Visit my home state of Vermont sometime if you ever have the chance. It’s a beautiful place, especially during the first few weeks of October, when the changing leaves are at their peak. I grew up skiing at Mount Snow, enjoyed swimming in lakes and rivers in summer, and studied at the Middlebury German for Singers immersion program in 2008. Other great things to experience are the Marlboro Music Festival and exploring Church Street in Burlington.

Even though I’ll always be a Vermonter at heart, I have to admit that after skiing out west, there was no going back. Joe and I hit the mountains almost every weekend during the four winters we spent in Colorado. Our favorite places:
Vail (Especially the “back bowls”)
Steamboat (We loved the long blue runs)
Breckenridge (Peak 7 became our favorite)
Keystone (Long runs, and generally easier than other mountains)
Arapahoe Basin (Harder trails, no-frills skiing, and very high elevation)

My husband Joe and I truly enjoy our kitchen time. Here are two of our favorite recipes:

While heating olive oil over medium heat in a skillet, cut the pancetta into small pieces. Brown the pancetta to taste (we like it fairly crispy), about 8-10 minutes. Boil spaghetti until al dente—this is crucial, since soggy spaghetti should be illegal—and just before it’s done, whisk ¼ cup of the spaghetti water with the eggs. Drain the pasta, add pancetta and egg, then stir in the Romano cheese. Add pepper to taste. Serve immediately, preferably with some of the crusty bread in the recipe below.

No-knead Italian bread
The three keys to this incredibly simple recipe are a good cast iron Dutch oven (we use Le Creuset, 3.5 quart size, but 2 ¾ quart size is fine for this recipe), good bread flour (such as King Arthur bread flour), and planning ahead. Since the dough has to rise 12-18 hours, we mix it the night before we plan to eat it, and finish the process in mid-afternoon the following day.

Combine the dry ingredients, then add the water and stir. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise for 12 to 18 hours at room temperature. It will look soggy for most of that time, but will form bubbles and start to look like real bread dough eventually. After at least 12 hours but no more than 18, when the surface is dotted with bubbles, turn out of the bowl. Lightly dust with flour, fold dough over onto itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes. Using a little more flour (or cornmeal if you prefer), shape dough into a ball, place seam side down in bowl, and cover with a towel. Allow dough to at least double in size, so that it doesn’t spring back readily when poked with a finger (about 2 hours).

At least 30 minutes before dough is ready, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with the Le Creuset in the oven, lid and all. Once preheated, dump in the dough, shake pan lightly to even it out, and brush a little water on the top for a crispy crust. Replace the cover and bake for 30 minutes, then take the lid off and bake another 20 minutes or until it looks slightly burned on top.

When done, put pot on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes then release from pot. Here’s the hard part: do not cut it for at least 20 minutes, no matter how good it smells! It will be gooey inside otherwise (not a terrible fate, but trust me, it’s worth the wait). The bread continues to cook during this time. If you listen closely, you’ll hear a crackling sound coming from the bread—chefs call this “letting it sing.” Seems appropriate…

There are many no-knead recipes out there: this one reminds us of or favorite Italian bakery in Jersey City.