Greetings from the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. Or, as they say on the Snowbird snow report, “Aloha”.
Is it true that aloha can mean hello and good-bye, like that very useful word: “Ciao”?
We are up in the mountains for the next few weeks, and there is absolutely no chance of me eating locally, unless I want to eat California blue jays and rocks, because there certainly isn’t much in the way of snow. We are having a lean snow year, that’s for sure. We’ve had cold, and wind, trace snow, fog, clouds and sun, and that was just between 2 and 4:00 yesterday afternoon.
Today it’s going into the mid-40’s, tomorrow into the 50’s. Hmmmm.
Its been a fun weekend, with Jeff’s brother here visiting with a friend. Saturday was a big Scandinavian themed dinner for all the owners at the Lodge, and other than the house cured gravlax and aquavit, I’m not too sure what else was Scandinavian, but we certainly had a good time. The Lodge owners are an eccentric, fun and adventure loving crowd. 
Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, and I confess, I’m not too good at male-sports-bonding snacks. These poor guys had to settle for some chips and beer.
Hopefully I redeemed myself with dinner: pasta with a spicy octopus sauce. I’ve always shied away from making octopus, seemed as if there were always too many cautions when you read the recipes, but now that I’ve gotten a few more under my belt; they’re not so hard. And yes, I do throw a cork in the sauce while its cooking. Its supposed to make it more tender, and hey, it’s not like I don’t have some corks laying around! 
And here you have this morning’s sunrise; just the first bits of sun coming up over the ridge. So, as they say in Snowbird, “Aloha”.
