Mazama Snacks

I think if we had stopped snowshoeing for more than the four minutes necessary to catch our breaths and plan our route, the very flesh on our faces might have frozen.
That’s how I feel, anyway. It was cold in Mazama and my northwest-moderate sensibilities were caught off guard by the low of negative six degrees Fahrenheit.

Photo by Daniel Schmeichler

It was so cold that a picnic lunch while snowshoeing didn’t seem like a good idea, and we had to plan our meals accordingly. So each morning of our snowy mountain getaway we’d wake up, eat a hearty breakfast, and head out into the frozen fluff with only a few snacks to eat while walking. And when we made it back to the warm cabin around 3:00, we were seriously ready for lunch. No time to wait.

Enter snack lunch. It was perfect. Salami, cheese, pickles, clementines, last night’s squab and lamb chops, a friend’s leftover chicken livers, crackers, rolls from the general store, chocolate, biscotti. All eaten standing up in the kitchen with matted hat hair, that satisfied vacation glow, and a beer.

We did take the time to cook one thing though: truffle popcorn. I like to make popcorn with olive oil for the flavor, and that sprinkle of truffle salt turns a simple snack into something a little special.
I wish I could pack this lunch and bring it to work, but I don’t have enough Tupperware. And the beer might become an issue. So I guess I'll save it for special afternoons with friends.