in Jeffersonville.
“I am actually motivated to get these merchandise behind the bar,” Genadio-Allen stated. “Why not have drugs when you’re imbibing, particularly if it tastes good and appears lovely?”
Wolfpeach’s merchandise supply contemporary, fancy alternate options to individuals who aren’t ingesting alcohol, too, injecting sorely wanted selection into the mocktail class.
Genadio-Allen can be bringing her merchandise to the desk via multicourse pop-up dinners that function Wolfpeach choices within the cocktail menu and infused into the meals. In December, she hosted a Nordic feast with Haley Blair of Stowe’s Reside Perpetually Meals, a pal and frequent collaborator. Upcoming occasions embody a Burns Evening celebration at Zenbarn on Thursday, January 26, and a meal with Abenaki chef Jessee Lawyer on the helm in mid-February.
At Ballymaloe, Genadio-Allen realized from cofounder Darina Allen that “menus actually drive change within the culinary and agricultural world,” she recalled. In different phrases, when diners attempt one thing new at a restaurant, they’re extra more likely to search it out elsewhere. She hopes that having Wolfpeach’s merchandise on menus round Vermont will draw consideration to them, she stated, and to the farms that she sources from and proudly showcases on every label.
Genadio-Allen’s go-to herb sources are Jeff and Melanie Carpenter’s Zack Woods Herb Farm in Hyde Park and Karen Taylor’s Era Herb, primarily based in South Albany.
Taylor, who has labored with Wolfpeach for 2 seasons, stated Genadio-Allen has been “an amazing hype woman” for Era Herb; her merchandise make it simpler to market the dried medicinal herbs that Taylor produces.
“It isn’t a scientific treatment as a lot because it’s this expertise of the panorama round you,” Taylor stated of the Wolfpeach line. “That is such a useful voice to have repping the crops that I develop.”
For this 12 months’s batch of Nectar of the Gods, Genadio-Allen sourced 2,000 kilos of sea buckthorn berries — as a lot as Buzz Ferver of Good Circle Farm in Berlin may harvest — and saved it in borrowed freezer house. The uncooked apple cider vinegar, made with wild and heirloom varieties, comes from Neil Hochstedler’s Aspect Hill Cider Mill in Vershire.
“I am simply alchemizing the issues,” Genadio-Allen stated. The farmers, in her view, are “actually doing the magic.”
Vermont
Mikaela Shiffrin Could Win Her 100th World Cup Next Weekend in Vermont
Mikaela Shiffrin, 29, recently took home her 99th World Cup win in Gurgl, Austria after her slalom victory. The astonishing skier is already an impressive record holder, but she continues giving each competition her all.
In her recent women’s slalom, she finished with a time of 1 minute and 40.22 seconds. Following behind Shiffrin was Lara Colturi at 0.55 seconds and Camille Rast at 0.57.
“It was a spectacular day,” said Shiffrin. “I am so excited! It was two really good runs.”
Next weekend, Shiffrin will be competing in Killington, Vermont, her home turf, where she may earn her 100th World Cup. At this event, a giant slalom will take place on Saturday while a slalom will occur on Sunday. In previous years, Shiffrin has dominated the slalom in Killington, winning six out of the seven years.
“It’s not impossible [earning her 100th win] but so many things have to go right. So, from the outside, it looks like it is supposed to happen this way but it’s certainly not easy – I am not taking that for granted…,” she stated.
While winning her 100th World Cup would certainly be a monumental moment in her career, and in the ski world, she remains focused on the task at hand.
“I guess there is a bit of pressure around it, but I try to ignore that,” Shiffrin said. “If it happens, it’s wonderful, if it doesn’t happen it’s kind of nothing to cry about in the grand scheme, but I hope to have a really good performance in front of the home crowd.”
Despite enduring a brutal downhill accident in January, Shiffrin has continued to be a leading force in the alpine ski world. Since the knee injury, she has won all four slaloms she has competed in, as stated by USA Today. Her determination and love for the sport is evident.
To watch Shiffrin in her upcoming competition in Killington Vermont, visit Peacock where the exciting events will be streamed.
Vermont
Killington Women’s World Cup skiing returns to Vermont: 2 skiers with Western Mass ties to compete
This is a biweekly column about all things skiing and snowboarding in New England.
Since the FIS Women’s World Cup ski racing returned to the Northeast eight years ago, American Mikaela Shiffrin has dominated the slalom, winning six of the seven races and earning two bronze medals in the giant slalom.
Vermont
VT wins big in USA Today’s 10 best ski and snowboard awards. Here’s a full list of winners
Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe opens for the season
Skiers and snowboarders flock to Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe on opening day 2024.
Planning a winter ski trip? Consider heading to the mountains of Vermont.
USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards just released its best of ski and snowboard rankings, and Vermont won a total of 11 awards. The annual 10Best awards highlight the best in travel, food and lifestyle, and winners are chosen by a public voting poll after being nominated by industry experts. This year’s best of ski and snowboard awards ranks lodgings, locations and services for the winter sports across the United States.
In addition to Stowe placing as the third best ski town in the country, Vermont ski accommodations placed in the following categories: best apres-ski bar, best ski restaurant, best ski shop, best place for snow tubing, best cross-country ski resort and best ski hotel.
Here’s what to know about the winners:
The Belfry
Housed in a former one-room schoolhouse, The Belfry is a charming pub just minutes away from Jay Peak Resort. Between a robust beer and wine selection and a menu full of pub classics like wings and burgers, The Belfry is the perfect place to grab a drink after a day of skiing – earning the sixth spot on the list of apres-ski bars.
The Belfry is open for thirsty skiiers every day except Wednesday, with hours from 4-9 p.m. on Friday-Saturday and 4-8 p.m. every other day.
Award: No. 6 in Best Apres-Ski Bar
Location: 14 Amidon Road, Montgomery Center, VT
Cliff House Restaurant
Cliff House Restaurant, one of the restaurants at Stowe Mountain Resort, offers a mountainside eating experience at the top of the gondola on Mount Mansfield. The restaurant is known for American cuisine with a rustic Vermont flair, serving classics like chicken sandwiches and New England clam chowder.
Stowe’s Cliff House is open for lunch from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily once the season starts on Dec. 14. A valid ticket or season pass is required to ride the gondola to the restaurant.
Award: No. 8 in Best Ski Restaurant
Location: 7231 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT (top of the mountain gondola)
The INN Restaurant & Bar
Taking the third place spot for best ski restaurant is the restaurant at The INN, a quaint inn in Montgomery Center.
Guests have a choice of eating in the intimate dining room, lively tavern or riverside deck. The INN’s seasonal menus offer upscale comfort food made from fresh, local ingredients, completed with various craft cocktails.
The inn’s restaurant is open year-round on Thursday-Sunday starting at 5 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended.
Award: No. 3 in Best Ski Restaurant
Location: 241 Main St., Montgomery Center, VT
Darkside Snowboards
Darkside Snowboards is a premiere snowboarding shop with locations in Killington and Ludlow. Just making the list of best ski shops at 10th place, this shop has everything a snowboarder could want, from performance and freestyle boards to boots, helmets, goggles and clothing for the sport. Darkside does also offer ski rentals, but mainly focuses on snowboarding equipment.
Hours for this snowboard shop are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily in Ludlow and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily in Killington, with extended late-night hours Monday-Wednesday.
Award: No. 10 in Best Ski Shop
Location: 1842 Killington Road, Killington, VT; 57 Pond St., Ludlow, VT
Skiology Ski and Sports
Right down the road from Downside Snowboards in Killington is Skiology Ski and Sports, USA Today’s second choice pick for best ski shop. The store offers a wide range of high-performance skis, from recreational to racing and all-mountain to powder, as well as daily ski rentals and professional tuning services.
Skiology is open from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Award: No. 2 in Best Ski Shop
Location: 937 Killington Road, Killington, VT
Pinnacle Ski and Sports
Pinnacle Ski and Sports, a Stowe ski shop that has been open for over 35 years, took the top spot for ski shops in this year’s 10Best awards.
Along with a wide selection of equipment and apparel, Pinnacle offers custom boot fitting, ski and snowboard rentals, ski mounting and tuning, ski repairs and a delivery concierge service. The shop is open daily from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Award: No. 1 in Best Ski Shop
Location: 1652 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT
Mount Snow Resort
Ranking fifth for best snow tubing location is Mount Snow Resort, a slopeside resort in the southern Vermont town of West Dover. The resort’s tubing hill has eight lanes and a conveyor lift, with tickets for two-hour time slots available.
In addition to snow tubing, Mount Snow has 86 skiing trails, a halfpipe and large terrain park. For those who want to stay, the Grand Summit Resort Hotel, Mount Snow’s lodging property, has almost 200 guest rooms and amenities like a spa, a health club, a heated pool and many locations for dining and retail.
Award: No. 5 in Best Place for Snow Tubing
Location: 39 Mount Snow Road, West Dover, VT
Viking Nordic Center
Londonderry’s Viking Nordic Center has over 16 miles of woodsy ski trails through classic Vermont scenery along the West River. All levels and types of cross-country skiing are welcome, whether classic, skate or snowshoe. For those just starting, the resort also offers lessons and rentals.
On select nights during ski season, Viking Nordic Center lights about two miles of their trails with overhead lights and gas lanterns from the 1900s, creating a unique nighttime skiing experience.
Award: No. 8 in Best Cross-Country Ski Resort
Location: 615 Little Pond Road, Londonderry, VT
Bolton Valley Nordic Center
Located in Bolton Valley overlooking the scenic Lake Champlain, Bolton Valley Nordic Center is a mountain adventure resort with the highest elevation in the Northeast.
The backcountry terrain offers trails for Nordic skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts of all levels, earning the resort a fifth place ranking in best cross-country ski resort. Additionally, Bolton Valley has paths for alpine, night and backcountry skiing, totaling in 71 trails.
Award: No. 5 in Best Cross-Country Ski Resort
Location: 4302 Bolton Valley Access Road, Bolton, VT
Topnotch Resort
Topnotch Resort, a luxury resort and spa located in the foothills of Mount Mansfield, ranked sixth for best ski hotel. Cozy, sophisticated rooms come together with beautiful gardens and a contemporary restaurant for a charming New England stay.
Along with skiing and snowboarding through the Stowe Mountain Resort, Topnotch has over 100 acres of activities like hiking, biking and horseback riding. Amenities include a spa, a fitness center, three pools, a tennis academy and seasonal activities.
Award: No. 6 in Best Ski Hotel
Location: 4000 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT
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