Montana Visit

While we were on vacation in July, Wayne, Amy, Wes, Emerson and I went to Montana for the day. It was a quick trip to see Shon and family, and while the guys did their thing, the girls went shopping. We were only there long enough to eat lunch, shop and then eat dinner. No time to visit our friends this time, but we still love you.

What does he have to do with our trip?

We love to eat at the original Fudruckker's in Billings and as we ate, this little guy came to visit.

I knew at a glance it was Don King's duck. Yes, it's another duck photo. I try to get one on each vacation.

Our favorite store in Billings is Granny's Attic. I took this picture of Amy so I could get the sign and a few of the items in the photo. As I was taking the photo, the clerk said "let me take a photo of both of you". He asked me to put on a hat and for Amy hold up an antique hankie.

Pretty cheesy, but we complied.
We bought some small things, but we had little room in the car and nothing really jumped out this trip to say YOU NEED ME. Yes, sometimes that happens.

Check

I have traveled a lot this spring and summer and it has been so fun. I could go somewhere every month and not get tired of it, but I do get tired of packing and unpacking and trying to make sure I have everything coming and going. I am at a place where I have to write everything down . Pills? check.... Phone? check...Makeup? check....Books? check....., camera? check. Oh yes, the camera. Even if I go on a day trip I feel so naked without it. I have loved my Canon Powershot A610. You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words and even though it is not an expensive model, it is digital and I get instant gratification for my efforts thus I have saved many thousands of words this month. OK, so I have not mastered the night setting.

What Has Happened?

I have blogged twice before about our trips to Idaho and how quirky the little town of Blackfoot is. I snapped a picture of this waitress statue last year and thought she was pretty cute, really tall and a fun throwback to the good old days. Imagine our surprise when we rolled through a couple of weeks ago to see her still standing there, but somehow she looks a little different.

Oh yea, she is no longer carrying her platter of food.

Chow..I mean Ciao Baby

Wayne and I belong to a little gourmet cooking group with some friends. (Six Couples) The idea is to pick a theme for the food each month and then make foods for a dinner that reflect that theme. We are to try new things that we may not always try and use recipes that we may not ordinarily use...thus the gourmet designation. July's theme was Italian and was hosted by Paul and Susan. Warning: Don't read this in the middle of the morning or in the early afternoon because you will begin to drool. Come back and read after you have eaten dinner. We only had four couples in July because two couples couldn't make it , so this is for them to read and wish that they had been there. It was a truly delicious meal and I am excited for the next one. I have to say that there are at least 5 gourmet cooks in the group. (I am not one of them) but Wayne "IS" and so are Lori, Paul, Rick and Laura. The others may be also, but I will have to continue to go to the dinners until I find out for sure. I am the sous chef at my house and I like it just fine that way.

Paul and Susan

Joan and Wayne

Laura and Rick

Doug and Julie

Here is the Pesto Pasta that Paul made. It contained pine nuts, raisins, tomatoes, basil, garlic, Italian seasonings and cheese among other things. I had never had raisins in a pasta meal before and it was really good. They gave just a hint of sweetness that complimented the pungent flavor of the pine nuts and pesto.

Delicious Paul!!

Grilled zucchini and green beans with garlic, lemon juice, asiago cheese, spices and then wrapped with prosciutto and chives. Pretty huh? Good job Wayne (and Joan)

Wonderful Italian green salad with all the
yummy veggies and olives. Thank you Doug and Julie.

Paul made the appetizers----- this Brochette was made with fresh basil, garlic and tomatoes
but the ingredients were atop Susan's homemade bread. Mmmmmmm

Garlic/cheese bread made from Susan's bread again

Paul also produced these dried apricots stuffed with goat cheese. Now I have to say there are very few foods I don't like, but goat cheese is one of them. My Grandma used to try to pass off goat's milk for dinner at her home. She wouldn't tell me it wasn't cow's milk but I could always tell. There are some goat cheeses that I can handle, so I did give them a try. Not bad Paul, however, I will stick to the old moo machine for most all of my dairy delights.

Last but certainly not least was dessert prepared by Rick. He makes the best creme brulee' in the world. There is not a picture of it. Why? That is because I took pictures at the beginning of the meal and when dessert came around we just woofed it down before I could even get a shot.

Believe me, you would really have drooled at this conclusion. What a great group of friends and what a great meal.

I found out we will be missing the next one this week. We are headed to Denver for a wedding reception. Someone take pictures and rub in our faces this month will you?

Wizard of Oz

We went to an ice cream social a couple of weeks ago that was a fund raiser for the Alpine Community theatre. Kohler's and Cabella's donated the ice cream and toppings and you could get all the ice cream you wanted for $1. It was a cheap and wholesome activity for the grand kids and included some fun entertainment. They had a really good band and the kids sang and danced for an hour before the the performers from the production "The Wizard of Oz" offered a little presentation of what the play would be like. I bought tickets thinking, "Oh well, if we can't go, it's a good donation for a good cause". I got the tickets for $8 each ( at the senior discount priceeven) which costs about same as a regular show ticket. I mean a movie ticket. See, I deserve the senior discount because I still call it the show. We ended up going and were pleasantly surprised. The singers and actors were really pretty amazing. The dialogue was almost exactly like that of the movie so the play lasted 3 hours with an intermission. It was long but it was a fun performance. The costumes and sets were well done as was the lighting and choreography. The scarecrow was unbelievably good and did just as well as in the movie.

As most of you know, "The Wizard of Oz" is my favorite movie, contains my favorite music and when I die, I want "Over the Rainbow" sung at my funeral. I am still waiting for my ruby slippers though.

I will definitely go again next year to Cinderella. Come with us.