Montana Calls, and I Will Go

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We love the Montana Skyline! It is appropriately named “Big Sky” for a reason. I don’t mind the drive until we get to Spokane and then I dread Spokane to Missoula...so long, scary in parts and extremely boring. The end result is also sweet though. Precious time with my oldest can never be taken for granted. Our only snafu was making it a complete surprise to her. It back fired on us a tad but we rolled with the punches pretty well considering. She is definitely getting older, and older children shouldn’t be surprised! It was a great, short time that we spent with her though. We stayed at The Lewis and Clark hotel (if we stay without the girls again it will be here). The Eucalyptus Steam Room is to die for. The hot tub was well maintained and the pool was cold but beautiful. It’s very classy but old school style. We spent the Saturday running a few errands, fixing her glasses at Costco, visiting downtown Montana and having dinner together. Sunday we had breakfast at the Fox Trot! Avocado Toast is something I’ve never ordered and Rachel Cruz said that buying Avocado toast is something you should never do because it is a wast of money but I digress. Dave Ramsey’s daughter was wrong. Although it is priced ridiculous the dish itself was beyond my wildest dreams (no, I don’t dream of AT but if I did it would be this version). Paired with a cup of drip coffee and I was in Heaven (the Sun was shining like it used to in Boise Idaho). It was so bright because of the fresh dusting of new snow the night before. The quaint window filled breakfast nook also was inside a posh four store mall—so more shopping was had! Valerie and I picked two more recipes from The Flavor Cookbook to accomplish this weekend which made everything lovely! I love love love cooking with her. She is so talented and can make all the hard directions seems completely easy. Here’s my post on FB for that group: 

I invited my daughter to join this group so we could have a way of staying connected while she is away at college. Sometimes we cook in person and sometimes we have to use FaceTime to cook together. During this in person visit we made 2 more recipes.

Flavor p.166...Kimchi and Gruyere Rice Fritters
Flavor p.156...Eggplant Dumplings Alla Parmigiana

The Eggplant dish was extremely involved and took some time. The results were very tasty and filling. Next time, if I get inspired to be in the kitchen for awhile I will make these again with more sauce, make the balls smaller, and maybe put them on a hard crusty loaf and make a yummy eggplant hero sandwich...

The Kimchi fritters were amazing. We accidentally used canned French green beans instead of fresh beans and we substituted Canola oil because we couldn’t find Sunflower Oil in Montana. These were tasty on their own but the sauce took them to another level...a squeeze of fresh lemon and it was all over. These pieces of fried goodness got even better once you bit down on a pungent piece of Gruyere cheese. — with Valerie Wegley.

We left Charlie there, after listening to the begging and talk of  “needing bonding time” for one week! I love the fact that the girls love each other. Sisters are important and friendship makes it a even greater joy!


 















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