Head Staff Favorites: What's Getting Us Through the Winter
We’ve had the most beautiful winter weather at camp, with multiple snow days already. We love it! But, the cold days make us long for summer…and it still feels impossibly far away! As we hang tight and weather (pun intended) the winter blues until we are back at camp this summer, here is what is getting us through:
Jimboy
- Best soup recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash: roasted butternut squash (cut into cubes), 1 box of vegetable stock, 2 cans coconut milk, cumin, salt & pepper… put roasted squash in blender with coconut milk and blend till smooth (adding stock if necessary), heat up on the stove and add cumin and salt/pepper to taste. Top with squeeze of lemon.
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: Ugg boots… I wear them everywhere, but they are beginning to smell.
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Watch it…I don’t enjoy playing in it that much anymore. I also like making snow ice cream!
- Favorite activity to beat the winter blues: Sit by the fire… I do it every day!
- Best game you’ve played recently: One Gotta Go
- Favorite thing you’re working on for summer 2022: Foundation Repairs on all camp buildings (not exciting for you maybe, but I am really excited about it) and clean up (nothing like a clean camp to make me excited about the summer).
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: A boys trip to Miami with my sons JF and John to see the F1 race in Miami.
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: The Greystone Podcast… laughed out loud three times and brought tears to my eyes. Really good!
Katie
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: Love using a store bought box of Imagine Portobello Mushroom Creamy Soup and then adding sauteed mushrooms & onions (saute for about 20 min with butter and then season with S & P) to make a hearty soup with lots of flavor. So good and easy to pull together on a chilly day!
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Step outside and hear the quiet - there is nothing like the silence after a snow! Then go back inside to sit by the fire!!
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: Cook and try new recipes.
- Best game you’ve played recently: Texas Hold ’Em with my family over the holidays :)
- Favorite thing you’re working on for summer 2022: Picking out fun things for the Store!
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: Going to visit our son and daughter-in-law in San Francisco, CA.
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: This funny series of photos of Manny the Selfie cat in different poses with 2 rottweliers behind him!
Laura
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: Tomato! Super easy: saute onions in butter, add can of tomatoes, puree!
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: Ellie Holcomb sweatshirt
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Make snow cream
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: Sit by the fire with Gervais
- Best game you’ve played recently: Wordle
- Fave new hobby or interest: Cooking shows (well not really new)
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: Beach trip!
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: My grandsons
Ellen-Anne
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: Chicken Tortilla Soup - SO GOOD.
- Favorite cozy novel you’d recommend: Harry Potter - never gets old…even when reading for the 3rd time.
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: My slippers. The first thing I put on in the morning!
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Sled…all day!
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: Bake cookies. I have been on a browned butter chocolate chip cookie kick. So good!
- Best game you’ve played recently: Rummikub - a family fave!
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: Hoping to get away for a weekend with James.
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: Harboe (our 3 year old). He’s just really funny right now in general. He gets us laughing everyday!
Alli
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: I bought a Reuben Soup that was delicious.
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: Sweatpants
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Watch Murphy sled.
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: Read good books!
- Best game you’ve played recently: Peekaboo
- Favorite thing you’re working on for summer 2022: Hiring Kitchen Staff!
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: Trip to the Florida Keys!
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: Murphy is very funny and says so many things that make us belly laugh!
Meredith
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: Anything by The Defined Dish - I love her new cookbook!
- Favorite cozy novel you’d recommend: A Man Called Ove
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: My robe!
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Bundle up and walk around the neighborhood and see the kids sledding down the hills.
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: Lots and lots of layers and go for a jog.
- Best game you’ve played recently: We love Quip-plash, Drawful, and Fibbage.
- Fave new hobby or interest: We recently got two new chickens for Christmas and working on getting them accustomed to the older ones. There’s a new “pecking order” - ha!
- Favorite thing you’re working on for summer 2022: Hiring our sweet staff for the summer.
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: Weekend getaway to Blacksburg, VA with husband Chris.
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh:Tthe TikTok of a professor dressed up as a potato on Zoom.
Catherine
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: It’s a tie between this Creamy Tomato Soup with Chicken and Veggies and this Pinto Bean Soup with Corn Fritters (basically just in it for the corn fritters).
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: This is the only time of year I wear socks, and they are a TREAT in our cold house.
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: I have gotten VERY into Youtube soundscapes, particularly having them on in the background if I’m reading on a chilly night. I’m always on the hunt for a new favorite, but these three have been in the rotation recently: Christmas, winter porch, and a very sophisticated stove.
- Best game you’ve played recently: Peter got Ravine for Christmas, and we laughed a LOT playing it with his family!
- Fave new hobby or interest: Playing Wordle every morning! Me and the rest of the world, I know.
- Favorite thing you’re working on for summer 2022: Getting started on the great t-shirts and stickers our campers and staff will love this summer! Have ideas? !
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: A few fun retreats with the New City Fellows program I’m doing this year! We were also supposed to go to the largest gathering of golden retrievers (!!) in 2020, and I’m perennially hoping that will be rescheduled. Here’s hoping!
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: TikTok dog videos, always.
Sarah
- Best soup recipe you’ve made recently: My mom’s Santa Fe soup. It is very similar to this recipe. I could eat it everyday for lunch.
- Favorite cozy novel you’d recommend: Any of Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache books. It took me until book 4 to really appreciate them, but I now read 2-3 per winter and am all caught up.
- Favorite item of clothing to snuggle in on these cold days: I bought my kiddos these wearable blankets and am often stealing them.
- Fave thing to do in the snow: Walk at night when it’s dark and no one is outside.
- Fave activity to beat the winter blues: Hiking! We bundle up and still go; the trails aren’t that busy.
- Best game you’ve played recently: I play Too Many Monkeys with my six year old about 5 times a day right now. It’s really fast, which makes it a BIG winner in my book.
- Favorite thing you’re working on for summer 2022: Evening Programs! We received some fabulous submissions from our recent contest.
- Best thing you have planned between now and summer: Camping! We love going and are ready for it to get a little warmer.
- Most recent thing that made you belly laugh: A weekend away with my friends.