Tag Archives: Skiing

Daily Catskills: 02/04/15

18F at 7.30am and lightly snowing with an inch or two of fresh powder. A clear but overcast afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm

 

Daily Catskills: 02/03/15

5F at 8am, with a flurry of fine, icy particles glistening in the rising sun like sinking glitter. Update: 20F and bright sunshine for the rest of the day.

© J.N. Urbanski 8am

© J.N. Urbanski 8am

 

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: 02/01/15

Overcast with early morning flurries and 20F at 8am. Mostly cloudy, brighter and clear by 1.30pm.

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 11.48am

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Daily Catskills: 01/28/15

8F at 7.30am with the rising sun clearing the clouds and a fresh dusting of powder covering the tracks.

© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am

© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am

 

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: 01/25/15

27F and brilliantly clear skies and warm for most of the day, but not warm enough to melt the stalactites around the Pepacton Reservoir.

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

 

Daily Catskills: 1/24/15

Waking up to 24F and a quiet winter morning coated with snow.  Almost 3 inches have settled, as we sit patiently, enjoying the view, counting down to spring.

© MGP&D

© MGP&D

Daily Catskills: 01/23/15

20F mid-morning with brilliant sunshine and cloudless skies. The pepacton reservoir, with its shoreline collection of row boats, looks frozen over.

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Daily Catskills: 01/21/15

10F at 8am and bitter, overcast and grey with the sun barely burning through the haze.

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

Daily Catskills: 01/20/15

20F at 8am with the barest of light flurries filling the air with the rising sun clearing the mountain haze. 30F, clear and brilliantly sunny all afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

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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

 

Daily Catskills: 01/13/15

10F at 9am: brilliant sunshine and bitterly cold, rising to a reasonable 19F by mid-afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

Daily Catskills: 01/10/15

9F at 9.30am with dazzling sunshine, bitter breeze and a cloudless sky all day.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

 

 

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

Daily Catskills: 01/03/15

Only 24F by midday, windy and snowing a light powder. An enigmatic whiteout for most of the afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Daily Catskills: 01/02/15

26F at 8.30am; overnight snow had transformed into a mid-morning whiteout dropping an inch or two of fluffy powder, most of which blew off the branches in the gentle afternoon breeze.

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

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Daily Catskills: 12/23/14

36F at 9am, melting snow dripping from high places, making the going very sodden: a silver-grey, slushy wet day.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm

Daily Catskills: 12/19/14

24F at 9am with a steady, light flurry and the habitual grey mist hanging over the mountains. 36F at dusk and cloudy.

© J.N. Urbanski 12.55pm

© J.N. Urbanski 12.55pm

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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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