A mountain sunrise and a little faith is what it is all about.
—Vincent Bilotta


The Catskill Mountain Region generates sensory magic. Early morning autumn mists enshroud valleys in diaphanous veils, hazing foliage on trees into painterly daubs of red, orange and yellow. Summer thunderstorms blacken the horizon then briefly obscure mountaintops. Spring’s babies—lambs, calves and pullets—dot meadows bright with electric green grass. In winter, amidst flurrying snow, the red of a barn is visible, a sort of beacon of humanity and civility in the interminable gray of the season. Agriculture is as endemic to the region as are the hemlocks, white pines, oaks and Sugar Maples (map), and the architecture of agriculture imbues the region with aesthetic and economic value. Keep the magic of the region intact—eat the scenery. Eat Local. Buy Local. This year, gift local at the first annual Winter Festival on Saturday, December 6 from 10 am until 6 pm hosted by the Catskill Mountain Foundation (map) with support from the Watershed Agricultural Council and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The inspiration for this year’s Winter Festival originated at 2007’s Pure Catskills Holiday Market that was hosted at Peekamoose Restaurant last December 8, 2007. Peekamoose—normally aglow with good food and drink—on this occasion was especially vibrant with the warmth and scents of holiday, from the juniper and boxwood wreaths of Maple Shade Farm to fresh hot waffles and Slickepott Fudge Sauce. Many of the same vendors will be featured at this year’s Winter Festival which, in addition to farm and food artisans, will feature guest speakers and local authors on regional farm and food issues. Special events like the Holiday Recipe Show and Tell, open to kids ages 2 to 97, will highlight food traditions and promote sharing of recipes and familial or cultural food traditions. The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park has donated two gift certificates allowing Show and Tell participants the opportunity to win a gift certificate to the Culinary Institute of America for a one-day cooking class, which includes a new CIA cookbook. All you have to do is get up and talk about some favorite food!

The Winter Festival is a special opportunity to purchase premium, handmade goods that are produced locally and probably not found anywhere else. Buying local from small businesses and farms protects the integrity and beauty of the region by keeping money, farms and businesses alive within the community. A thriving community is better able to resist development pressure (just say no to McMansions!) and retain a special identity. Additionally, most small businesses and regional farms employ sustainable business and farming practices which help to ensure the environmental health of the land. For example, Stone & Thistle Farm raises animals in small herds entirely on meadow grasses with absolutely no hormones or antibiotics. Small herds of animals that roam meadows fertilize the meadows, aiding in pasture growth, as opposed to the literal mountains of manure from factory farms that pollute nearby water tables. Ian from Slickepott sources local cream for his luxurious fudge sauce. Rae Stang of Lucky Chocolates uses only fair trade and organic chocolate for her delectable confections. She recently premiered a Hudson Valley Chocolate Box filled with chocolates that include ingredients like honey, maple syrup, apple jelly and goat cheese from Catskill Region and Hudson Valley farms and purveyors. As a matter of fact, Lucky Chocolate’s goat cheese truffle is made with Painted Goat’s chèvre and Painted Goat’s delectable cave-aged and fresh chèvre goat cheese products will also be available to purchase at the Winter Festival via the Fresh Harvest Café. Try goat cheese two ways—with chocolate and without! Craig Thompson, the baking genius of Shandaken Bake, bakes with the seasons and also sources local fruits for his pies, tarts and cakes. He starts with summer fruit like strawberries, peaches, raspberries and blueberries and continues on with autumn’s apple and pear harvest. John Verhoeven of JJF Black Angus Farm in East Jewett switched from traditional dairy cows to Black Angus because grass-based farming requires much less oil inputs—a situation that in today’s economy that offers myriad benefits. At the Winter Festival, ask him how he made the switch.

The Vendors
Lucky Chocolates: small batch, handmade dark chocolates from fair trade and organic chocolate. Some new truffle flavors: Honey Butter, Apple Jelly, Pomegranate, Keegan Ale, Crème Brulee, Goat Cheese, Ginger. www.luckychocolates.com

Shandaken Bake: bake shop that features exquisite pies, cakes, pastries and tea cakes that are hand baked with the seasons using local fruits. www.shandakenbake.com

Heirloom Botanicals: herbal skincare line of body lotions, face lotion, brown sugar body scrub and a luxurious cocoa butter body bar and more. Tested solely on willing humans. www.heirloombotanicals.com

Summer’s End Orchard: homemade jams, preserves and marmalades from fruits from their orchard. www.summersendorchard.com

Organic Nectars: products made with raw organic Agave syrup, a natural sweetener that has a low glycemic index. Organic Nectar’s Agave syrup is raw, unrefined, gluten-free, Kosher and dairy free. Also available: specialty products like Chocoagave raw cacao chocolate syrup, Vanillagave Syrup and Bold Roast Chocolate Syrup. www.organicnectars.com

Tay Tea: hand blended black, green and herbal teas with special ingredients like rose petals, dark chocolate and lavender that are gorgeous to behold and a dream to drink. www.taytea.com
Hudson Valley Seed Library promotes the tradition of seed saving and using heirloom and heritage seeds to produce vegetables with bold flavors and unusual and beautiful shapes and colors. www.seedlibrary.org

Fresh Harvest Café: freshly made daily café selections using local ingredients.

Slickepott Fudge: traditional family recipe of all-natural fudge sauce using fresh cream. www.slickepott.com

Burt’s Mountain Honey: mountaintop honey producer from Northern Catskills wildflowers and bees.

JJF Black Angus Farm: grass-fed and grain-finished Black Angus.

Village Square Bookstore: over 10,000 titles in stock including books on the visual arts, crafts, film, poetry, drama, illustrated children’s storybooks, cooking, gardening, fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers, publishers overstocks and one of the largest selections of books on the Catskill Region in the area. www.catskillmtn.org

Sugar Moon Maple: maple syrup harvested from maple trees living in the gorgeous and remote Spruceton Valley.

Stone & Thistle Farm: a family farm that specializes in pasture-raised goat, lamb, cow and pig as well as raw goat milk, goat milk yogurt and goat milk fudge. www.stoneandthistlefarm.com

Promised Land Farm: Swedish style handmade woolen mittens from sheep raised on the farm. Mittens are available in dark gray or light gray with different color adornments and in various sizes and are machine washable.

RSK Farm: renowned for their fingerling potatoes that come in purple and red and blue as well as the more usual beige.

Middlefield Orchard: 13 apple varieties including Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala, Candy Crisp, Macoun and features many other apple products like applesauce, boiled apple syrup, apple cider and more.

Speakers and entertainment
Local authors scheduled to talk include: Sylvia Jorrin of Sylvia’s Farm: The Journey of an Improbable Shepherd, Sally Fairbairn of A Catskill Kitchen: Seasonal Recipes from the Dry Brook Valley and Beverly Ellen Schoonmaker Alfeld. Denise Warren of Stone & Thistle Farm and one of the two founders of Slow Foods Catskills (www.slowfoodcats.com) will also give a talk about the importance of continuing local food customs and heritage foods. Mountaintop musician and journalist Jim Planck will perform a set or two of winter music and there will be a special caroling performance by members of the Greene Room Players.

Eat Your Scenery
Eat Your Scenery at the first annual Winter Festival on Saturday December 8, 2008 from 10 am until 6 pm at Hunter Village Square on Main Street/Route 23A in the village of Hunter, New York. For more information please visit www.catskillmtn.org or call 518 263 2001. This event is conducted with support from the Watershed Agricultural Council and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.