February 2026

A Valentine's message from my Grandpa on the barn.

February was cold, and a bit snowy, but mainly cold. The waterfalls everywhere around us are partially frozen and majestic looking. Giant sections of the rivers have frozen a foot or more deep, and then the water has thawed just enough to cause them to break into massive blocks that are stacked along the shorelines, or floating downstream with fallen trees and brush ingrained in them. It reminds me of my winters in Hyde Park, seeing icebergs floating in the river, a completely unexpected sight for a Californian. 

I’m still in permit purgatory, holding my breath after the meeting on the 16th became a bit contentious with the neighbors concerned about the additional use of our shared private drive. I wasn’t expecting it, even though they had voiced their concerns at the first meeting (which caught me completely off guard). I’d invited them over afterwards, listened to their concerns, shared more of my personal story as well as my plans and hopes for the future here. I just want a chance to see if I can make it the success I’ve been working towards since the idea first came to me in 2016. I am in a really challenging situation. I’ve already invested so much, possibly too much, and I can’t advertise until I get a green light. I haven’t been posting much on social media because I’m hesitant to sound excited, when I don’t feel assured at all. I’m questioning everything, nervous, anxious, unsure, sad, and a bit angry. This process has been one that I wasn’t fully prepared for, even though I’d done everything I was told, had a mountain of paperwork and research with me, and countless sessions with ChatGPT and the town zoning commissioner in the months prior to the hearing(s). I felt like a child in a room of adults. When I was grilled by the town attorney, I wasn’t sure how to answer, I was hoping for guidance, or suggestions, someone to give me the answers, help me navigate this uncharted territory. It was around this time that I started thinking that I should have just gone for it and begged for forgiveness instead of asking for permission, but I wanted to do everything above board, show that I was responsible, determined, and ready to achieve all of the lofty goals that I’d outlined. Silly me. 

As winter was nearing its end, I was starting to kick myself for not doing any snow activities, and it was starting to look like it might be an early Spring, or at least not as snowy a Winter as we were all hoping for. December and January were decent, only a couple of storms, but I was too busy with work, catching up on projects, making endless batches of bone broth and marshmallows, accounting headaches, etc. to take any time to enjoy the outdoors. Plagued with FOMO and guilt, I booked us a private snowmobile tour around Killington. I’d never been on one before, other than when I blew out my knee skiing on the top of a mountain in Park City, Utah when I was a teenager. We were talked into renting two instead of sticking both of us on one, with the guarantee it would be much more fun. It was a good time. I can see why people get excited about these long trails that wind through Vermont, meeting at different restaurants and bars as groups. I wasn’t expecting the ride to be quite so squirelly, but I felt empowered after navigating the sharp turns and inclines. At the end we got to do laps and really open up the engines, which was a blast. I’d still choose a horse over the machine given the option. 

I fit in a trip to Boston for work which allowed me to visit with a childhood friend, and a trip to a head spa that I’m still thinking about. I’m enjoying exploring Boston. And thank god I’d just seen a TikTok video on people’s shoveled out parking spaces, otherwise I absolutely would have taken one of the “available” spaces on the residential street, and gotten my tires slashed. The three-hour drive is much more doable now that I’m comfortable driving in temperatures under 32 degrees and am no longer white knuckling the entire drive. 

Speaking of sub freezing temperatures, there have been more attempts to clear the snow and ice off of the solar panels after the combined cost of the propane and electricity is equaling my mortgage in the Bay Area. All of the lush tropical plants I’d filled the event space with are dead, dead, dead. Who knew it could get so cold in a newly fully insulated building? On that note, I had unplugged the beautiful new beverage refrigerator for the retail space that I’d filled with functional beverages, because why would I need to further chill contents in a naturally refrigerated room? And then the cans started exploding…When I discovered the effervescent contents splattered all over every surface inside the fridge, I did my best to remove and box up any that I could salvage, but dozens of cans were compromised and dumped or drunk. So NEXT year, all of the plants will be moved inside the house, in the dining room with the giant windows where they will be at a constant 68 degrees and get hours of sun exposure. Liquids will be removed from the commercial building (hopefully sold, and then restocked the following season). On a positive note, being able to use the back porch as a walk-in freezer since late November has been quite the perk. Somehow there is never enough space in the fridge or multiple freezers, but that is a post snow problem to tackle.

Work on the space that will be the commercial kitchen was completed, all of the old paneling and sub par insulation was removed and replaced. The cracked window was replaced much faster than anticipated. The old but efficient propane fueled heater in the space was repaired, allowing the sheet-rocking and painting to be completed. There is now one wall left in the retail space to be completed, and then it will look like a whole new space. Night and day compared with then I first visited two years prior. I tried to use a new substance to clean the original wood floors in the area that will house the prep kitchen, but the paint and stickers that are still adhered to them were unaffected, and the cleaning agent just basically made everything look shiny-dirty. I had the fire marshal inspect everything. I was holding my breath waiting for a lengthy and expensive list of necessary improvements to the commercial building and the duplex, but he ended up telling me that everything looked great (with the caveat that I cover the thick plastic covering the insulation in the event space with something like beadboard that has a fire resistant component to it). I needed good news from an authority figure so badly at that point I almost cried and hugged him, instead I thanked him profusely, and kept my tears and my arms to myself.

Thankfully the AirBnBs are still doing really well, almost fully booked through the winter with skiers visiting Killington, and people in town for weddings at Mountain Top staying for a day or two. With the exception of two challenging guests, I’ve gotten all 5-star reviews, and some repeat guests. The floor of the downstairs unit gets really cold, so I had the ceiling of the basement insulated, which has helped. This unit has a full kitchen, which I’ve outfitted with top quality pots, pans, and basic ingredients. It’s one of the aspects that guests appreciate the most, and a lot of them use it to cook multiple meals during their stay. Unfortunately the cooking smells linger, so I added a candle warmer (owning a 200 year old house has made me more inclined to avoid open flames) to the unit and now have a beautiful, seasonal, eco-friendly candle gently filling the space with subtle scents while I open the windows to air out the bacon grease between bookings. I also wanted to update the look and the insulation of the upstairs unit, so I replaced the thin grey curtains left behind from the previous owners, with thick floor length forest green velvet ones, and replaced the shower head in the same unit after mentions about the underwhelming water pressure. Beyond seasonal tweaks, these units are set, and by next year will be fully paid off. 

Speaking of things paying off…the ducks started laying eggs on Feb 12, a few days after I had a dream that they were hiding babies! Based on how much I invested in their shelters, vet visits, food, water bills, freeze-dried worms, and outfits they’ve failed to wear, the eggs are valued at approximately $847 apiece. In an effort to enjoy even a small bit of this frigid season in which I lug buckets of hot water down the hill to their greenhouse every morning, and then removing the food and water each afternoon (otherwise the food and water will freeze solid overnight), I started riding an inflatable reindeer down the hill and have just barely avoided crashing through the barn or the greenhouse each time. Nothing like a little danger with your farm chores. The boy ducks started getting really active, and then really aggressive with each other. Twice I found girl ducks wedged between the hay bails and the walls, unable to get out. I concluded that they were trying to escape the bullying, and luckily I found them in time. Then one morning I came out, and one of the male ducks had expired, presumably from bullying. I should have known it was too good to be true that they were adapting so well to their new living arrangements. I was told many times that the ratio needed to be one boy for every four girls, but I was hesitant to post the boy ducks as available online, when most people would only want the males for their dinner table. Until we found a solution, we separated two of the males into their old pen, and kept the distinguished gentleman duck with the four ladies. We wrapped the deceased duck in an old cloth, and snowshoed out to the back edge of the property, where we laid him in the brush. The ground was too frozen to dig a grave, and I didn’t want to risk having a wild animal take it so close to the survivors in case they wanted more. 

It was only my second time snow shoeing on the property, and only my third time ever. The snow was easily 18 inches deep, three times the depth that I’d trekked through last year. Just doing the perimeter of the property, which is fairly flat, was a hell of a workout, and then I slipped and re-injured my tailbone as I was taking them off. Other than that, I’d say that I enjoy snow shoeing, but prefer to do it where I can see the beginning and the end, and can easily get right to a hot (preferably spiked) beverage immediately after (or during) the excursion. The zip up sauna continues to be one of the best purchases ever. 

I made time to try out new recipes (one immediately became a new signature dish that we can’t stop eating, and one was an utter failure). I worked on the packaging of the bone broth since it’s being sold at my favorite local cafe and is acquiring a following at the Rutland Farmer’s Market. And even came up with Valentine’s Day specials to add to my usual offerings. I am not sure where the inspiration came from, but I made a brilliant red version of my original chicken bone broth, with charred lemons and beet powder, which highlighted the heart healthy aspects of the ingredients, and the color tied it into the holiday. The balance of the acidity with the richness of the broth, and the earthy sweet beets is fantastic. It may be a new signature flavor. My best friend Mulan had sent me cocoa nibs from a chocolatier in Santa Fe for my birthday, that I ended up using as an ingredient in raspberry swirled white chocolate marshmallows that I packaged with red and white butchers twine, and sold out of in the first hour. At home I made the viral dumpling lasagna, which was a breeze to make and provided several individual portions that we consumed within days of making them. I attempted to make savory Parisian macaroons , and failed miserably. When I finally got a batch that looked good, they were a touch under baked, and ended up in the compost. I never even attempted to make the filling. 

When the ducks finally started producing eggs, I wanted to surprise Monte with a private pasta making class for Valentine’s Day, so I reached out to my new friend and Twin Farms chef, Brandon Hamilton, who came over with all of the ingredients and tools to teach us how to make fresh pasta using the precious duck eggs. We were treated to an incredible three-course pasta dinner, and a new skill set that we vowed to practice weekly. Before Brandon arrived, I had become fixated with recreating the arancini that I’d had in Sicily two summers prior. I set up the fryer on the front porch (fried food smells in the house have become a pet peeve for my delicate nostrils) and made fist-sized balls of saffron risotto stuffed with mozzarella and a savory beef ragu, crusted with fresh Italian seasoned bread crumbs, and fried until perfectly golden. We were so stuffed by the end of the night. 

We finished the month with a visit from my uncle and cousin visiting from Rochester, NY, because my amazingly talented cousin Maddy Smith was performing back to back sold out shows at the Burlington Comedy Club. It was great to spend time with them. They helped herd the ducks, and I didn’t even charge them for the opportunity. One of the dishes I made for them, is my now signature twist on Norwegian Cream. Instead of topping it with the traditional brown sugar, I sprinkled them with a generous layer of locally made maple sugar, and I am telling you, it is the perfect breakfast, dessert, and snack. The only thing that makes it better is a warm apple cider donut served alongside it. 

Whipped Maple Mousse with Warm Apple Cider Donuts

Whipped Maple Mousse

16 ounces Greek Yogurt (low or no fat)

16 ounces Heavy Cream

4-8 Tablespoons Maple Sugar

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold in the greek yogurt, in two parts until everything is evenly incorporated. Fill small bowls or 8 ounce wide mouth mason jars, leaving at least a half inch gap from the rim. Evenly cover the surface with maple sugar, and wrap in plastic or cover with a lid and refrigerate for 12-24 hours before serving. Will last for a week.