Headwaters of the Yellowstone Bed & Breakfast

Tumbleweed Bookstore and Cafe

It can be hard to find a good meal in Montana.  We aren't exactly known as the culinary capital of the west.  That being said, there is good food to be had in our little village - you just need to know where to look.  The Tumbleweed Bookstore and Cafe (406-848-2225) is located in the heart of Gardiner, Montana.  Their wraps and sandwiches are excellent picnic food for park adventures.  If you are moving at a slower pace, they have a sunny little deck where you can enjoy a great salad, a bowl of homemade soup, a wrap, sandwich, locally made brownie or a great cup of coffee.  They also have a great book selection - particularly books that pertain to the park and western history and culture. 

The owner, Anna Holloway, is not only a bookstore owner.  She also transcribes oral histories, guides boats down the Yellowstone River, gives out excellent advice to new chicken owners, and keeps the kids at the Gardinerr Elementary School on the right track in math.  I had a chance (over a great panini - my favorite has ham, pepper jack cheese and apple slices) to ask Anna a little bit about herself and her business. 

Where did you grow up?  How did you come to Gardiner?

I grew up a Marine Corp brat so we moved every three years until I was in middle school when my father retired.  I went to high school and college in Indiana.  I moved around a lot of college because the travel bug was just still in my system.  I came out to Montana to work at the B Bar Ranch for 6 months in 2003.  I fell in love with the beauty of Paradise Valley and never left.

Did you always want to own a bookstore?  What do you want it to be?

I just bought the business in September of 2008.  It was never a dream of mine...simply an opportunity that came out of nowhere!!  We offer wireless, organic foods, vegetarian foods, coffee drinks, books (of all nature), fax services, special community events.  I would love to expand the community interaction part of the business.  By that I mean hosting story hours, live music on the deck, and a year round book club for locals and those traveling through.

What do you dislike about owning a business?

The biggest thing I dislike about being a business owner is dealing with poor employees.  I hate the feeling I get when I have to yell at someone or sit down and tell them it isn't working out.  I always fear they are devastated although they could probably care less.

What do you like about owning a business?

I love the interaction with people and being able to sponsor local events that I have spent years attending.

What is an ideal day for you?

My ideal day in Yellowstone would start with an early morning soak in the boiling river to get my body and soul to wake up and prepare for a journey into the park.  I would drive out to Cooke City taking many stops along the way.  Lunch at Beds and Buns in Cooke City.  Then, drive back home the same way I came stopping for some fly fishing at Soda Butte for an hour or two.  My evening would end with a packed dinner and a bottle of wine in my backpack as I climb under the bridge right outside of Mammoth.  I don't know if people are allowed to climb under that bridge but there is nothing better than a sunset dinner on the catwalk hundreds of feet above the Gardner River.

So stop by and have a sandwich!  And, if you need some chicken-math-river-running advice - look for Anna!

Chai revisited for Nancy

I was talking to my dear friend Nancy today, trying to convince her that today was the perfect day to make chai.  She lives in Estes Park and, along with the rest of Colorado, she is expecting a foot of snow tonight.  She noted that my chai recipe looked awfully complicated. 

"Really?" I said, incredulously.  "I just put all the spices in a zip lock bag, including the whole piece of ginger and bash away at it with my meat hammer and throw it in a pot of water." 

"You might want to tell people that." said she.

So, now you know.  It's really not a difficult recipe.  It might be a boring blog if I cut to the chase every time, however.  And, its true, I do tend to ramble in a conversational sort of way - both on the blog and in life.  Not a shock to anyone who knows me, I'm sure.  So, here it is, chai revisited for my dear Nancy.  It is just not that complicated.  (Really!)

Chai Revisited

1. Put a bunch of spices in a zip lock bag.  Fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, coriander seeds, cloves, nutmeg, peppercorns, fennel seeds, star anise.  All or most. 

2.  Bash the heck out of the spices in the bag with a hammer.

3.  Put the spices in a pot of water and boil it for a long time.

4.  Add tea.

5.  Add honey.

6.  Drain, add milk and drink.

Signs of Spring and Snow and Chai

     

It's been awhile since I posted...and, while I do have some great ideas cooking in my brain (and the most amazing recipe for Pistachio Apricot Cake EVER!), the weather has made staying on task difficult.  

It's definitely tricky here in March. 

It can be 60 degrees one day and 20 the next. 

The longer hours of evening sunlight can mean that, on those warm blue sky days, you find yourself out building garden frames and pouring over seed catalogs in the evening.  The mountain bluebirds are back en force - thanks to the visionary birdhouse planting of my dad over the last 40 years.  I even found the deck umbrellas and turned an old bed frame into a temporary duck pen earlier this week.  Spring energy has fueled the tiniest hint of green in the lawn and the yard if full of elk, day and night, trying to take advantage of whatever new growth they can find.  

I start hatching plans to make a growing frame for herbs on the deck to replace the many pots I've cultivated in the past.  I start wondering where my flip flops are and stopped cooking dinner all together in favor of quick sandwiches and pans of roasted asparagus.

Just in case the optimism overtakes me, however, Yellowstone delivers a whirling snowstorm that turns the roads into snow over ice with hypnotic, blinding visibility thrown in for good measure. The ducks, now three times the size they were upon arrival, huddle under the heat lamp all the day long, and I find myself terribly unmotivated as we wait for spring to arrive for real.  

Patiently.  (sort of)     

Until then, winter is back.  Time to break out the big pot and make some chai. 

The following recipe is based on a mix Tim and I used to buy at a health food store in Santa Cruz, CA - long before it became widely available in prepackaged boxes.  Newlyweds, we worked at Pinnacles National Monument - a jewel of a park tucked inland from the Monterey Bay coast.  You could buy the mix by the quart or gallon and the entire store smelled like chai on "brewing days".  It was strong - mine has grown a little milder over the years.   

A gallon of this mixture, stored in the frig, will make 2 gallons of chai tea (or more, if you like it milky).  I prefer chai this way; the recipe allows me to control the sweetness (which is often too much for me in coffee shops) and is certainly much less expensive than buying it prepared. 

Do take the time to collect the best quality spices you can for this recipe.  We buy ours in bulk at the Bozeman Community Food Coop or at Joe's Parkway but they can also be ordered on line. I put all the whole spices in a Ziploc bag (including the fresh ginger and the whole nutmeg) and smash it on a cutting board with my meat tenderizing hammer.  A perfect activity if you are frustrated with the weather.

 

Chai Tea Elixir

In a large pot, combine:

• 1 gallon of water
• 30 green cardamom pods
• 1 large piece (egg sized) of fresh ginger
• 24 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1 fresh nutmeg (or 1/2 tsp. ground)
• 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds

Bring to a boil, and simmer over low heat for 30-45 minutes.  Your house will start to smell wonderful.  (Even if you have baby ducks living on your back porch.)

Remove from heat and add:

• 1/2 cup loose black tea leaves

Seep for 7-10 minutes. Add:

• 1 cup honey (more or less, taste to decide)

• 1 tsp. vanilla (you can also use a bean, but it's sooo expensive..save the bean  for baking and use a good quality extract here)

Let cool and pour into your clean container.  This will keep in the refrigerator for a month or so.  To serve mix with equal parts of milk (soy, dairy, rice - whatever you like) and, if needed, add more honey.  If you want to get really fancy, you can top with some foamed milk and put in a cinnamon stick for fun. 

Enjoy the last gasp of winter.  Or the first warm days of spring.  If you are basking in the latter, however, don't bother sharing that news with me.  Grrrrr.