Tag Archives: Skiing

Daily Catskills: 02/02/15

An overnight snowstorm dumped a foot of snow with two-feet drifts in some parts, burying cars, sheds and outdoor furniture. 18F at 9am with the snowstorm continuing unabated. Two feet of fluffy snow is catnip for the black lab.

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© Robert E. Block 12.15pm

© Robert E. Block 12.15pm

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

 

Daily Catskills: 01/27/15

19F mid-morning with a light but persistent flurry. Overnight snow had coated the car in a few inches, but left the branches bare. Update: The flurry turned into a whiteout with 4 inches dropped by 1.30pm.

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

Daily Catskills: 01/16/15

We’re having a warm spell…. 24F at 8.30am with a brisk wind making it feel cooler: a very bleak, overcast morning. Update: continual light flurries and down to 18F by mid-afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski Antique Trail Markers at the Catskills Center

© J.N. Urbanski Antique Trail Markers at the Catskills Center

© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am

© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am

 

The Phoenicia Diner Challenge

© J.N. Urbanski Arnold Bennet Skillet

© J.N. Urbanski Arnold Bennet Skillet

Last year, Mike Cioffi, owner of The Phoenicia Diner, and I ruminated on the costs of running a restaurant on my radio show The Economy of the Kitchen. Next week, Monday 12th January at 9am, in our second and final show, The Economy of the Diner, we’ll discuss the diner as American icon. The diner also has a rich cinematic history: Pulp Fiction, Twin Peaks, Superman, Back To The Future, Heat, Thelma & Louise, Diner: the list goes on and on. Who can forget Jack Nicholson trying to get an order of wheat toast in Five Easy Pieces or the tipping scene in Reservoir Dogs? Not to mention Meg Ryan’s glorious turn in Katz’s Deli in When Harry Met Sally and the actual movie called Diner, starring Steven Guttenberg directed by Barry Levinson.

As a foreigner, the diner is the ultimate American experience and my first diner visit was Relish in Williamsburg, sadly now slated for demolition. I’ll never forget my first order of biscuits, sausage and gravy and with whom I shared it.

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski Duck & Grits Skillet with poached egg

My new challenge is eating my way through the menu at The Phoenicia Diner and I continued today through the skillet section. I tried the Duck & Grits skillet ($11), House Cured Corned Beef Hash skillet ($11) and the Arnold Bennett Skillet ($10). My first taste of American grits (not a British staple) was back in Brooklyn and had been quite vile experience, like eating cold porridge. PD’s grits are creamy with a hint of cheese; their scrambled eggs are the perfect combination of moist and firm. If Chef Mel uses salt in the dishes, you can’t really taste it and this is how it should be. Salt should be the choice of the customer. The Arnold Bennett Skillet ($10) came out on top in this round: locally smoked trout (delicately tasty), parmesan cheese, crème fraîche and scrambled eggs. PD makes its own bread too, which is thick, slightly chewy and tasty. Portions are generous and the eggs are noteworthy – some of the best I’ve eaten in the Catskills – for their vivid orange color. Most ingredients are sourced locally and when they run out, so does the item on the menu for the day. Eat here before you ski, on your way to Belleayre for the hearty nourishment that lasts all day. You can take sides and leftovers to go in compostable containers.

Tune in to The Economy of the Diner on WIOX at 9am on Monday January 12th, 2015.

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Local, Antique & Vintage Holiday Gift Guide 2014

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Go to Blue Barn Antiques, in Shandaken/Phoenicia for some excellent bargains on high-quality antiques like this Rockwell-painted plate (above) for $15. There is still a pile left with different Rockwell paintings. Other utterly gorgeous vintage and antique dresses are still there alongside modern artisanal products like Pillowtique’s pillows and handmade crafts.

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Daily Catskills: 12/10/14

8 inches of snow on Belleayre and 2 inches of snow reported in Oneonta, the morning saw 30F, with successful ploughing and reasonably clear arterial routes. 27F and cloudy by 3pm.

© Mountain Girl Photography and Design

© Mountain Girl Photography and Design 12.30pm

© Erik Johanson

© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm

Daily Catskills: 11/22/14

23F at 8.30am, with the rest of the morning bright and sunny, rising to 40F in the afternoon on the first day of the ski-season. A sprinkling of rain at 3 o’clock. Belleayre is open all weekend and then closes until November 28th.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.20pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.20pm

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Daily Catskills: 11/21/14

© Chase Kruppo

© Chase Kruppo

20F this morning at 8am with Belleayre Mountain getting ready for ski-season by making snow. Belleayre is having a Thanksgiving food drive. Lift tickets are $38 at the mountain, but $30 if you bring two cans of food for their drive. Online tickets for the weekend are $25 if purchased today. Afternoon temperatures were 26F in the lower valleys but still on 21F on Belleayre Mountain.

And meanwhile, down in the lower valleys…

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