When the Meisingers Came

Our friends, the Meisingers, were the first family to visit us after we moved to Montana. We had a blast with them - starting with a visit to our horses. 

The Meisingers, as you can tell, are lots of fun. 

We played croquet in our orchard...

 Had a lovely meal...

 The kids had fun on our playground...

And we got to see a few owls in our trees. That was the highlight of the night.

When the sun started to set, we didn't stop there...

We roasted marshmallows until late, late, late. It was fun, Meisingers. Can't wait for you to come this way again. 

The Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This is my nephew Joseph. He's cool.

He's also funny.

I can't forget to say that he's tough.

He's one of those sexy life guard types.

He is also the inventor of The Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Before we start, though, here are a few things you should know about making a Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

While making or eating the sandwich, you must dress, well, pretentious.

If you are going to serve it with another food, it must be a food that is high-class like lamb chops...

or ostentatious like leeks en Cocotte. 

Now here is a word from Joseph on making a Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

"If you want to be extra pretentious, grill it with a lid over the top. WARNING: Silly lower-class people may mock you for making such scrumptious food." 

Here are the ingredients. I have modified it a little (as always).

INGREDIENTS:

Peppadew mild sweet piquante peppers

2 slices French bread

1-2 slices Havarti

1-2 slices smoked Gouda

thin slices of apple (Joseph prefers Pink Lady)

2 slices prosciutto

Mayo (optional)

First, grill your Peppadew mild sweet piquante peppers until slightly brown on both sides. 

Here is a photo of the jar, so you know what to look for. Most likely, you will need to order it on the Internet. Thanks to Brent and Lori for introducing me to this wonderful food.

Next, slice and butter two pieces of French bread. 

Now, put the bread, butter side down and start piling the rest of the ingredients on top...

One...

at a time..

Until...

It is all piled up like this. 

Now grill both sides until the cheeses are melted and ou ala!

 You have a Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich. That is as pretentious as it gets. 

The only way to make it more pretentious is to make it with cold hard cash. Enjoy!

Say No To Two Ingredient Pancakes. Say Yes To This.

Have you seen these amazing photos of these even more amazingly healthy pancakes? The two ingredient pancakes. They have just banana and eggs. 

Here is another picture. Don't they look and sound wonderful? Well, they're NOT! They taste like scrambled eggs with banana flavoring. I was VERY disappointed, but this recipe did give me a start to a better one. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 banana

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon coconut oil (This is optional, but helps keep them from sticking to the pan. More on that later.)

2 teaspoons vanilla

That is a whole heck of a lot more ingredients than two, but it tastes 1000 times better too. 

NOTE: I double or triple this recipe if making it for more than just myself. It only makes about 3 medium sized pancakes. 

 Add 1/4 cup of oatmeal to your blender and let her rip until you have oat flour. I have a Blendtec which makes this easy. I remember the days before my Blendtec. You may have to work your pulse button a bit if you don't have a good blender. 

It will look like this, but don't dump yours out into a bowl. I just did this so you could see it. Leave yours in the blender. 

Now, dump these ingredients on top of the oat flour: 1 banana, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla. Let her rip again. I use the smoothie setting on my Blendtec.

It will make a batter like this. 

Pour the batter onto a greased skillet. I use a non-stick spray like Pam. Cook over medium high heat. I use the "sear" setting on my skillet which is about 375 degrees.  WARNING: the banana really  makes these stick to the pan. You're will to have to be certain to let the bottom side cook well and carefully work the pancake free with the spatula before you flip it. This is why I said use the coconut oil in the ingredients (you can actually use any kind of oil you want, but coconut oil is all the health rage right now.) Also, the smaller the pancake, the easier it is to turn. I make mine on the large side of small - not much wider than my spatula. 

You can use a regular pan, instead of a skillet, but it makes it more difficult to flip. It's hard to work your spatula around the pancake with the edges of a pan. The flat surface of a skillet makes that process easier. 

Here is what they look like flipped. 

I top mine with peanut butter and honey. You can top yours with whatever you want. Maple syrup, strawberries, sliced bananas, whipped cream, the list goes on and on. My kids LOVE this. They have no idea it's not our normal recipe. Enjoy!

Big Sky Christmas

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Continuing a family tradition: Fauneil's Mom had to wait at the top of these stairs for her father, Great Grandpa Ely, to come back from milking the cows before she could come and see what Santa had brought her. Fauneil had to wait at the top of these same stairs as a kid, waiting for her Dad, Grandpa Gleason, to get done with the milking. Now our kids have wait at the top of the stairs...not because I am milking cows, though. 

The stockings were hung by (or laid next to) the chimney with care...stuffed with goodies from Santa./;

Hey! Look at the gift bag that Fauneil wrapped my present in. Pretty original, right?

Continuing another family tradition, in honor of  Fauneil's sister, Heather, who used to get so excited on Christmas morning, that she would start throwing up. That is why Fauneil's Mom started making Cream Of Rice cereal  every Christmas morning. She would add either red or green food coloring to make it festive.

Grandpa opened his gifts from Stacy and Jessica. 

Later that day we went to the rest home to see Fauneil's mom, Grandma Gleason. She had a great day today. Her head was very clear and she was happy. It was great to see that. 

Of course, Lily had to, right away, tell Grandma about her Baby Alive Doll.

And McCann had to show her how he builds his Legos. 

Here is the finished product. 

We finally got to her gifts. She started on her stocking. 

Yay! Lindor chocolates! Boy does Santa know his stuff. 

Grapefruit in the toe, of course. 

And a toothbrush? Maybe Santa doesn't know his stuff...or maybe he's a dentist. Maybe Kirby from the movie "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" took over the Santa roll. Anyway...

Mom loved Jessica's crystals which we will hang in her window. 

McCann was waiting and waiting to hand Mom her gift from Stacy. 

Mom loved it, of course. 

Mom immediately recognized the milk wagon in Uncle Jim's gift to her. 

The Ely's Swiss Dairy Milk Wagon. 

Fauneil read the letter on the back of the painting which is as follows:

In 1944, Rolland and LaRue Ely (Mom and Dad) purchased the Eastwood Dairy in Fairfield, Montana. Cows had been a part of Mom and Dad's lives since the day of their marriage when Grandfather Arthur G. Ely eloped with his house keeper, Elisie Embry, on the same day. On the first evening of their honeymoon, Mom and Dad were left to milk Grandpa's cows, and they milked cows almost every night and every morning for the next fifty years. 

Dad especially liked the gentle nature of Brown Swiss cows, so they named their new enterprise Ely's Swiss Dairy - though most of the cows were Holsteins. 

The United Stated had been drawn into World War II in 1941. It was almost impossible to buy rubber tires, gasoline and motor trucks, so they delivered the milk to the town of Fairfield by horse power. 

Mother wrote, "We had two gray saddle horses, Punch and Judy, and broke them to drive. We bought an old milk wagon truck that had no motor from Ayshire Dairy (in Great Falls), put a tongue on it, hitched the horses to the truck and delivered our milk via horse wagon" 

Dad had the old truck painted bright yellow and "Ely's Swiss Dairy" lettered on each side. 

Punch and Judy slowly pulled the wagon down the center of each street in Fairfield while Dad took a carrier of six quarts of milk, or whatever the customer ordered, to each house on the street. The horses responded to Dad's verbal commands. 

This picture was taken in 1946 by a customer while Dad was delivering milk to their house. 

Punch and Judy patiently pulled the old yellow truck through the streets of Fairfield from 1944 to 1949 at which time the folks purchased a Chevrolet delivery van with a motor. This new van occasionally doubled as the town ambulance.

The old yellow truck was eventually pulled to the town dump and ignominiously pushed over the hill where it rested on its side. That yellow van was visible for a number of years until it was eventually buried from view. 

The bottling and delivery part of the operation was sold to Hansen Brothers' Dairy in Choteau, Montana in 1950. 

The folks maintained a heard of 50 to 60 head of milk cows for the next 30 or so years. 

The frame for this picture is made from the roof purlins of the old loafing shed that protected the cows from the bitter Montana winters. The original oil painting from the old photograph was done by Aaron Harker in Salt Lake City, Utah and was commissioned by David Ely, grandson to Rolland and LaRue Ely. 

Great story, huh? Okay, on with the day. Here is a very sleepy Mrs. Claus.

She laid down and then...

Decided to get serious and take a real snooze. Then...

McCann joined her. 

Mom was able to speak to all the kids. 

We went home after visiting Grandma and ate Christmas dinner: prime rib, carrots and parsnips, mashed potatoes and popovers. 

Then the kiddos played with toys and games. 

It wasn't much of a white Christmas, more of a brown/yellow one, but it was a spot-on awesome Big Sky Christmas. 

Merry Christmas from the Teton Dairy.