Playing With Our Food

It was one of those check-the-box quests for Lori. She wanted to climb to the top of Ch-paa-qn Peak (formerly Squaw Peak). For me, I'm always up for a good outdoor adventure. Ch-paa-qn (pronounced Cha-pa-kin) means "shining peak" in Salish, indigenous people who live in the northwest portion of the United States and Canada. It stands out from others around it because it's above the timberline, is visible from both the Mission Valley to the Missoula Valley and is the highest peak in the mountains just above our house in the Frenchtown Valley.  Advertised as a moderate hike by the U.S. Forest Service, it's about three miles from the trailhead to the peak so we thought that's something we could bang out rather quickly on an early June morning and be back home just afternoon. Boy, were we wrong!  It certainly was a pretty hike as the trail wound through the surrounding timber gaining altitude toward the peak. And there's nothing like the smells of a pine fore...

I first saw the post on Facebook. Denny's restaurant was closing up shop and Liquid Planet (LP) was moving in. LP is a coffee joint so I'd never been there before. But the Facebook announcement said this LP would be a restaurant where, and here come the the four magical words "breakfast served all day." As I've stated before, I'm a sucker for such businesses because those that serve breakfast all day long only do so because they know how to do it right. We had to find out. It was our monthly dinner double date with Doug and Shellie. I already knew what I wanted before seeing the menu - French toast. Yes, French toast! However, the menu almost took me off track because of the wide selection.  He said:  In the end, I remained true to my original intentions - "battered brioche French toast, whipped cream, real maple syrup and sliced strawberries." Again, I was almost distracted from my plan because I wanted some meat. Under the a la carte section, I saw...

We were on vacation. We were hungry. And when we saw it, like a magnet, we were drawn to it. We trudged through the snow and walked into the 1960s. Or was it the 1950s? Well, whenever it was, it delivered a nostalgic blast from the past. And don’t forget the milk shake! A most interesting way to be greeted in the men's bathroom He said: As the waitress slid a menu in front of me, there they were – five of the most welcoming words anybody anywhere can find at a restaurant: “We Serve Breakfast All Day.” Oh man, we hit the jackpot! Biscuits and gravy, steak and eggs, stacks of eggs, pancakes, and then there were all the other meal choices like pasta, steaks, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads and starters. Just so many choices but hey, this was a we-serve-breakfast-all-day kind of place so was there really any true conflict? No! I ordered cinnamon maple French toast. Yes indeed, a stack of thick satisfaction with a crusty coat of sweet goodness. I’m also the kind of guy who loves h...

There's something about comfort food, especially when you sit down to get it at a long-time, comfortable Ma and Pa Shop. That's why our wood-gathering trip to the small western Montana town of Drummond started out as one of anticipation but ended up being so disappointing. At our house, we burn wood in the winter. To stock up, you can either head into the mountains and cut down/haul/split/stack your own trees (which is heck of a lot of work), pay through the nose to have it delivered already cut and split, pay for an 18-wheeler to dump a load of logs at your place (still a heck of a lot of work) or you can do what we do. We take an annual hour-long drive east to the small town of Drummond to visit Pfendler Post and Pole, which has a pile of already pre-cut firewood on the back portion of its property. You just need a trailer and a couple of hours to load it. Lori and I brought along a couple of grandkids, Kyler and Lyla, to join us. I was excited to take all of them to the Wago...