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The Joy of Doing Nothing By Sandra Scott |
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In 1993, the Garrett Hotel Group acquired the old resort property and after extensive renovation re-opened it as the Lake Placid Lodge. Now, the Lake Placid Lodge recreates the glory days of late 1800’s, when visitors vacationed in the Adirondacks in the most luxurious of rustic quarters.
“I use John Paris’ Flyers 77 percent dark chocolate. It is organic from Costa Rica.” He whipped the eggs and sugar, brought the heavy cream and whole milk to a boil, and poured it over the whipped egg mixture. He strained it over the chunks of dark chocolate. “The heat will melt the chocolate making a ganache.” Ganache is an interesting word. It is said to originate from a culinary accident when a chocolate maker’s helper spilled cream in the chocolate he was melting. The irate chef called the apprentice ‘Ganache’ a word that means ‘fool.’ What a delicious mistake!
When the demonstration over, we were shown to our suite. And, best of all was the welcome gift of fruit, cheese and Chef DeLong’s fudge. Life is good! We relaxed by the fireplace before heading to dinner, which as one might expect was exquisite. We passed on dessert—for a short while, and retired to The Bar, where the fire was blazing. A lot of thought has gone into everything at Lake Placid Lodge. Even the stones above the fireplace have been laid to create a map of the lake. When it was time for dessert we ordered a Chocolate Tart with Raspberry Truffles. One of the best things about staying at the Lodge is being blissfully left to do whatever we want. After dinner and dessert, we indulged ourselves; we simply sat by a roaring fire and did absolutely nothing at all. Visit http://lakeplacidlodge.com. |
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of miles of
mountain streams, and a primeval forest with more than forty rugged
peaks over 4000 feet. In 1882, in the midst of this Forever Wild, a
small "camp" had been built on the shore of Lake Placid as a place
where visitors didn’t have to do anything if they didn’t want to. It
remained a private residence until 1946, when it opened its doors to
the public.
When John and I
arrived we were greeted by Jodie, offered a glass of champagne, and
then given a tour. The Moose Sitting Room was so cozy that it made
us want to curl up with a good book by the roaring fireplace. Every
room was inviting with locally-inspired furniture and accents. John
and I were surprised when Jodie said, “Now we will see what’s going
on in the kitchen.” The kitchen is state-of-the-art, mainly because
it’s new. The original lodge burned to the ground in 2005 and has
been rebuilt on the same footprint.
In the Pastry
Room, Chef Paul DeLong was creating chocolate wonders. Besides hot
chocolate from scratch, raspberry truffles, and fudge, he was
preparing Chocolate Tarts for dinner. So, we stayed to watch and learn. He had just finished making
the pastry shell and was preparing the best part—the chocolate.
“I stir it
gently. I don’t want it
full of air bubbles. I will let it temper so it will have a nice
glossy look.” He poured the mixture into the cool pastry shell. “The oven has been heated to 350 degrees. I will turn the
oven off and put the Chocolate Tart in the oven where the residual
heat will cook it perfectly,” he said.