week + end

A few highlights from this past week, and a few from this weekend.

here's one of Montana's many mountains. The Gallatin National Forest is only 15 minutes from town- a proximity that amazes me.

Here's a picnic lunch from yesterday. I was too pleased with myself when I figured out that I could put two sandwiches and two ciders in one convenient 6-pack. I highly recommend it for a picnic on the go.

The Suby is sporting Montana plates now. Montana has about 100 different plates that you can choose from, which seems slightly excessive. I chose the standard plates. I think they are classy.

A tomato, sausage, pesto pizza from earlier this week. Since I'm spoiled and live close enough to go home for lunch every day I mixed up some dough at lunch and it was ready to go by the time I got home.

Potholders!

Here's me taking a break from knitting. This means that I've got a sewing area set up (!!). And That means I can leave my area as-is (messy) and not have to clean up to eat dinner at the dinner table. I think this will also lead to more creativity.


I bought some heat-resistant fabric a while ago for the purpose of making an oven mitt- but the notion of potholders struck me yesterday, and I just had to oblige- that was after I made some curtains for the kitchen and bedroom.


The other great thing about these potholders was that I used mostly scraps from other projects. Potholders are small and functional which makes for a nice combination of utility and creativity. I made a pattern out of a box that was originally used for 6 bottles of hard cider- one square for the main section and one triangle for little hand pockets that you can use to manipulate the potholder as a glove-of-sorts... or a puppet.

I need to go dig around my scrap-bag to see what other treasures I can find.

Montana Fair: It's a Really big deal

The Montana Fair is not the State fair, it is the Billings Fair and, and the official subtitle of Montana Fair really is 'It's a Really Big Deal.' I suppose that makes sense, since Billings is the largest city in Montana. The subtitle was the recurring joke as we all drove through the parking lot as we watched the 4-H kids show their bunnies, as we browsed the craft and exhibition halls, as we walked the midway and as we ate deliciously fried food.

As much as we made fun of it though, I think the far was and is a really big deal. It's where people can drop a lot of money on moderately satisfying rides, they can show their pets and/or their livestock.

The fair is also a place where people can showcase their collections- pen and pencils, medieval garb, Simpsons para-fan-alia, miniature horses and the biggest nutcracker collection you've ever seen. It's a place where people who spend a lot of time and energy on sometimes very specific endeavors have a specific showcase for their hobbies.

It's also a place where I could size up the competition for Table Setting- see image below.

This table setting received a blue ribbon in the age category I will be competing in next year. I give this setting props for setting the table for an afternoon tea, as opposed to a dinner setting. They also sort-of get points for making the tea a 'Russian Tea' and so printing the menu in Russian- which is also unfair, because I can't read Russian, and therefore have no idea if the menu would be at all appetizing. Other than that, I was entirely unimpressed with the white china and too simple centerpiece. Classy? Sure. Was I impressed? No.

As table setting entries are all put on a card table, there was not enough room to showcase all entries in the venue provided. As such, I must make assumptions like: the Russian Tea setting was actually the best in the age category. I am already planning for next year. Without giving too much away, I'm thinking 'hunting lodge' (Montanans love Big Game as much as I do).

In the same venue where I critiqued my competition for table setting, I found my socks that I had entered- adorned with a red ribbon! Second place! and a $3 prize! Second place in the 'Hand knit sock' category! I am so flattered, especially since this is my first (finished) pair of socks. I felt really great about that.

So we celebrated with funnel cakes- batter poured directly into a vat of hot oil and dusted liberally with powdered sugar and cinnamon and more sugar.

I love the fair.

Kathleen's Salad

I'm almost to the point where I can resume my previous kitchen habits. It's been over a month now since I've cooked consistently. Between house-sitting, moving, painting, acquiring furniture, working and acquainting oneself to a new community, other personal endeavors can, and have suffered. We DO have a couch now, and I did hang some art on the walls on Friday- which made it feel just that much more like home.

I'm in the middle of painting walls at the moment. Whoever has the job of naming paint colors has my dream job. Our apartment will now include walls that are a nice shade of 'harmonic tan' and 'crocodile'. Here's a view of the front door (which is actually at the back of the house... leading down to the basement).
I did take a few minutes to wash as much paint off of my hands as possible to compose a salad that I credit to my dear friend Kathleen- who is currently quarantined in her house with a case of the Mumps. I was jonesin' for a refreshing summer salad. Last week we composed a tasty black bean, avocado, tomato, corn, cilantro and lime salad. Tonight's salad trumps last weeks in the crisp and refreshing categories. It was served with two-day old pizza.


Kathleen's Salad
1/2 jicama- cut into matchsticks
1/2 mini watermelon- cubed
handful of chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno- finely diced
lime juice- to taste.

Throw all ingredients into a bowl. Make sure to wash hands thoroughly after dicing jalapeno. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.

1/2 Lamb. Roasted. In a box.

I start work as a Volunteer In Service To America (AmeriCorps VISTA) tomorrow. I don't have an apartment to move in to until August 1, and am luckily house sitting for strangers for the next two weeks. In the meantime we have been staying with Nic's mother and step-father, they live pretty much in the middle of nowhere in eastern Montana (about 7 miles down a dirt road on about 700 acres). Valley Creek Ranch has a growing Icelandic sheep operation (see sheep photo in previous post). The breed has tasty meat as well as excellent wool. This post will focus on the former attribute of the sheep.
I probably don't have as much to say about meat as Nic does. His constant companion (besides me) is a book entitled The River Cottage MEAT Book- although everything besides MEAT is written in a smaller and less contrasting font so that if you didn't take a close look you would think the book was titled simply, MEAT. While I haven't read much of it myself, I have been shown images of everything from a photo-essay of a cow being slaughtered to a gelatinous meat dish to a tub full of salted trotters, tail and snout. There are other images (and recipes) of better cuts of meat like chops and roasts as well as essays about the ethical treatment of animals, the virtues of cheap cuts of meat as well as large sections devoted to pork, beef and other game. Needless to say, the book has had an influence on how and what kind of meat we consume.

Which brings me to our 1/2 lamb roast that we had earlier this week. Some of the sheep on the ranch have become renegades- jumping through barbed wire fences and hiding in the neighboring cliffs. One of the recaptured lambs was taken to the local meat locker and made an example of what happens to naughty sheep.

We had one half of the lamb for supper. Since a half of a lamb is still a large amount of meat (13 pounds) Becky and Mike invited some friends over. Nic used a recipe adapted from the River Cottage MEAT Book- stuffing garlic, anchovies and rosemary into knife slits all over the lamb. The lamb was then rubbed with the oil from the anchovies. Anchovies have enough salt to make additional salt unnecessary while giving an added dimension to lamb without being fishy.


The lamb was then placed in 'La Caja China'- which is Spanish for 'The Chinese Box'... Think on that for a moment. La Caja is a large aluminum box in which the prepared meat is placed. A lid is placed on the box and then covered with hot briquets- making La Caja a different but delicious concept.
After roasting for about 2 hours, the meat was done- a beautiful golden outside and juicy interior.

The meal was served with coleslaw, grilled potatoes and bread. Even with 8 hungry guests, leftovers ensued, as well as a nap.

Observations about Montana.

Montana has wheat fields.

Montana has moose (though this photo was taken in Wyoming in the Bighorn Mountains).

Montana has Icelandic sheep (still somewhat goat-like and don't herd).


Montana has strange and beautiful wildflowers (photo also taken in Wyoming- this statement is more of an assumption).


Montana has many (lots of) mountain ranges.

I have learned several of these ranges in my drives from Park City to Bozeman: The Crazy Mountains, The Beartooth mountains, The Absoarka Mountains. It is strange to me that the Rocky Mountains are so huge and vast that smaller ranges have their own names. In Oregon, The Coast Range, and The Cascades are the name of the mountains that run from The Independent State of Jefferson past the Columbia River.

Montana also has crazy weather.

It's a good thing that the sky here is so huge and that you can see these behemoth storms coming your way. They violently drop rain (or hail) a tablespoon at a time and then move on in a matter of minutes- much unlike the blanket of gray and day-long drizzle in Oregon.

I believe that geography and weather in Montana are generally much more dramatic.

I believe that Montana is beautiful.

So ends my initial Montana observations.

A quick self-update for those who are curious: An apartment has been found- a darling basement apartment (amazingly well-lit). However, we cannot move in until August first. I was sworn in as a federal employee (volunteer) yesterday by the Lutinenant Govenor of Montana. Guess who starts her job on Monday? Good thing Craigslist works in Montana too (even though there is only one site for all of Montana to post things), and I will be housesitting for strangers until August. Things are working out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Finally- Socks!

The socks that should have taken a month... took 6.
Nic's mother is quite the fiber enthusiast, she spins, weaves, knits and felts. I had not been in Montana for a week this time around when she got me started on a lace shawl (pics to come once I have made a little more progress).

Last summer when I visited she talked me into me to quit knitting scarves and try following a pattern. Since then I have attempted a pair of socks, at last deciding I didn't like the yarn I was knitting with, and decided that if it's not wool, I should probably not be using it.

Anyway, these socks have been a long time coming. I have yet been able to have more than one knitting project at one time- a good thing because it prevents me from making yarn purchases that I don't otherwise have a plan for. It is a bad thing because, as this sock debacle is an illustration of- I can get tired of knitting one project and put it down for 4 months.

Let's hope that I can knit some mittens by the time winter arrives, otherwise, it won't make much sense to have a finished pair next summer. Now that I remember how great it feels to finish things, I hope I can turn out several more knitted goods by the end of the year.