Adirondack Family Time™

The last scheduled winter event of the season with the Lake George Land Conservancy will take place this Saturday, March 23 at the Lake George Recreation Center/Berry Pond Preserve.  Saturday, March 23; 9 am – 1 pm This FREE event is in its third year. Join in all the family-fun while enjoying the trail system at the Berry Pond Preserve. There will be live raptor demonstrations, educational touch-tables, soups, hot chocolate and kids crafts.  

By Diane Chase, Adirondack Family Time Titus Mountain has six double chairlifts, two triple chairlifts, and two hand-tows serving 42 trails and two terrain parks.   The mountain has a history around skiing that started in the late 1940s when a local man built a rope tow on his property and powered it with an old Buick sedan. Neighbors and friends enjoyed the simple ski hill until it officially opened as a ski center in the early sixties as Moon Valley.  The Lodge at Titus Family Ski Center has been enlarged! 

Andy Flynn, publisher of Hungry Bear Publishing in Saranac Lake and author of the popular Adirondack Attic book series along with  friends from the Adirondack Forest Preserve Education Partnership (AFPEP)  has published a Kindle ebook titled New York's Adirondack Park: A User's Guide .  According to a press release from Flynn the book includes 13 of Flynn’s stories from the “Adirondack Attic” book series, straight from the archives of the Adirondack Museum, to help illustrate the “how-to” aspects of using the Forest Preserve and give a historical perspective.

Irish Road Bowling takes place on a country road, but beware the road is not usually blocked off to traffic.  Speculator, NY and Indian Lake are just two places that enjoy this St. Patrick's Day tradition!  Irish road bowling has been played in the Irish countryside since the 1600s.  Using a 28-oz iron or steel ball, called a bowl, or bullet is chucked down a country road to the finish. The player or team with the fewest shots at the finish line wins. The "course" can up to two miles long.

Visiting the Central Adirondacks?  McCauley Mountain's cross-country ski trails are FREE for the whole month of March!  

Inspired by  Jr Iron Chef VT, a project of Burlington School Food Project and Vermont FEED , North Country Iron Chef Jr is helping to bolster the local food movement in school cafeterias.  North Country Iron Chef Jr is making its debut on March 9, 2013 at the  Eben Holden Center, St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. A cooking competition for middle and high school students from  Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties. , North Country Iron Chef, Jr.  The goal of North Country Iron Chef Jr. is for students, using a combination or local and USDA foods create a recipe that could be prepared in a school cafeteria. While promoting the use of local foods in school menus, North Country Iron Chef Jr also provides students with hands-on experience and an opportunity to lifelong skills that relate to healthy living.  Each team had to submit a recipe the the committee by February 1 that met a list of criteria including the use of 2   local products

I love Benne wafers. They have a slightly sweet taste and crisp texture. Just a few can satisfy my sweet tooth. Sesame is also high in protein, contains no cholesterol and is rich in calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamins B and E. Of course, when you toss it into a cookie, it has to fend for itself.  Benne (the Bantu word for sesame) was brought to America from East Africa in the 17 th  century during the slave trade era.  Here are two recipes I found the  BENNE WAFERS RECIPE ( 1954 Gourmet magazine ) INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 tablespoons butter 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar 1 egg 2 tablespoons flour 3/4 cup sesame (benne) seeds (toasted) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt PREPARATION: Lightly toast the sesame (benne) seeds in a nonstick pan until golden brown. Watch carefully so the seeds won't burn. Cream butter and sugar together and mix with other ingredients in the order given. Use a 1/2 teaspoon to measure the dough and drop onto a cookie pan covered with parchmen