Life is "Dolce" at Missoula's Caffe Dolce

A Sunday drive to get some groceries turned into a mini road trip to Missoula. Looking for sustenance, we gathered intel from the Missoula Independent's "Best of 2009"  that guided us to Caffe Dolce for Sunday brunch.

Tucked away in one of Missoula's quiet older neighborhoods, C.D.'s impressive building welcomed us with soaring ceilings and handsomely finished hardwood tables. A case of smartly presented baked goods tempted us before we got a chance to look over the small yet thoughtful menu.

Being Sunday, brunch was offered and we chose two varieties of the egg dishes -- one with mushrooms, leeks, and gruyere, the other with olives, feta, and scallions. We also thoroughly enjoyed a side dish of potatoes with pancetta and gruyere. Everything was yummy, including the grilled baguette slice that rounded out our plates.

Always the fan of a properly poured latte, I smiled when the barista presented me with a perfectly textured latte in the requested 8 oz. size. 

Having no room in our bellies (nor our budget) to sample the lunch offerings, we will have to look forward to that meal on a return trip.

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Used Cows: Stacking Them Deep and Selling Them Cheap...

...in Drummond, Montana.

 

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Bokeh Me Beautiful

A pine cone as seen by a Nikon F90X on the Drinking Horse Mountain trail in Bozeman:

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Beware of the Flying (and Friendly) Goats on Drinking Horse Mtn.

No, really. I am not kidding. Actual photo, taken today, Drinking Horse Mountain trail. The one in the air is named Rocco. Penelope is his friend. Not my names...it's on their tags.

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Machaca Tacos with Pasilla Chiles and Cotija Cheese

I will never forget the first time I had true Sonoran-style Machaca in Phoenix, Arizona. Crispy and tender at the same time, Machaca is typically beef that has been dried, shredded, and then sauteed with onions or chiles. Tonight I made a riff on Machaca with leftover pot roast. I shreddded the beef, dabbed it dry with a paper towl, and sauteed it in very hot oil to get those sought after crispy bits.

Once the beef was almost finished, I tossed in some strips of pasilla chiles that I had roasted earlier. I garnished the tacos with fresh guacamole and chopped cilantro.

The crispy-tender beef combined with the earthy heat of the peppers and the salty cotija cheese made these some of the best tacos I have made in some time.

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Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

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Well Poured Lattes Make Me Happy

I tweaked my grinder settings last week and it is amazing how much a tiny adjustment in grind size and tamping pressure makes in the flavor of the finished product.

Coffee: Crema Roasting Espresso. 

Milk: Whole.

Status: Consumed.

 

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Emergency SFO Food Flashback

Suddenly, it is winter in Bozeman. While I am actually kind of excited about the whole skiing/frosty/winter thing, I thought I would allow myself some indulgent reminiscence into last month's trip to San Francisco and Marin County, California.

Ahhh, lunch at the Slanted Door. How about a Vietnamese Crepe and an order of Prather Ranch Beef Carpaccio with roasted peanuts, rau ram, and fresh lime juice? Sounds good to me...

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Taking to the (Air) Waves

I have been hoping to cross "radio DJ" off my career to-do list for some time, and thanks to our local community radio station, KGLT, I am taking steps to make that effort an official one.

I have begun a seven-week apprenticeship and I will sit in with Tony Sacco on his weekly Thursday night jazz show from 6-9pm.

With any luck, at some point I will have my own show from midnight to 3am, every other Tuesday, broadcasting to 3rd-shifters and paranoid insomniac loners. If you are not a paranoid insomniac loner, lying awake in a cat-like state of readiness, you may just want to tune into Tony's show on Thursday evenings instead.

If you find yourself outside the Bozone, you can stream the station live through iTunes, here:

http://kglt.net/streaming-audio/streaming_audio.html

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Oct. 5: Tasty Turns and Few Rocks at Bridger Bowl

When I woke up to nearly six inches of October snow on my deck this morning, I knew what I was going to do with my day off: go to Bridger, walk up hill, attach skis to feet, and finally, attempt do all of this while avoiding injury to either ski or skier.

Mission UH-complished.

I have had far less prime early season skiing over the years. As it turns out, the snow that fell one week ago was acting as a sort of mini-base for the fresh fluff that fell overnight.  The real (and lets be honest, the ONLY) accumulation starts above the quad or Virginia City lifts. I would estimate that there is 14"+ on Pierre's higher slopes. 

Thanks to those far more hard core than myself, I followed a well-pronounced bootpack to the top of Pierre's Knob. On the way down, I kept things mellow as I linked sleepy turns between the weeds on Bridger's gentle (and nicely mowed) upper mountain groomers, always minding the "pillows" which I am sure concealed anything but.

Thanks to the plow that went up the Deer Park Road, I was able to ski the plow schwag all the way to my car. 

Sweet.

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