Lear about high alpine cuisine at the Bookworm

Active, mountain lifestyles require a few key ingredients such as a hefty dose of sun screen, a good winter jacket and plenty of water. But it also requires plenty of hearty, nourishing meals to fuel all sorts of activities. Cookbook author and lifestyle guru Marla Meridith has written a cookbook that fills that exact need, with recipes bound to satisfy any adventurer.

Meridith will be at the Bookworm in Edwards tomorrow night for a night of good food and a hands-on cooking demonstration to celebrate her cookbook “High Alpine Cuisine.” The book is accessible and fun, with recipes equally suited to wrapping up a day on the mountain or planning your next soiree.

Meridith has had a passion for cooking for as long as she can remember.

“I’ll never forget my first time making homemade pasta, I must have been about 12 years old,” said Meridith. This experience took place at her aunt’s farm in South Devon, England. Looking back, this is where her passion for cooking started.

“I learned the appreciation for whole food ingredients and where food comes from,” Meridith said. “As kids, my brother, cousins and I would help milk the cows, harvest the eggs from the chicken coops and pick the juiciest blackberries from the hedgerows that lined the fields.”

It wasn’t until she had children of her own, however, that she really began to understand the importance of using quality, whole foods in her everyday cooking. It was also when cooking went from something she enjoyed, to a passion and obsession.

“I wanted to nourish them with the healthiest and tastiest foods available,” Meridith said. This desire only increased when she moved her family to Telluride five years ago. “I’ve learned what it’s like to have very limited ingredients for very high prices,” Meridith joked.

Because of these limits in her everyday life, Meridith often seeks outside inspiration for her recipes. She is an avid traveler and crafts these excursions to ignite her creativity, planning her trips based on food and flavors popular in her destinations.

“Without actually trying the regional ingredients and flavors on location, I never would have fully understood them,” said Meridith. “Spending time in kitchens with chefs in the Alps and U.S. really impacted and furthered my knowledge.”

It is from these travels that “High Alpine Cuisine” was born. She set out with the goal to curate recipes that would whisk the reader away to the places that inspired them, such as the One-pot Swiss Alpine Macaroni, one of Meridith’s personal favorites.

“The book has tempting nibbles for everything you could ever desire—belly filling breakfasts, salads and veggies, savory fare, apres recipes, luscious libations and … desserts.”

These recipes filled with fresh, real ingredients may seem too good to be true, but you don’t need to be a professional chef to cook like Meridith.

“I created the recipes with all of my readers in mind,” Meridith said. “They are suitable for any level of home chef, not intimidating and crazy delicious.”

via:: Vail Daily