Moosilauke Ravine Lodge Wedding

© 2009 Julie Ireland

This blog is more than about food, it is in large part about food that is special to our family and that has been and will be shared on special family occasions and holidays - and what could be more special than a wedding - Alexandra Martha Kern to Daniel James White on August 15, 2009 at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge in Warren, NH! While several subsequent entries will offer recipes for the menus given below, chosen with the help of the Lodge's summer 2009 manager Ada Graham, it seemed appropriate to first provide an overview of Moosilauke Ravine Lodge (MRL) and the celebratory weekend.


For a long time Moosilauke has been a special place for the Densmore-Kern Family. Ja and Moogie (Densmore) enjoyed Moosilauke as one of the earliest New England ski areas.  Pris was one of/the first female summer crew members (1962) and Moosilauke was a second home for Ed while he was at Dartmouth. Alexandra and Christopher were introduced to Moosilauke's trails as soon as they were big enough to scramble up the mountain, and Alexandra spent many happy days there while she was at Dartmouth. She lived there the summer of 1999 while working on Dartmouth's "bio crew" and was on the MRL fall crew in 2000. Alex served and Ed still serves on the Moosilauke Advisory Committee.

© 2008 Edward C. Kern, Jr.

Soon after Alex and Dan became engaged in October 2008, Moosilauke Ravine Lodge was added to their short list of potential places to be married. Alex, Dan, Ed and I had a wonderful powder-snow ski into Moosilauke just before Christmas to introduce Dan to the Lodge. After this trip, Alex and Dan decided this is where they would like to be married. We all made an additional trip to Moosilauke in May with Dan's Mom, Leslie, and Dan's Dad and Step-mom, Jim and Paula. The food and weather could not have been better. We were treated to a delicious beet soup along with yummy bread and salad and a vegetable chicken couscous (the large Israeli couscous which was very moist). Dessert was a lemon cake topped with raspberries and a balsamic vinegar reduction - awesome. All this followed by tea on the guest porch (in May!).

© 2009 Chris Kern

The wedding weekend began on Friday afternoon, August 14 when immediate family and close friends of Alex and Dan gathered at the Lodge for cocktails and dinner. We were blessed with perfect weather the entire weekend and on Saturday many guests along with Alex and Dan climbed the mountain before the 4:30 ceremony.

Breakfasts were "typical" MRL breakfasts (if you can call such a breakfast "typical"):Saturday: Orange juice , fresh (the fresh and assorted melon and berries were special for the wedding) fruit, steel-cut oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, partial whole wheat raspberry pancakes with Canadian bacon and maple syrup.

Sunday: Orange juice , fresh fruit, steel-cut oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, (heart shaped) lemon scones, scrambled eggs and bacon.

 

© 2009 Chris Kern

© 2009 Julie Ireland

Friday Reception: Artichoke and spinach hummus with wholegrain chips, artichoke dip with pita chips, assorted cheese and crackers, pistachios.

Saturday Reception: Shrimp cocktail, hummus and veggie tray, and assorted cheese and crackers

Dinners: MRL has a tradition of posting the dinner menu on a blackboard in the dining room. For dinner menus, see photos of this board. For recipes see: Pork Chops with Maple Syrup, Pecans and Dried Cranberries, Chicken Italiano, and Greek Roasted Potatoes

© 2009 Chris Kern

The wedding cake was made by Umpleby's Bakehouse in Hanover, NH. Charles Umpleby was very accommodating, first hosting me at a tasting and then when I had decided, based on my other tasting, this was the bakery to go with, hosting Alex and Dan along with both sets of parents at another tasting to determine exactly what kind of cake Alex and Dan wanted. The chocolate cake and white butter cream frosting decision went very quickly, but Dan and Alex had much debate about what the fillings should be, finally settling on a layer of chocolate ganache and a layer of raspberry mousse with fresh raspberries for each tier. For decoration they decided the outside edge of each tier would be lined with raspberries and the top of the cake would have a mound of raspberries, later giving Charles the option of adding additional local fruit on the top. Thinking all the decisions had been made, they breathed a sigh of relief only to discover they also had to decide on:

The inside edge of the cake .... they opted for pearl butter cream decorations.
The outside edges... they opted for a clean edge with no butter cream decorations.
The sides of the cake... they opted for a "3 dot" motif of butter cream.

Charles delivered the cake to the MRL on a lovely maple cake board which he gave to Alex and Dan along with an anniversary cake. I recommend this bakery without any qualifications. (Have since had many yummy breakfsts and lunches there!)

Reviewed 9/20/2017