My Love Of Cooking Started With This Guy
This photo is of my dad, Glen, at our permitted outfitter camp in the Hilgard Basin of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness near Yellowstone Park. He was an incredible cook, man, and most definitely the best daddy a little girl growing up in Montana could ever ask to have. My love of cooking, the outdoors, and horses all originated with him. Our family of four was close-knit and loved to spend as much time in the woods as possible. Whether we went for a day hike, gathering firewood, drive down a backroad, or camping trip, the love for family and storytelling was always self-evident.
Dad got a job as a sheepherder in the Crazy Mountains outside Big Timber, Montana, to avoid hay fever in his mid-teens. Dad's summers were spent moving sheep around the mountains to graze on the high country grasses and protect them from predators. It was here he acquired the art of cooking over open campfires and elevating even the purest ingredients.
At the age of 12, our family moved to Ennis, Montana from Kalispell, Montana so dad could follow his passion of guiding guests on high-country pack trips for fishing and hiking in the summer; archery in the fall; and big game rifle season through Thanksgiving. My summer vacations quickly became wrangling horses, helping in camp, and the tradition of outdoor cooking passed down. Looking back, I had the most incredible adventures as a young girl to engage with diverse people, experience the outdoors, cook, entertain our guests, and create memories for them to return home.
Dad and I During A Day Ride
Love The Sunglasses!!
Our menus did not come from freeze-dried bags or boxes. Homestyle meals ranged from scrambled eggs with thick-sliced bacon, ribeye steaks with fully loaded baked potatoes, roasted chicken with a green salad, lasagna with french garlic bread, and every meal ended with dessert and smores or popcorn over the fire.
Freshly caught trout was a daily dish regardless of the meal and cooked to perfection with salt, pepper, and fresh lemon slices. You haven't tried fish like this as the glacial waters turn the meat a deep pink, and there is no fish taste, so more like high country salmon.
Additionally, dad converted an old barrel into a wood-burning stove with a flattop to bake pies and desserts. To this day, I can still make an incredible stack of pancakes, freshly baked apple pie, or my most requested dessert, Heidi Pie. Heidi Pie was a Bisquick crusted deep dish pie baked in a dutch oven buried in hot coals created with the guest's fresh-picked mountain huckleberries, gala apples, and topped with a cinnamon crumble.