A few weeks ago I was in the town of Conrad, Montana just off I-15, about an hour north of Great Falls. A fairly new gift store, Windrift Hill, has opened there selling some of my favorite skin softeners. Montana’s weather has low humidity which I like, but that’s a challenge for my skin. I think my skin is naturally dry but this climate makes it worse. So what makes Windrift Hills’ product so good … Read more
Joplin hosts an annual Art In The Park and Car Show each June and it was on my list of events to attend this year. And what an event it was! There were vendors of all kinds, live music and over 60 vintage vehicles in the car show. And, of course, I couldn’t pass up a yummy slice of pie at one of the food booths. What kind? Raspberry rhubarb with pecan topping. Homemade, unique … Read more
It was time to hit the road to promote Taste Our Place, a program by the MT Office of Tourism (Dept. of Commerce) and MT Department of Ag. The goal – seek out food and beverage locations using Montana sourced ingredients. Our first stop was Infinity Bakery in Havre. We didn’t have time for a sit-down lunch but we had time for some incredibly yummy scones, baked doughnuts and cookies. Infinity has a soup and … Read more
Central Montana’s Pie a la Road has taken me to local restaurants I didn’t know existed. My latest pie sampling though was at Brooks Market and Deli on Lewistown’s Main Street and I had been there several times…I just hadn’t tried the pie. That was about to change. Three of us met for lunch on one of those beautiful spring days you wish you could experience every day. We walked in to Brooks Market and the first thing … Read more
I’m not sure if I should even refer to Shonkin, Montana as a town. It’s primarily a community center building and an elevator but believe me, it was a hopping place this weekend. Located in Chouteau County, Shonkin was one of the towns that participated in the county-wide Christmas celebration. It requires a bit of gravel road driving to get to Shonkin but the drive provides some varied and beautiful scenery. Well worth it. I … Read more
You can call it a music festival (and it is) but it is so much more! It’s a celebration of rural life, of family, of small and big towns, all happening in the middle of a pasture just outside of White Sulphur Springs. The town of White Sulphur Springs has almost a thousand people living there but attendance at Red Ants Pants Music Festival tops 16,000. Just a few good folks over for a visit! … Read more
When I first heard about the event called Montana’s Longest Table I couldn’t quite visualize how they would structure it, but I knew I wanted to attend. What is it? Two city blocks in Lewistown were closed off and long tables were placed down the middle of the streets. Area restaurants were contacted and eleven of them agreed to each make 200 samples (200 tickets were sold). The best part…they needed to use a product … Read more
Lewistown’s Montana Winter Fair definitely qualifies for having unique events. My favorite yodeler is Wylie Gustafson of Yahoo fame and he and his band, The Wild West, were performing an evening concert to kick off the Montana Winter Fair weekend. That was enough to get me to pack my bags and drive to Lewistown. The concert was held in the Grand Hall of the Eagles on Main Street. Thank goodness I had a ticket because … Read more
When you say “Kamut” to people they get a quizzical look about them and then I start to explain…this is an amazing ancient grain, never hybridized or genetically modified. And, it’s grown organically in the Big Sandy area in Central Montana. I’m a big fan of whole grains and this brand of wheat is higher in protein than most wheat on the market today. It also has magnesium, zinc and selenium plus more amino acids, lipids and … Read more
A threshing bee has been on my radar for several years and I finally went to one. The Teton Antique Steam and Gas Threshing Association has been in existence since 1984 and they do an annual threshing bee each September in Choteau, Montana. I decided to go early – and believe me – this event opens at 7am so I left Great Falls for the 52 mile drive a little after 6am. Ugh! The best … Read more