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I’m not a foodie. I’m not even a good cook. So when Canyons invited me on an Artisan Farm Tour with Executive Chef John Murcko, I was skeptical that my palate was not refined enough.

But I decided to take the tour, and determine why my audience (skiers), should care where Canyons gets their food.

Let me give you some background. The Talisker Restaurants aren’t your typical mountain burger shacks. We are talking about Talisker on Main, a restaurant named best in Park City two years running; and The Farm, voted best new restaurant in the state, both by Salt Lake Magazine. Slopes, Bistro, Red Tail, I mean, too many phenomenal options to choose from!

Canyons Resort has seriously raised the bar with their on-slope dining options. How do I know?

Slide Ridge Honey

Initially the first thing I experienced was Executive Chef John Murcko’s passion. Even the car ride was a learning experience for me. Talking amongst the journalists and foodies on the trip, I learned his commitment goes beyond the food to the factual concept that what we eat matters. Not only should it be delicious, we want the best of the best.

Utah has a lot to offer. On our trip from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to families making cheese, raising lamb and trout, and bottling honey - it changed the way I thought about food. Everything was fresh, clean, local, and I felt this connection to the purity of the concept. I was starting to look at the food in a whole new way, the way it should be!

The contemporary mountain cuisine Chef Murcko creates is exceptional. The use of our local purveyors matters. As a skier, you should put your body, your health, and even your community first. I can’t tell you how great I felt after two days of this fresh, local food. I went home and couldn’t bring myself to eat anything out of a box. Often we rush from a few fresh powder laps to an afternoon behind a desk where we’ll end up full of unsatisfying fast food. Imagine, I thought, keeping this new mentality about eating with me this year. My body will thank me!

Yours will too. Whether you are a local or tourist, be sure to try many of the fantastic dining options we have inPark City and on the slopes of Canyons. With ever changing menus, the experience will be new, and unforgettable, every time.

Here is a link to all my photos of the journey.

Farms we visited:

Zoe’s Garden

Slide Ridge Honey

Mountain Valley Trout

Rock Hill Creamery

Willis Ranch

I look forward also to the Farmer’s Market at Canyons now. Starting next Wednesday June 6th through mid-October, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, you’ll find me hunting for fresh, local food options. Hope I see you there, or at one of the restaurants, soon!

Powderhound Cat

Since last year got snowed out, we decided to make it work for our 6th.

This time we were going to try camping at Yellowstone, or Mirror Lake.

This is the second year we’ve been in Park City for Memorial Day and it has snowed.

Next year someone send us to Hawaii, ok?

He also set up my office better. I have a nice chair and a dual monitor system rocking right now. All of a sudden, I’ve caught up on emails, texts, a giant to do list, I’m even listening to all the music I download and forget about.

It might not impress you much, but I hate that list that I would look at and ignore because it honestly isn’t that pressing. Knocking some of the little stuff out is doing me goooood. Suddenly, I want to write again. I have ideas. I miss blogging and want to be here instead of thinking “every time I go there I quit”. I have a cleared my email inbox. My computer is organized. My office is clean. My house is OCD clean. I’m freaking COOKING again, which I’d all but given up on.

We’ll see how long it lasts, but this is my kind of productive.

Have you made a change lately that you feel good about?

Maybe it’s how the store has a very REI look. Maybe it’s the disdain of the store employee…felt that glare before? Because you are not an expert already? The fact that that’s how I’d look kayaking?

Probably all those things and more. Great ad.

Getting my “online classes of a new skill set for some WORK” on…

Step one: fancy shmancy photo editing. Bam!

What do you think?

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Everything is so good for me these days I get afraid the bottom might fall out and I might lose an arm in my sleep. So it’s only fair to have one little thing that isn’t the way I want. I’m not a published author.

Mostly what’s holding me back is being so terrified of the world. Exposing my emotions about skiing for skiutah.com was harder than I ever imagined – people write shitty comments on blog posts on the internet. That’s lame. It makes me sad. Imagine if I self publish, and then people make mean comments on an even bigger forum, like amazon.com. Yikes.

I loved this TEDtalk Snippy sent me. Well, I only watched it a day later because I was bored. But THEN I loved it. I only didn’t like the lady because I was convinced Eat, Pray, Love was the book Snippy was meant to write, and that she would have killed it.

But, she’s a smart lady. Even if you aren’t a writer, listen to her thoughts. Some people are more creative than others, but I believe we all have a gift of something other than being good at a job, that we are meant to share.

It tells me that the fear and things I feel are real and normal. And I am creative. There will be people that never get that or think it’s worth it, but I can’t let THEM be the reason I don’t do something great.

This was basically my first time on the spot, live interviewing. It was wild and fun. I could do this more…I’m sure with experience you get more comfortable. The great part with someone like me, who does totally get a little star-struck, was just how nice everyone was. Super patient, kind, expecting the interview, and happy to say hi for the camera. I guess that is the job…

Fortunately for me, PCTV thinks I’m ok and I get to do some more filming this weekend! Looking forward to new adventures as the ski season comes to an end.

The Canyons resort is really stepping it up to be a major player in the ski resort world. I get to attend an incredible event this coming Saturday also, a celebrity ski fundraiser for Operation Smile.

Every year I’ve been here in Utah, the events get bigger, better, and more successful.

I’ve had friends in town from Colorado that repeatedly note, “We didn’t know this fun party atmosphere was an option here.”

I have to respond, “Go back and tell everyone you know!”