Sweets for the Sweet

Some Fish Creek Felicity ’s in order… we’d be remiss if we didnt offer our Fish Creek Finds for Valentine’s day. Guaranteed to earn brownie points.. pun intended with your sweetie . Moose drool warning, these sweets for the sweet are not your Hershey’s candy bars and could lead to addiction. Prices don’t include shipping unless otherwise specified.

Caramel Almond Sticks

Decadence at its best, Charles Chocolates owner and chocolatier Chuck Siegel have come up with these caramel almond sticks. Bittersweet chocolate, and coats them in toasted almonds. $11 for 4.5 ounces

Conserves and Fruit Butters

Trust me as an innkeeper, I’ve done my share of “jam tasting” There are so many menza menza imported and domestic jams, jellies, and preserves June Taylor’s conserves and fruit butters made from ripe local northern California produce. These conserves have a very low sugar content and no commercial pectin. . We be jammin’. $11 to $12 for 8 ounces

Buttercrunch

Everyone seems to have a favorite buttercrunch maker, . Yes, a New Yawker, Roni-Sue’s buttercrunch is made from handmade caramelized butter toffee made from pure European cultured sweet cream butter and sugar. Hand-dipped in milk chocolate and hand-rolls it in toasted walnuts. $25 for 12 ounces; call 212-260-0421 (online ordering not available)

Valencia Oranges, Red Star Ruby Grapefruits, and Mandarin Oranges, oh my

Injecting a little healthy fare in here… Pesticide free, check out Polito Family Farms’ citrus crops. The Valencias, Red Star Ruby grapefruits, and the Satsuma Mandarins will make you forget all the awful clementines shipped in from Morocco and Spain. $27 for ten oranges including shipping; call 760-749-1636 (online ordering not available)

Frozen Custard

Custard confession, I’m addicted to it., since those Sunday jaunts of my youth to Carvel. A a clear favorite now is Kopp’s from Milwaukee, a hubub of frozen custard activity in the country, is terrific frozen custard. What’s truly amazing is how well it comes back to life after being deep frozen and shipped. Just leave it out of the freezer for 20 minutes, and it’s as creamy and delicious as you would like it to be. $75 for 10 pints.

Peanut Butter Cups

Yup, the New Yawka is coming out in me yet again. The Peanut Butter Company’s Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Collection features dark, milk, white, and inside-out peanut butter cups. They’re all good, but I’m partial to the dark chocolate and the inside-out varieties. The inside-out features a fudge interior and a soft peanut butter exterior. $15 for 16 peanut butter cups A clear and present danger for PB-aholics

Cream-Nut Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters

Who doesnt love peanut butter cups (see above) but these peanut butter clusters are even better. Peanut butter and white chocolate center on a bed of fresh pecans, coated in fine dark chocolate Can life get any better? . Koeze, a family-run company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, makes these dark chocolate peanut butter clusters, which are crazy good. $16.25 for 8 ounces

Ultimate Nougat Bar

Garrison Confections’ Ultimate Nougat Bar icould just be the ultimate adult candy bar. What’s in it? I thought you might ask. Rich chocolate nougat with roasted pistachios and hazelnuts, topped with a creamy and soft caramel, enrobed in dark chocolate.

Hot Chocolate

You’ll definitely need some hot chocolate to wash down the above decadence of choice. MarieBelle Hot Chocolate is made with rich, single-origin Colombian cacao. Pick your poison as it were. $18 for 10 ounces . All you need now is a toasty fire goin’ in the fireplace…

Warms you heart and soul. Definitely the fixin’s of a Valentine remembrance.

The Green Kitchen

The tiniest adjustments to energy consumption have been proven to make a difference. And in few rooms do we use energy as blindly as we do in the kitchen. Thus, I have scoured the web for small modifications you can make in your kitchen and in you cooking that have the potential to make a big difference in our overall dent on this lush, green land.

• Unwrap Your Food: Do you come home from even a quick run to the store with nearly six plastic bags? Ever notice that when you shop at farmers’ markets you come home with far fewer plastic containers, if any? There are countless ways to reduce your food supply-related waste, from reusable tote bags for every budget to voting with your dollars by patronizing stores that make an effort to reduce packaging.
• Work Your Dishwasher: Where do we begin? Most of the energy used by dishwashers is from heating the water [pdf], so check the manual for your dishwasher to see if you are able to set the heating elements to a lower temperature. More can be saved by skipping the drying cycle, propping open the door and letting the dishes air out naturally. As most new dishwashers have a seriously powerful wash cycle, water can be saved by scraping off, and not pre-soaking or pre-washing your dishes unless something is particularly gunked on. Run your dishwasher only when it is full. But whatever you do, don’t feel guilty for using your dishwasher, as, according to one study, it uses only half the energy and one-sixth of the water of washing dishes by hand. Oh, and it’s much more fun, but, uh, you should get a dishwasher because it’s green, OK?
• Tame Your Stove, Oven: Are you sure you have to run your oven tonight? I mean, have you really thought about it? Grilling uses spectacularly less energy than an oven, and it won’t undo your air conditioner’s hard work. A toaster uses one-third to one-half the energy of a full-size oven. Microwaves spread far less heat. If you’ve got to use your stove, consider your pan size, which should match your burner size. A six-inch pan on an eight-inch burner wastes almost half the energy produced by it. All this aside, when it’s broiling hot out, wouldn’t you prefer a meal that didn’t require cooking? Yeah, I thought so.
• Tune Your Fridge: Don’t shop for refrigerators on sticker price alone: Those with Energy Star labels use 15 percent less energy than current standards and 40 percent less than ones sold in 2001. Through-the-door water and ice dispensers and automatic icemakers can increase electricity use by up to 20 percent. Don’t make them colder than needed; 37° to 40°F (3° to 4°C) is recommended for the fresh food compartment of the fridge, 5°F (-15°C) for freezers and a long-term storage freezer should be at 0°F (-18°C). Also, listen to your (or at least my) mother: “Don’t go shopping in there!” As in, decide what you need before you go in, rather than spilling precious cool air out into the great hereafter.
• Lose the Bottle: As bottled water is currently going through period of bad PR 30 billion single use water bottles are expected to be thrown away this year, and only 23 percent of them will be recycled. Nearly all municipal tap water in the U.S. is so good that importing a bottle from Italy, France, or the Fiji Islands is at best questionable,
• Opting out of tap water sends an unintentional message that keeping the public water supply top-notch is no longer a concern. Meanwhile, reusable bottle options abound, and, considering that a full year’s suggested intake of water would run you $1,400 if it was all bottled, but 49¢ if from your faucet, you might even feel generous enough to buy one for everyone you know.
• Considering greening your kitchen? An on-line resource for materials, how-tos and even green builders can be found over at HGTV’s Kitchen Design website. Bookmark it for future use if you’re considering any upgrades. There are a lot of useful tips about greener home technology options on the site, including about lighting, tankless water heaters, and touchless faucets.

What are your too-easy-not-to green kitchen, cooking or eating tips?

Cheers for Amazing Customer Service

Service that delights is the only thing that counts today-everything else is window dressing.” – Unknown

Did you know that having twenty-four hour room service and a concierge is all you need to call yourself a “luxury hotel”? Seems like that would be the bare minimum, doesn’t it?

According to Price Waterhouse Coopers global hospitality and leisure analyst, Bjorn Hanson, you still get the best service from a bed-and-breakfast. “The owner lives on word of mouth and can’t afford an unhappy guest,” says Hanson. Amen.

It’s because B&B owners take initiative to put the little “something extra”, something that no one asks them to do – the service that surprises and delights a customer.

The good news is that anyone can up the service of any business simply by taking the initiative to look for ways to surprise the customer. The following stories are personal examples of just such service and are intended to give you ideas that you might use to wow your clients

When we couldnt couldn’t decide between two tractors , the salesman hauled hem both to “test drive” so we could choose.

Our phone rang on a Monday night past eleven. A couple driving through had underestimated the drive time to Bozeman having stopped off during the day for sightseeing. He took a chance and rang us up from the highway exit. Groggy but awake, but of course, directions given and Dan even drove the 1 1 /2 miles to the end of the road to “light the night” for them. Choice of a cold beer and hot coffee awaited !

Definitely gave new meaning to going the extra mile. But I so enjoy doing it, because it delights and I’m always plum amazed when I’m the recipient as well.. I find if I can be the customer ; put myself in their place and live the life of the guest and experience what they do And it doesn’t have to be extreme . Service that delights is in the simple acts of random kindness.

Dan’s always amazed how just after meeting folks whether as guests here or even at the gas station, I start engaging them in conversation and it most always ends out to be a great encounter. It’s probably part of the “innkeeper’s manifesto”… be interested, not interesting. And especially during the holiday season when we’re at social gatherings and fumpfering around for the right thing to say. Try these seven icebreakers instead of the the “nice weather we’re having”:

• Ask for an opinion. People love to give them. “What do you think of the (restaurant/spinach dip)?”
• “How do you know the host?”
• “Have you traveled anywhere recently?”
• “What are you working on?”
• “What are you doing for the holidays?”
• If you’re traveling in a different city, bring up the local headlines, sports teams, or attractions. Or talk about your last bad travel experience — everyone can relate.
• And, finally, you can talk about the weather, but just make it more personal. Instead of saying, “Isn’t it cold out?” say, “I can’t stand this cold weather because I grew up in Florida — how about you?”

Cheers!

Festive Frugal Yuletide Spirit

Let not your heart be troubled if you feel the clock’s ticking away in that Christmas frenzy to git ‘ r all done. Some Fish Creek Finds that are frugal, festive that you can make.. Now that’s the makin’s of a Merry Christmas for both your budget and your giftee. Not only are they frugal when you have a limited budget, but you can put a bit of love into each gift. Thirteen of ‘em in fact. to get you going .. Get busy.

1. Christmas Dog Treats
2. Christmas sugar cookies
3. Figgy Pudding
4. Yule log cake
5. Knit Poinsettia Wreath
6. Christmas Fudge
7. Gingerbread Men
8. Soda Can Christmas Tree
9. Reindeer bell ornament
10. Stuffed Santa Claus
11. Gift Bags
12. Christmas Afghan
13. Pine Cone Christmas Ornament

And our faithful fearless Frugal Hacks to the rescue yet again. For those of us (like me) are shall we say “gift wrapping challenged. And while it’s what’s inside that counts as they say… . It definitely makes me merry when I see the TLC involved in wrapping. It does feel more you special to get a present that the person took a lot of trouble and time . To me, making a gift is just a little more special than going to the store and buying one.

Git ‘r done gifting.

Aint Nothing like the Real Xmas Tree, Baby

Faking it may carry you through some situations, but when it comes to Christmas tree selection, aint nothing like the real thing

Fake trees may seem more convenient. They don’t shed their needles, you spend less time fighting over which tree to pick, they last for years and most conveniently, they fold up in a matter of minutes.

But, the conditions under which they’re made and the materials themselves should give you pause, says the National Christmas Tree Association.

About 85 percent of fake trees are imported from abroad, they say, from factories where workers sit for hours melting chips into moldable plastics.

The National Forest makes Christmas tree cutting easy with its cheap permits and friendly staff that explain which places on the map are viable tree cutting areas. he tree now stands perfectly in the living room corner by the window, drinking about a quart of water a day and facing a fate unknown to most wild trees. It’s decorated with homemade ornaments, white lights and an assortment of popcorn and cranberry strings.

Hopefully, its former neighbor is growing tall. Hopefully no one will come along and saw him down, too. It’s his turn to shine. But aint nothing like the real thing.

The company who invented the fake tree was originally a toilet bowl manufacturer. Whether the ever-expanding butts of the world inspired the big, plastic green brush remains unknown. But, either way, the company stumbled onto something huge, which used more fossil fuels to make than the small bowl cleaners, but probably sold more in Superstores in December than the white-handled scrubbers did all year.

While cutting down a tree kills a living thing, most plastic trees end up in landfills, taking up space and releasing toxic chemicals into the air over the many, many, many years it takes to break down. Live trees are recycled in most communities or dumped back in the woods to decompose.

Look for LED holidays lights where regular lights are sold, or order from websites like www.environmentallights.com and www.christmas-treasures.com.

Or save even more energy with solar-powered holiday lights, and set up a light display wherever you please without a tangle of extension cords all over your lawn. Gaiam.com even offers strands of LED lights with solar panels — no outlet required. You can even get icicle lights and lighted wreaths powered by totally cute little solar panels. You’ll pay a little more up front for solar versions of holiday lights, but the savings on your power bill over the holiday season make up for that pretty quickly.

In the “Keep it simple segment”, choose décor items that come with minimal packaging to reduce waste. Wrap gifts in recycled paper or other eco-friendly gift wrap alternatives. And of course, reuse your decorations year after year.

Need a few ornaments to update your tree or to replace broken ornaments? The well known but often overlooked shops like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, is great for finding aisles of used holiday décor. Buying secondhand saves cast-offs from the landfill, and you can use the savings to make a donation to a good cause.

Tis the season for fair trade. Fair trade holiday décor is another way to give back to the world around you. Check out Gaiam’s collection, A fair trade for everyone, this holiday season, make the planet merry too.

Merry merry.

The Best Things in Life Cant be Found at the Mall

Several months ago, as my husband and I were turning out of a parking lot in Butte, a bumper sticker on the car in front of us caught my attention. On the fender of the car just ahead was the slogan, “The Best things in Life Aren’t Things.” Food for thought this holiday season

It’s true, I thought-and worth bearing in mind. The most valuable “things” in life are the intangibles. At its deepest core, life isn’t about what we acquire and own. It’s is a spiritual exercise rooted in virtue, principle, spirit, faith, community and emotion. Living in Montana it ‘’s become more about the infinite variety and beauty of nature all around us and the respect we must always show for the good and plenty of our world.

But, in today’s consumer culture, in which advertisers tell us that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” and mall signs proclaim that “happiness is just a matter of finding the right store”-it’s easy to forget that life is more than an exercise in stuffing our houses and closets full of material possessions.

There were fun things to do and traditions to keep, but the real joy was in the anticipation of Christmas. Things were slower so there was more time to get excited about Santa’s arrival. Maybe you saw Santa once during the season to give him your letter, not at every mall in town like we do today.

I sometimes wonder if my parents felt as stressed out about getting things “just right” as many parents feel today. Every time I pass the supermarket magazine rack, I see all sorts of new crafts, projects, dishes, decorations, and cookies that I feel I shouldtackleto make the holidays extra “perfect”. I read the newspaper and there are so many holiday events to choose from that it’s a little overwhelming.

Ironically, there is so much to do in this now-extended holiday season that it all seems to fly by before we even have time to just sit quietly and enjoy a cozy winter’s evening waiting patiently for Christmas to arrive.
Below are seven ideas we have come to value as we embrace the notion that, “The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things.”

1 Don’t ‘Shop ‘Til You Drop.’ Being a shopoholic has become a bit of a joke in America, where people proudly adopt the slogans “Born to Shop” and “I Shop Therefore I Am.” In a time when malls have begun offering massages for weary consumers, it’s important to remember that shopping is about satisfying practical needs. When it begins to dictate our weekend and vacation agendas, when the mall becomes our family’s “home away from home”-and buries us in debt–it’s time to reassess our priorities and judgments.

2 Make a “Declaration of Enough.” Admit it. When you look over your shoe collection, it’s enough to make Imelda Marcos blush. Isn’t it time to distinguish what you want from what you need? We don’t need something because we can afford it. We don’t need something because advertisers tell us we need it. “

3 Invest in the “Spiritual Economy.” What was truly the most happy moment in your life? Your wedding day? The day you got your first horse ? The instant your children were born? Or the moment that you sold your Microsoft shares for a big gain before the market went south?

4 Stopping to consider what makes life worth living demands acknowledging that beyond the financial economy is a spiritual economy based on love, caring, friendship, faith and family as well as mutual support, giving, sharing and a real appreciation of our individual and collective gifts.

5 Count Your Blessings and Look for Silver Linings. Just as the nation sets aside Thanksgiving as a remembering time, set aside a period each day when you turn your thoughts to what you have been given. Don’t focus exclusively on material benefits. Remember the intangibles-the help and comfort someone may have given you in your grief or pain, the willingness of someone to listen attentively, the smile of a stranger that brightened your heart.

6 Remember-”If You win the rat race, you’re still a rat!” Like rats in a maze, members of American families often feel that we are running to stand still. Juggling work, family life and child rearing, we need to stop to catch our breath. Check your schedule and eliminate some of the unnecessary running around that may be in your day planner. A do-nothing day can work wonders.

7. I’ll ask the proverbial “is your glass half full or half empty”?. No matter how bad things get, make it a point let your cup runneth over. The alternative frame of mind can make easy problems seem impossible to solve. Volunteer . Nothing like having a job “bigger than yourself” to get your out of your head.

My hope for all of us is that we all take time to savor the holiday season and all its simple beauty. Think outside the stocking stuffer Get together with family and friends for some much needed levity. Have you been to the mall lately?  There’s only 25 million  cranksters, jockeying for prime parking spots in their humongous SUVs.   You’re meeting up as a group for some cheer and merriment. In our current day and age, that in itself is cause for celebration. It’s a mitzvah, people.  Appreciate the special moments with family and remember those who are no longer with us but live on in our traditions and memories.

and to help you along
Some “green stocking stuffers” your intrepid innkeeper has on tap for today’s Fish creek Finds There are many ways you can honor your recipient without adding to their burden of “stuff.” Here is a compilation of “alternative” gifts that you can customize to suit their personality and will fill out their stocking experience nicely. Also great for the In-Laws!

Plant-a-tree ornaments
National Wildlife catalog has 13 different styles!
Be Green’s seed ornaments will regreen the Montana forest lost in the fires of 2000.

Supporting acres and whole regions:
You can adopt an acre in someone’s name through the Nature Conservancy.

You can also adopt an animal for your loved one:Defenders of Wildlife will send the “proud parents” a plush toy and certificate of adoption. Earthplace has a whole catalog of animals to adopt. You’re sure to find an animal that means something special to your lucky recipient.

Think outside the stocking stuffer

Our Great Green Journey

We’ve often been asked by guests how recently our bed and breakfast was built. Truth to tell , the core was there, but we knew were in for some serious renovation Actually gutting and virtually starting over would be a better description. Our thoughts, along, with advice of John Benedict Builder, “build once, build right”… That meant for us … going green. If you’re considering constructing a new home, consider going green. Some cut to the chase (or wood) gleanings we’ll pass on from our journey.
A lot of green construction initiatives are out there, which advocate building everything from pre- measured, pre-fabricated parts.The savings for this are two fold – the first savings is in ease of construction. By building everything from pre-measured parts, you save on labor and assembly. You also save on garbage hauling fees, not a small amount for an inn far outside of town.

The second place where you save is avoiding building waste in your local landfill. Most homes are constructed by bringing raw lumber on site and cutting it to fit over the course of construction.

Good green construction techniques use the mantra of “measure twice, cut once” to its logical extreme, and can eliminate construction waste by as much as 80%. I’m there.

Green construction ties into how it uses energy… and those energy bills… trust me a big deal here in Montana A more recent trend in green construction is photovoltaic cells as an integral component of construction, rather than as an unsightly add on to the home.

These can reduce utility bills (through net-metering) and will, over the course of 20 years or more, pay off the cost of their investment.

Green construction, done right, solves this problem, and a well insulated home is less expensive to heat in the winter, and cool in the summer.

Ultimately, doing a green home means doing a completely green home – you can’t do it part way. It doesn’t mean you have to “give up” the life style – but it does mean an initial investment in planning and a commitment to hold on to the home for a while to recoup your investment.Whilst still a newbie to the blogosphere, what an awesome list of green blogs to guide us on the path.

A great green journey and labour of love that took many different turns …. all of which have brought us home … to Montana and being able to share it.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

- Winston Churchill

The Apple of My Eye

Stocking up for winter? Maybe on apples too?

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. Keeping with our previously declared 10 Commandments of Holiday eating,

Seeing as there are still ample amounts of apples dive-bombing from trees ( you can almost hear them calling “geronimo!” ) and a distinct shortage of apple type pastries in these parts, voila… apple concoctions. Whether they are rosy-skinned and small, flecked with mottled shades of yellow and pink, or deep red and brooding, apples of all shapes, shades, and sizes are filling baskets and boxes at farmer’s markets this time of year. But before you dive in read what fruit detective David Karp had to say in an interview 10 years back about an apple tasting in which he sampled 44 varieties. That’s alota apples. The most popular apple varieties are Cortland, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Ida Red, Macoun, McIntosh, Northern Spy, and Winesap.

Obviously, if you plan well enough, you always have everything leftover, since leftovers might actually be the real reason we have Thanksgiving dinner, right?!? Especially the leftover desserts. When I was a kid, the morning after Thanksgiving and Christmas we’d be allowed to have a slice of sweet potato pie or a scoop of apple crisp for breakfast.

So while everyone’s thinking about how many ways can you make leftover turkey sandwiches, your intrepid innkeeper has “breakfast on the brain”., I love to ladle out a big scoop of apple crisp into a soup bowl for breakfast after Thanksgiving. I’ll nuke it for a minute, just to take the refrigerator chill away, and top it with a spoonful of plain yogurt. It’s the very best version of fruit, granola and yogurt you’ve ever had and it makes it possible to eat leftovers for every single meal of the day.

INGREDIENTS Adapted from Allrecipes

* 10 cups thinly sliced apples
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 cup quick-cooking oats
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9×13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

And anything remotely having to do with sweet potatoes.. has always gotten my attention.

I’ve used sweet potato and matched it to it’s favourite herb, sage. I’ve then introduced a bit of sharpness in the form of a hard Goat cheese. This combination providing a great mix of sweet and sharp in one small package.

Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Muffins
Makes 6 large muffins]

1 large red onion, sliced
1 thick rasher bacon, sliced into batons (optional)
4 sage leaves, shredded
150 grams sweet potato, peeled and shredded
50 grams hard Goat cheese, shredded
300 grams plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
3 teaspoons olive oil

Using a fry-pan, sauté the onion, bacon and shredded sage leaves in a little oil until the onion has softened and the bacon has browned. Add the shredded sweet potato along with a good grinding of black pepper and toss through for about 30 seconds - remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Sift the plain flour with the baking powder and place into a large bowl. Add the cooked mixture and stir through, breaking up any lumps that may form. Sprinkle over the shredded goat cheese and mix it through so it’s evenly distributed.

Whisk the egg with the milk, then add the oil before pouring this into the dry ingredients. Stir through until just combined - be careful not to overmix.

Spoon into your large muffin moulds and bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven until golden brown and cook through - this should take around 20-30 minutes.

Let the muffins cool slightly on a wire rack before eating To die for.

Kids can “do lunch” on the farm.

Kids in Montana can go home for lunch..No matter who you sit with at the cafeteria lunch table, if you eat the school lunch you are likely tasting the same chicken-fried steak, potato-based, pizza on Friday meal as every other kid in America. For over30 years, most lunchrooms around the country have been serving processed and pre-cooked food in an effort to make decreasing school lunch budgets go further and still meet federal nutrition requirements. So the beefy chili is precooked and frozen in plastic bags along with the brocolli and corn that are all ready to heat and eat. Even granny smith apples come sliced and shrink wrapped on a mini Styrofoam tray. Ugh..But now kids across the country are finding unexpected delicacies like fresh broccoli and home-made chili on the lunch menu.

With the rise of diabetes and obesity, many schools are removing the pop and candy machines and replacing the school lunch with local food.

To do so, they are implementing the National Farm to School program. The Montana Farm to School Program, , which works with local farmers, ranchers and school staff to provide local food to students that will improve student nutrition. These programs are also intended to improve students’ understanding of the food system while putting lunch money back into the local economy. For instance, schools purchase eggs, honey, fruit and vegetables from local farmers who are able to expand their markets and even hold farm tours for students.

The Farm to School program has been particularly popular in Montana, in part because of the success of the University of Montana’s Farm to College program, which primarily provides local beef, cheese and bread to University Students. The program has already put $1.5 million into the local economy and is growing each year.

I want to see our communities get more and more localized, with more local food produced and consumed, more local goods bought and sold. I want to see local entrepreneurship encouraged. What a win, win, win… our environment, our local economy and… our kids… Yeeha.. eat up

And with the “winds of Whitehall” here threatenening to kick up to 70 mph here today, you can “make mine muesli” this morning before we head out or uh, blow out as it were.

Montana Muesli - yet another version (adapted from eipcurious)

2 cups jumbo oats
2 cups rice puffs
2 cups assorted nuts
2 cups chopped apricots and dates
1 tbsp flavourless oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp rich agave nectar

In a large bowl, add the jumbo oats, rice puffs, nuts, apricots and dates, mix together to combine
In a small saucepan, on a low heat, add the oil, maple syrup and agave nectar, heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, untill well combined and of pouring consistency
Add the oil, maple syrup and agave nectar to the dry ingredients, mix to combine
Put the mixture into two roasting pans and cook in a moderate oven for 20 minutes, turning the mixture frequently to ensure all the muesli becomes golden brown

The Apple of My Eye

Getting more into the holiday mode,gathered those to put out front for most welcome guests. Just gets me more in the spirit. Although Woke up to a frosty landscape this morning; almost like a sugar coating. Signs of winter returning

Speaking of harvest, we still havea bumper crop of apples here in the kitchen, just waiting to be used. There’s a great selection of Apple Varieties along with the characteristics and use of each.
For Storage: Handle apples gently to prevent bruising. To maintain quality, juiciness and crispness, store fully ripe apples in the crisper section of your refrigerator. Store them away from onions and other foods with strong odors. Never store them next to broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, or spinach. Apples emit ethylene gas which will speed the ripening of other fruit, so keep them away from kiwi fruit, peaches, plums, pears. and other produce which over-ripen quickly. When stored properly, most apples will keep for about 6 weeks. Today’s.. check out PickYourOwn.org for a guide to U-Pick orchards and pumpkin patches near you.

And to paraphrase, when life, gives you apples… make apple tart.

And while I like to make it year-round, but it’s especially good in fall when fresh apples are at their best.

Apple Tart
Courtesy of cooks.com

INGREDIENTS:

/2 c. butter
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. grated orange rind
1 c. flour
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 (20 oz.) can apple pie filling
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat butter, sugar and rind until light and fluffy. Add flour; mix well. Spread dough on bottom and 1-inch high around sides of 10-inch springform pan.

Combine cream cheese, marshmallow cream, eggs and spices, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Stir in pie filling and juice. Spoon over crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted near center comes out clean. Loosen tart from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Top with whipped topping. Makes 12 servings.

Scheduled to go with “Team Cante”r buddy Gaynor to bring Alle back to “Joaniland” for the winter.. We’ll be having Dr Sid, the equine vet do a chiropractic check on em to make sure they’re footloose and fancy free.

After Joanie gave us a brief overview of how the horse and rider are judged and the communication process between horse and rider, we set up a pattern that we each judged each other on. Nancy is by far the most advanced; having been in contention for state Champion. She as is typical of the folks there, is real helpful, so supportive and humble. It was a great lesson, and I got to see again how Alle is teaching me, since she’s so solid. Joanie would have us critique each other asking “what was good”… After my first pattern, I piped in and said “what’s good here is that I have Alle!”

Back at home at Joanieland and her “barn family”. Now if I could ride half as well as them… The journey continues. Rest well, Alle. - also the “apple of my eye”