Individual quiches in small ramekins: a good way to use up the extra pie dough. The recipe: Flaky Butter Crust (from Joy of Cooking.) Place rolled crust into ramekins. Filling: 2 eggs, 1/4 c heavy cream, 1T creamy Swiss cheese, cream together. Pour half of the mixture into each ramekin. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 375 for 20-30 min.
Recipe for raspberry pie from Spinach Tiger (http://spinachtiger.com/scarlett-ohara-raspberry-pie/) I used my favorite pie crust from Joy of Cooking.
Almond sugar cookies from the Cody Kitchen blog. (http://codykitchenconfections.blogspot.com/2012/03/soft-almond-sugar-cookies.html?m=1)
Russian tea cakes from allrecipes.
Cinnamon roll cookies! Recipe at Indigo Scones. (http://indigoscones.blogspot.com/2012/05/cinnamon-roll-sugar-cookies.html?m=1) I used my own cinnamon cream cheese frosting recipe (2 T butter, 3-4 T cream cheese, vanilla, cinnamon, 1-2 c powdered sugar (the more sugar, the stiffer the frosting)
Raspberry ice cream: 2 c heavy cream, 1 c milk, 5-6 c raspberries, vanilla, 3/4 c sugar. Stir sugar into milk and cream until it dissolves. Stir in vanilla and raspberries (thawed or fresh), then put it in your ice cream maker.
We're all moved in... Except for a microwave, which we will pick up from Lowe's in a couple weeks. Here our some photos.
I piled my sleeping bag, some clothes, a cooler of food, a camping chair, and a tent in the back of my subaru, picked up my friend Kerry, and headed to the north. My first destination was Bozeman.
We were starving when we pulled into Bozeman. So we went to the Montana Ale House for dinner. I had bison meatloaf. As I took my first bite I realized I was someday going to be a resident of Montana. This is the place for me. The first night, I parked my car on a residential street and slept in it. Kerry slept in her friend's van.
The next morning, I woke up really early. I walked to the corner grocery store, bought some new ice to replace the slightly melted bag of ice in the cooler, rearranged the stuff in the subaru, and then woke Kerry up. She and I wandered downtown Bozeman, window shopping at all the cool gear stores, coffee shops, tattoo parlors, etc. Then we woke her friend up (the owner of the van) and the three of us drove to the trailhead of the hike that goes up to the "M." It was a short hike, but steep.
That afternoon Kerry and I busked in front of the Chocolate Moose store downtown. We made a grand total of $8.
That night I slept in my car again, this time in the parking lot behind a Church of Christ. The next morning, I said bye to Kerry and got in the car, bound for Kalispell.
I stopped about half-way in Missoula. I got a maté at Liquid Planet, a coffeeshop downtown and wandered for a bit. Missoula is gorgeous.
Then I continued onto Kalispell along Flathead Lake. I pulled into my campsite and Spruce on the River, which is right along the Flathead river. My campsite was about 20 feet from the banks. I set up my tent and went to bed.
In the morning I got up, showered, and then set off for Glacier National Park. The road to the park was gorgeous - towering snow-capped mountains, the wide Flathead river, and the green foothills. I finally got to the entrance, paid the fee, and drove along the Going-to-the-Sun road.
I had to get moving, so after seeing some really beautiful scenery, I turned back, exited the park, and continued north.
I drove north on the 93. The towering mountains slowly gave way to rolling pine tree-covered hills. I soon came to the Canadian border. I was disappointed to find out that they wouldn't be stamping my passport. I want a Canadian stamp!
I stopped in Cranbrook to get online, pay some bills, chat with Sam, who is in Switzerland. Then I drove north some more through Radium Hot Springs, and then up into the mountains toward Banff.
The drive was incredible. The northern Rockies were dramatic, and wildlife was everywhere. I saw three bears, a bunch of deer, lots of eagles, and a coyote. I got to Banff in the evening, checked into my hostel, ate a salad, and then went to bed.
In the morning I drove to the trailhead of short hike around Johnson Lake. This time, thankfully, I didn't see any bears. After hiking, I got back in the car and headed out for Edmonton via Calgary.
The scenery decreased in appeal as I got closer to Calgary. Calgary itself is an unappealing, sprawling city, with new McMansion developments strewn all over. I finally got to Edmonton in the late afternoon, checked in to my dorm room at the university, ate, showered, and took a nap.
I'm here in Edmonton for a few more days attending a Conference. Then I'll begin my trek south, this time via Helena and Jackson Hole.
Sam and I finally went away for the weekend. It is our dream to someday live on a huge piece of land somewhere gorgeous, raise animals and bees, grow a garden, etc., in a place close enough to a nice, culturally-rich city. So a few of our potentials sites: Bend, OR; Sante Fe, NM; Missoula County, MT; or Boulder County, CO. This weekend we drove up to Missoula to check it out.
On the way we saw an impressive dust devil in Idaho.
Made camp near Dillon, MT.
Got back on the road in the morning.
At breakfast at this place.
Drove along the Bitterroot River.
Stopped and said hi at University of Missoula campus during graduation.
Sam's old house in Paradise, MT.
Sam's old school, which while he was there was K-12. It was built in 1910.
Ate at his favorite shake place, the Circle, in Plains, MT.
Ate lunch at the Bison Burger. I had a bison burger and Sam had huckleberry pancakes.
Also we found out that we won't be moving to the east coast this fall anymore. It was a bit of heartbreak, but we really do love the West. So... we'll be moving to a nearby western state instead.
