Ski and Snowboard News, Deals, and Events

Events roll through the week at Jay Peak starting with the Mardi Gras Parade and Welcome Party Monday Feb. 23 and continuing with music and mask making Tuesday Feb. 24, Snowshoe Obstacle Race Wednesday Feb. 25, Mardi Gras NASTAR Race Thursday Feb. 26, music and food Friday Feb. 27, and music and crawfish Saturday Feb. 28.

One highlight of this food-heavy week is a dinner Wednesday Feb. 25 prepared with ingredients provided by the Green Mountain Farm-to-School program that teaches kids in seven Vermont schools about food and farming.

The dinner is a fund-raiser for the program, which emphasizes the nutritional and environmental benefits of eating green and eating local.

Chef Mark Uddo of New Orleans is in town to prepare the meal, which will include

Spinach, Apple, Walnut, Beet, and Sprout Salad with Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese and a Warm Creole Mustard, Bacon and Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette; Broiled Wild Memphremagog Perch with a Fennel, Tomato, Onion, Celery, Sweet Peppers, Lemon and Dill Courtbouillion; Blackened and Roasted Pork Loin with Vermont Cranberry Grill Sauce served with Cranberry Horseradish Sauce and Vermont Country Mustards; Apple and Bananas Foster with Rolled Oat Crumble over Vanilla Ice Cream.

"This dinner is a great chance to showcase the work we are doing in our local schools: serving kids fresh, nutritious foods from local farms. Vermont has a bounty of food available year-round from local grass-fed meat to apples to root crops like carrots and beets. We are excited to sit down with community members and celebrate food, farming and local agriculture," says Katherine Sims, Green Mountain Farm-to-School director.

Sims says the money will help to create gardens at 10 more schools, grow 2,500 pounds of fresh, organic food for the school cafeterias and enroll 600 additional students in GMFTS.

Tickets are $50 in advance, $75 at the door, and are available through Jay Peak Customer Service (802) 327-2289.