Meeteetse Museum

We visited a wonderful museum in Meeteetse Wyoming. They had on display mostly what you would expect to see in a rural western town’s museum. There were old farm and ranch equipment, forestry tools and historic firearms.

They had some of the exhibits

organized into rooms, like the

parlor and the kitchen.

They had old furniture and a collection of North American wild sheep.

But this I did not expect to see. In the back of the

place, across from the wild sheep stood an armless

mannequin wearing a security guard shirt.

No pants, just the shirt. Security in Meeteetse must not require all that much, just a dummy with a shirt!

Smile, or Else!

Nabisco is running a back-to-school promotion. The grocery store display holds their snack crackers and the text advises us to "Pack a Smile"

The display itself tells another story. This image is a very angry bus, the top lights (eyes) flash red, it appears to have frowning eyebrows and the down-turned "mouth" looks to be saying "touch my crackers and I'll run you over".

I would rather buy my munchies from a more friendly bus. Keebler says "grab your snack supplies," and their image says welcome, let's be friends!

Tale as Old as Time

Well, maybe not quite as old as time, but we purchased our dining room set in 1973. It was new and shiny and beautiful. We had a large table and 6 chairs with matching hutch. At that time our family consisted of Johnny, me, a 2 year old and a baby. The toddler cut teeth standing on the chairs and chewing on the backs of them. They both crawled under and over them and made forts under the table. The hutch served as backdrop for family photos. We moved several times, each time selecting a place to live that had room for our table, chairs and hutch. Two more children came along and many joys were shared around that old table.

The children grew up and the chairs grew old. The shiny wore off and they developed a tackiness that would adhear to skin. The beastly brutes were particularly fond of the the area just behind your knee.

Not long ago a friend took the chairs and stripped the finish, glued the rungs and stained them to match the set. He finished them with wax and they no longer bite, they are once again shiny and beautiful.

The Pickle Project

Not all pickles are created equal, or equally created in this case. There are pickles that you make by mixing vinegar, water, sugar, salt and flavorings; packing in jars and processing . Those are good.
There are also pickles made by fermentation. Cucumbers sit in a bucket of salt water and flavorings and form their own vinegar. That is what I have brewing in the kitchen right now. We will know the results in 3 weeks.

Speaking of fermentation, that is what happens to cabbage to make sauerkraut. It has gone very well and will be served tonight with Polish sausage. Shredded cabbage, water, salt and three weeks are all it takes to make sauerkraut.

Slowly Wiping out the Paper

I don't know if it is environmental or economic,
but the toilet paper tube is shorter than it was before.
















Yellowstone Park has gone green and removed the center from the soap.

Magical Kitchen English Muffin Recipe

1 package dry yeast ¼ cup warm water 1 cup milk, scalded 3 Tbs butter room temp 2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt 5 to 5 ½ cups flour 1 egg room temp Cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water, whisk and set aside
In a large bowl add milk, butter, sugar, salt, and 3 cups flour. Blend. If this mixture is warm and not too hot for the yeast add the dissolved yeast. Beat 150 strokes or 2 min with mixer. Beat in Egg
Spoon in remaining flour, ¼ cup at a time. When dough cleans sides of the bowl, turn onto floured surface and knead, till smooth and elastic
Lightly grease dough let it rise in mixing bowl. Cover and set in a warm place until double in size.
Punch down the dough knead for 30 seconds and set aside to rest for 10 minutes
Sprinkle work surface with cornmeal and turn the dough onto it roll out the dough until it is ¼ inch thick. The dough is very elastic and draws back when rolled, let it set a few seconds and roll again. Cut into 3 inch rounds, I use a large jar ring.
Knead the uneven pieces together roll out and cut more rounds, repeat till all dough is used.
Set rounds on a corn-mealed surface and let rise till they are ½ inch thick
Heat heavy griddle to hot. Bake the muffins for 2 minutes on each side, Reduce heat and bake 6 additional minutes on each side. Be careful not to scorch them;
Cool on metal rack.
Pull apart with tines of a fork and toast the insides.

These freeze well.

English muffins

My afternoon project, 39 English muffins. Some to eat fresh, some to freeze and some to share.

Estes, Etc

I was part of a group form Yellowstone Harmony attending Rocky Mountain Roundup in Estes Park. The Buzz, an international champion quartet taught a fabulous seminar. We learned a new song.
We had lunch at the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley has a wonderful history.
http://www.stanleyhotel.com/index.html
Connie and I went on the Ghost tour. The tour was very interesting, but we didn't see any ghost.

Saturday night Cody and Tina came and went to the final show with me.