Headwaters of the Yellowstone Bed & Breakfast

Persistent Childhood Memory Cookies

I'm very proud of these cookies.  They are really the first cookies that I have ever created from scratch...although I must admit that I can't take full credit for the inspiration.  

Growing up in Yellowstone National Park meant that the best food we got came directly from our mother's ovens.  No bakery.  No Dunkin Donuts.  Just Mom's home cooking.  

My mom used to make these crispy little cookies that had butterscotch chips in them and, to give them extra crisp, Rice Krispies.  I distinctly remember eating them...but my mother has no memory of ever making them.  And certainly no recipe.   

So, I made them up myself.  They are a great salty sweet oatmeal cookie with an extra crisp crunch, toasted pecans and coconut and not too much butterscotch chip.  The Rice Krispie addition is a little weird - but it's crucial to the texture of the cookie and most people won't be able to guess what the secret is to all that crunch.  This is a cookie with some balance to it...don't overdue the butterscotch chips or it'll just be way too sweet.  I'm pretty sure that its as close as I'll come to a childhood memory cookie.  Thanks Mom.  

Crispy Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup pecan pieces (chopped fine)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 whole eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups AP flour

3 cups of QUICK oats (must be quick - not old-fashioned)

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1/2 to 3/4 cup butterscotch chips (go lightly here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place finely chopped pecans and coconut on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown.  (Don't forget about this - they burn easily!)  When toasted, set aside to cool completely.  Meanwhile, cream the butter, shortening and sugars until light in color - about 3 minutes.  Add eggs, vanilla, and orange peel and mix until well-combined.  

In another bowl, whisk together the salt, cinnamon, flour and baking powder.  Add all at once to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.  Add the quick oats and mix some more.  Lastly, add the cooled coconut/pecan mixture, the butterscotch chips and the Rice Krispies.  Mix just until combined - don't overdue the last mixing...I sometimes do this last part by hand.  

Drop onto a greased cookie sheet by the tablespoon and bake for 12-15 minutes until light golden brown. These cookies get crispier as they cool and are great with a cup of tea.   You can freeze the dough in a log and slice it very thinly to bake frozen.  

            My newest thrift store finds...

Cinnamon Sauce - An Apple Pie Revelation!

My younger brother has tolerated a lot from me over the years.  I fondly remember the days when my sister and I would corner him and try and kiss him in order to get him to hit us...and get in trouble for hitting.  I've not stopped giving him a hard time since.  That being said, he has GREAT taste in women.  His wife, Elaine, is such an inspiring person - dedicated to family and community and someone who I consider to be a very good example of what a servant of others should be.  She works in the Seattle area with a non-profit that provides both immediate help for people in need and follow up to make sure that their needs and dignity are preserved called Plateau Outreach Ministries.  On top of her good works, she is also a great aunt, an air traffic controller, an equestrian, a prolific reader and a lot of fun in general.  She's amazing and I love her.  (Good job, Bro!)

Elaine shared this recipe with me, telling me that I'll never order apple pie in a restaurant again because it would be missing this sauce.  Elaine and her sister learned to make it from their mother.  Elaine thought it originated with her grandmother...but her mom recently told her it was a Sunset magazine find from the 1960s.  Where ever it came from - it's a revelation!  I am NOT a huge fan of apple pie but it is my husband's favorite so we have it often.  This sauce elevated apple pie in my eyes!  It is completely worth the effort.  I'm already thinking of new things to pour it over.  And, it's true, I will never eat apple pie without it again. 

Cinnamon Sauce

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sherry
  
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
  

Combine cornstarch with a few tablespoons of water and set aside.  Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Stir in cornstarch mixture and boil until thick and clear - it will resemble a fragrant caramel sauce. 

Spoon over ice cream on top of apple pie and ENJOY! 

It's been a wonderful Mother's Day weekend so far.  It's a busy time - lots of planting wildflower seeds, getting garden plots ready (but not planted), cleaning off lawn furniture, replacing gas grills...finishing all the big things we thought we'd accomplish sooner.  

    
 
One thing I've been meaning to address is writing an environmental policy for our business.  We do all the basics - we use natural cleaners where possible, we recycle, we make a huge effort to purchase as much of what we use in the local area.  We grow our vegetables and herbs organically and we feed our chickens organic feed and lots of kitchen leftovers.  We plant native seeds and keep track of everything from erosion to grizzly bears.  In short, we take our job as guardians of this place very seriously.  As employees of Yellowstone National Park, we've spent our careers dedicating ourselves to the protection of the environment  and this doesn't quit once we walk through the doors of home. 

Several years ago we were under review by a large travel organization who we PAID  to be listed with.  (I'll give you a hint - First letter and last letter A, middle letter A),  Reviewing lodging is very lucrative business.  I find that many people aren't aware of their for-profit status. During our annual review and were told that we needed to replace the plastic hangers with wood ones and that the lamps in our rooms were outdated.  When I asked if there were any suggestions offered about what I should do with the plastic hangers and the lamps, our reviewer suggested THE LANDFILL. 

The truth is that I don't like plastic hangers and, once they are in need of replacing, I'll definitely be looking for wood ones. We've made it a policy not to just throw things away.   Towels that are getting frayed are offered as swim towels for Boiling River swimmers and, eventually, they are cut into rags and used and used again.  Sheets that are too worn to use make great coverings for the early vegetable garden at night, clean the windows and make great playhouses on the back of the lilac bush come spring.  Teacups and mismatched china are in use here - as sugar dishes or cookie plates...and, when in pieces, as mosaic stones for the garden.  Everything that is usable goes to our local good will - which turns over $15,000 a year of profit back into the community.  Even our dump has a section for things that somebody else might need.  When its 90 miles to town, nothing is discarded lightly. 

   

 Don't get me wrong.  When a Montana girl needs retail therapy she's as likely to find it as the next gal.  For me, it is the Saturday yard sale or thrift store that calls my name. Today I thought about how sturdy the chairs I was refinishing for the Mountainview cabin were ($100 for 6 chairs and a table at the local goodwill).  I thought about how much I loved the wood chickens, the cast iron grates, and the trout print I found at yard sales this morning.  

 And I thought about how good it made me feel to give these old, charming things a new home.   So if you come for a visit - forget the landfill, ignore the plastic hangers.  Ask me about the great deal I got on the wooden chickens! 

"We are not to throw away those things which can benefit our neighbor. Goods are called good because they can be used for good: they are instruments for good, in the hands of those who use them properly." Clement of Alexandria

Anthony Bourdain in Montana!

I'm a big food reader.  Cookbooks, magazines and (especially of late) food writing.  Anthony Bourdain is definitely one of my favorite reads - from the Kitchen Confidential to The Nasty Bits, I appreciate his dry sense of humor and vivid descriptions of both food and the people who make food interesting.

photo by the Travel Channel, LLC  (He did, by the way, catch a fish!)

To my great chagrin, when Anthony visited our area recently, he didn't stop by for a bacon cheddar scone or a cinnamon roll.  Sigh. He did manage to capture our little piece of Montana beautifully in the current episode of his excellent show, No Reservations, on the Travel Channel.  Tim and I both thought that it was one of the most beautifully filmed television shows on Montana we've seen - and the interviews were both insightful and charming. The only downside is that he highlighted the excellent food at the 2nd Street Bistro- our family's personal favorite restaurant in the state.  Hope we can still get a reservation...

Tony's blog is also worth a good look - this guy enjoys life and the people he meets in a way that I can really relate to.  Lots of energy, a sincere love of people, lots of laughs...and lots of great food.  (Granted, I'm a 40ish year old housewife and he's a former heroin addict and world renowned chef with a very rich vocabulary...but I usually can relate to his point of view!) 

We heard that Martha Stewart was in the park last week...but I'm a little too afraid of her to want to serve her breakfast!  Tony, however, has a standing invitation if he's ever in the neighborhood! 

DON'T MISS IT!