an après-ski galentine's
that time we brought the slopes inside
Hi hi hi! It's been a minute…if a minute means many many months. We have been up to our eyeballs in event season and production mode, and turns out balancing that while also maintaining a consistent newsletter schedule is... harder than we thought? Maybe impossible? Oops. We promise we've been cooking up some really good stuff though (literally and figuratively), and we can't wait to share it all with you. But first, let's chat about our super fresh super girlie après-ski themed Galentine’s party last week!
Usually, we're all about outdoor entertaining – obvs. But it's been so coooooooold and not in a fun way, so we decided to skip the snowy drive out to the mountains and brought the wintery vibes to us. Because nothing says "I love you" to your friends like not making them eat dinner in single digit temps (although we've done it before, and we'll do it again!!!) 😇
the vision
To plan how we’d bring the theme to life, we started with a mood board because we'll take any excuse to make a mood board. We mixed classic Valentine's pinks and reds with cozy winter elements–wood textures, snowflake garlands, and lots of candles for soft lighting.
For the seating arrangement, we designed and printed out place cards complete with iconic vintage après-ski photos. We even propped up our skis against the wall and only had one come crashing down in the middle of dinner, which we'll consider a win!
the fits
We texted our pals in advance and told everyone to lean into the après-ski aesthetic, so
cozy sweaters!
fluffy hats!
earmuffs!
fur accessories!
sunglasses!
and everybody freaked out. Total chaos ensued. "I don't have anything!!" "What does that mean?" "Maybe I'll just sit this one out." NO JOKE. After a few panicked texts, we restored calm to the group chat and reiterated that this was supposed to be fun!! Silly, goofy, easy breezy beautiful! In the end, everyone showed up decked out in their après best and looked amazing 🔥
what we ate
Usually we're lucky to have a smushed protein bar in our pocket when we're out skiing, so we really let our minds run wild for this one. We were going for something you might be able to find in a Swiss ski chalet, like raclette, french onion soup, caviar, etc. etc. but at the end of the day, it's hard to beat a big pot of melted cheese.
We kept it simple and just used those little fondue packets that you can find at the grocery store, but if you're feeling fancy, by all means make it from scratch! For some dipping inspo, here's what we included in our spread:
little boiled potatoes
blanched broccoli + cauliflower
carrots + mini-peppers
so much bread, like an insane amount of bread
apples, pears, grapes
pretzels + crackers
cured meats of all shapes and sizes
olives + cornichons + little marcona almonds
shrimp cocktail! a bit of a wildcard but who doesn't love shrimp hanging out on the edge of a martini glass
And for dessert: individual baked alaskas! They looked like tiny snow-capped mountains and tbh they weren't even that hard to make: a few scoops of ice cream, a few circles of cake, a dollop of meringue and a kitchen torch, baddabing badaboom.
the drink everyone kept asking about
We partnered with our faves Woody Creek Distillers for this one, and made a drink we lovingly dubbed the "Dirty Girlie" – basically an elevated Dirty Shirley with pretty purple gin.
Here's the recipe if you wanna impress your girlies:
Ingredients:
Ice
1/2 oz grenadine
2 oz Woody Creek Mary’s Gin
Squeeze of lemon
4 oz lemon-lime soda (or sparkling water for a less sweet version)
Method:
Fill a wine glass with ice, then add in grenadine followed by the gin. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice, then top with lemon-lime soda. Give a gentle stir to maintain the layered effect, then garnish with a maraschino cherry. Cheers!
a valentine for you 💌
We had the best time putting this party together, and the theme truly works for any winter gathering, especially if you're looking for an excuse to get all your friends together over a pot of molten cheese.
Speaking of which... we've got some really exciting things in the works for spring and summer this year (think: more elevated recipes to recreate on your outdoor adventures, an intimate dinner on a ranch in Aspen, and maybe even some events for the city folks in Denver??). We promise not to go MIA again–or at least if we do, we'll bring back some really good stories to share.
xoxo 💋💋
Ali + Caroline
wyld honeys: where food meets adventure. we do creative culinary stuff inspired by the outdoors. come hang.
catch everything on our ig @wyldhoneys