Twice a week in the summer, our omelet chefs set up on the dining room deck and provide an incredible array of ingredients for your breakfast omelet.  You can choose from 21 vegetables (or fruits), 16 meat/ seafood, nine types of cheese, plus sauces and special toppings including crushed Doritos, gummy bears and sprinkles!

What filling would you choose?

A few of the fresh omelet fillings

If the choice of ingredients is too overwhelming, you can select one of nine omelets in the SSC Pro Sieries

The SSC Pro Series

On the final omelet day of the summer, I went for the Big MacOmelet.  It tasted just like a Big Mac!  (not that I’ve eaten one recently, but from distant memories…..)

If you would like to add omelet bar to your breakfast in the spring or fall conference season, just ask.  I’m sure our trio of chefs would be happy to take a break from their regular day jobs, break out the chalkboard and cook up a few eggs with stuff.  Start choosing your ingredients now!

Our amazing trio of omelet chefs - Brian, Jan and Morgan

The mornings have been a little chillier these last few days signaling the start of fall is near.  Autumn is a beautiful season at Fallen Leaf Lake with clear, bright blue skies, calm lake water, warm days and golden aspens.  Chef Dave has put together tasty menus for our groups planning to visit during September, October and November.  To complement our dinners, we serve an excellent selection of wines from Stanford affiliated wineries and vineyards.

Fall colors outside the main lodge

For our top of the line, A plan dinners, guests choose from three entrees, a meat, seafood and a vegetarian option.  Chef Dave and his staff will prepare New Zealand lamb chops with pinot noir and thyme jus lie with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and braised green beans with pancetta.  This hearty dish will pair wonderfully with a cabernet sauvignon from either Charles Krug Winery or Silverado Vineyards.  The seafood choice might be grilled  loin of ahi tuna drizzled with red chili vinaigrette and gingered sweet potatoes and for a vegetarian choice, a cabernet infused risotto with trumpet mushrooms and aged parmesan.  Both of these entrees would pair wonderfully with an earthy pinot noir from either Robert Mondavi Wines or MacMurray Ranch from the Sonoma Coast or if you prefer white wine, try either the Wente Vineyards Riva Ranch chardonnay or the J. Lohr Estates Riverstone chardonnay. Be sure to save room for dessert, our Swiss pastry chef, Kurt, creates the most amazing treats including chocolate truffle overdose, or fresh fruit is always a dessert option.

Kurt making tasty treats in the bakery

During the fall expect seasonal soups to accompany your meal such as roasted acorn squash or vegetarian carrot ginger.  For our mid-priced B dinner entrees, a few of Dave’s specialties include baked, stuffed chicken breast with risotto Milanese and fresh vegetables or a vegetarian choice of eggplant parmesan with fresh mozzarella and marinara.

C meal plan dinners are buffet service and include entree options such as grilled rock cod with herbs and lemon or baked chicken cordon bleu with herbed potatoes, fresh vegetables or spanakopita as a vegetarian entree choice.

Chef Dave creates menus in advance that we forward to the coordinator for each group.  Dave is willing to modify the menus to suit the tastes and needs of the group.

With opening day of our spring conference season quickly approaching, I talked with Dave Dennis, executive chef, to find out what’s cooking in the Stanford Sierra Conference Center kitchen for spring 2011.

Nancy: What is your overall philosophy for meals served at Camp?

Dave: Light is the name of game for spring and to limit ingredients to four or five per dish.  We plan to use as much organic produce, wild fish and organic product as possible based on what is available, and keep  as local as possible.

Nancy: Any new ideas you are excited to try?

Dave:We’re taking classic dishes and keeping them classic, then adding a  twist by making the entrees lighter.  We’ll take chicken and dumplings, reduce the amount of butter, cream and heavy ingredients, so it  comes out lower in fat and lighter all the way around . For plated entrees we’re tweaking our presentation and reducing portion size to the recommended 4 to 5 ounce piece of protein versus 8 ounces or more.

A salmon entree for dinner

Nancy:  What dinner entrees are you planning for spring?

Dave:  A few highlights are a grilled fillet of Alaskan salmon with fresh taragon and mustard vinaigrette served with arugula and a micro vegetable salad, or a grilled breast of free range chicken drizzled with lemon herb vinaigrette and served with a wild rice risotto and steamed fresh vegetables and for a vegetarian entree whole wheat pasta tossed with organic braised greens, tomato and fresh herb olive oil.

Nancy:  What wines from our list would complement those entrees?

Dave:  The Cooper Garrod chardonnay would go well with all three , the Robert Mondavi Carneros Pinot Noir with the salmon & shellfish, and the Cinnabar mercury rising is an excellent choice with beef, lamb or pork.

If you want to try Dave’s cuisine for yourself, we have space available for individual reservations in our spring alumni programs, the Alumni Creative Camp April 28 to May 1, The Seventeenth Annual Healthy Living Retreat for Women May 12 to 15 and the Memorial Weekend Program for Adults May 27 to 30.  Visit the spring programs website for more information.

The fountain is our store.  We no longer have fountain drinks in the fountain, but the name stuck.  The fountain is really more than a store, it’s the espresso bar in the morning, place to shop for sundries and needed items during the day and a pub in the evening serving wine and beer.

The fountain entry

Kristin Janson, fountain manager, has the fountain stocked with a wide selection of T-shirts to commemorate your trip to Fallen Leaf Lake.

Colorful array of T-shirts

In line with our efforts to lessen our impact on the environment, we have a number of environmentally friendly T-shirts made from recycled material.  The shirts are comfortable and cute!

Design on an eco-friendly shirt made of 70% bamboo

If you are attending a meeting or event, we have fresh brewed coffee available all day.  For those who need a stronger dose of caffeine, you can purchase an espresso drink in the fountain.  We use locally roasted Alpen Sierra coffee to make our delicious, frothy pick-me-ups.

Barista Julie preparing a latte

If you need a cold beverage, the fountain has traditional sodas, bottled juices, sparking and bottled water.  During the evening, the fountain serves microbrew, domestic and imported beers plus an excellent selection of wine from Stanford-affiliated vineyards and wineries. The fountain also sells snacks including candy and trail bars plus delicious, freshly popped popcorn.  Once you have your treat,  the fountain deck is a relaxing place to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the spectacular view.

Fallen Leaf Lake view from the fountain deck

Your group coordinator will designate hours of operation for the fountain during your conference or event.  If there is something special you would like to see in the fountain, please let us know!

Julie ready to serve fountain customers

In the dining room at breakfast, lunch or dinner you can choose a low calorie, low fat, vegetarian meal or a higher fat version with meat.  Chef Dave Dennis and his staff strive to provide meals that suit each guests’ dietary needs and desires.

For all three meal plans, A, B and C, breakfast and lunch are served buffet style with a plentiful selection of hot and cold items.   On the breakfast hot cart expect to see a breakfast meat, country style potatoes or hash browns, scrambled or maybe hard boiled eggs plus eggs scrambled with assorted vegetables and cheese or eggs benedict (we call these “party eggs”), hot cereal such as oatmeal or cream of wheat, and pancakes, French toast or Belgian waffles.  On the cold buffet, choose from plain and flavored yogurt, assorted nuts, our own fresh made, vegan granola, a fresh assortment of seasonal fruit and cereals ranging from Frosted Flakes to Grape Nuts.

At lunch you again have a wide array of hot and cold items to choose from to assemble your meal.  You could keep it simple with soup and salad, maybe add some freshly made hummus?  Lunch usually has a theme, maybe Mexican with hot entrees like chicken enchiladas with green chili sauce or grilled tofu and vegetable burritos. Lunch almost always includes our sandwich bar where you can build your own Dagwood special with meats, cheese, veggies and spreads on a selection of breads.  Before your build your lunch, scope out dessert to decide if you need to save room.  Dessert might be build your own sundae bar or fresh baked macaroons dipped in chocolate.  If you want a healthier option, fresh fruit is always available.

The lunchtime sandwich bar

Dinner is where the meals plans diverge.  All dinners include soup and salad, then with A meal, we will serve your dinner and you will choose from three entrees such as mesquite grilled wild Alaskan salmon with lemon, white wine and fried leeks or beef tenderloin stuffed with pine nuts, capers, prociutto and mozzarella or leek, artichoke and spinach lasagne with sauce Bechamel, tomatoes and fresh basil.

Grilled salmon entree with salad and dessert

With B meal plan, we will serve your dinner tableside and you choose from two entrees such as roasted prime rib with au jus and horseradish or crusted filet of mahi on jasmine rice with banana curry sauce.  C meal plan entree choices are similar to B plan, but served on the buffet.  As with lunch, be sure to check the dessert selection to save room if necessary.  A delicious treat like lemon curd tart or a chocolate eclair baked fresh by our Swiss pastry chef, Kurt is the perfect way to end your meal!