Life in Wyoming with young children seems to be a series of immunity-building exercises. When we first arrived, Kirk had a bit of a cold, but that manifested more robustly with Iris, who ended up spending a few days home from school. Subsequently John has come down with the bug. But no one is blaming anyone—this is life with youngsters. And what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? We are on our second batch of chicken broth.
For our first dinner in our Kelly Lane rental house with Kirk and Iris, I was determined to make a good impression and made homemade mac ‘n’ cheese, their favorite dish. Kirk barely ate it, proclaiming it “too cheesy.” He prefers the Annie’s boxed version. I also made chicken fingers—chicken cutlet floured, egged, panko-crumbed, and then baked—which they enjoyed drizzled with honey, but they barely tasted the broccolini from the local farm that I steamed and then sauteed with soy sauce. Fortunately, they always enjoy all fruits, especially berries.
The next day we ran up to Jackson so John could be interviewed at the Jackson Hole News & Guide about his time at Ground Zero for the 25th anniversary remembrance of 9/11. But any trip to Jackson ends with a stop at Whole Foods, usually for fresh salmon. That night I used my favorite EatingWell recipe, and the kids did like that with bowtie pasta and sauteed zucchini. They didn’t try the zucchini—but Rose has her ways of sneaking that into their diet.
We biked home to receive Kirk who was coming for an overnight, our first sleepover in his old homestead in a year. He came home from a party tired and went to bed but was up at first light—about 7 am currently out here—and ready to make some pancakes.
We had an apple and Kirk liked the idea of apple cinnamon pancakes so he had fun grating it and adding it to the pancake batter that John stirred up. With some Canadian bacon on the side, it was a perfect breakfast to enjoy while watching cartoons (the real reason that he loves it over here so much!).
He played chess with John and we all did some yardwork until Rose reclaimed him for an early dinner and bed at the end of the weekend. But Monday, Iris was too sick to go to school so she came to our house. She was happy to have her lunch box to anchor her and to play until naptime.
Our friend Paula came by the next day for lunch and brought fresh horseradish root. We had fun peeling, chopping, and pulverizing the root in the Cuisinart. The slender roots did not have the eye-searing pungency of horseradish that I processed before in PA, but that had been a very large, thick root. These were more delicate and processed into a milder version that still had a sinus-clearing volatility once we added a bit of water, vinegar, and salt. I’ve since learned from a Wyoming farmer that the crop does not do well out here, and there is no demand for it.
We loved our Wyoming version of the delicacy and enjoyed it mixed into a dressing with mayo, plain yogurt, lemon juice, and Dijon. It was the perfect topping on our little bit-of-leftover salmon salad served with a bowl of Caldo Verde. Paula also brought a Pumpkin Bread with Brown Butter and Bourbon which made a sweet ending herb tea. (Paula reduces the amount of sugar in that sweet bread by half.)
The horseradish was the hit of the day and has brightened up many dishes—an egg salad, a cottage cheese toast, even dropped into the Caldo Verde. But it is spectacular in this Roasted Beet Labneh spread.
Over the weekend we took Kirk up to Jackson to see the Quickdraw art festival with artists working in the Town Square to finish a painting in 90 minutes. It was remarkable—but cold in the early morning so we ducked into Healthy Being Café for hot beverages.
That night I asked Kirk what he wanted for dinner while we walked the aisles at Whole Foods and he called for spaghetti and meatballs. I used John’s mom’s recipe for the meatballs, pretty much, and made my own marinara—only to have him prefer the plain noodles with grated cheese and no sauce. He never did try a meatball.
But Rose hit a home run with dinner on Sunday night—homemade pizza! Everyone could make their own. Kirk chose cheese, sauce, and some slivers of prosciutto, Iris was slightly fancier with cheese, sauce, prosciutto, and cherry tomatoes from their indoor garden. Rose was the creative one, with roasted garlic butter, cheese, and piles of shredded zucchini that had been salted and squeezed dry. It was delicious!
And there was even dessert. The bulk of the shredded zucchini went into a chocolate cake served with homemade vanilla ice cream. Mama knows how to get them to eat zucchini!
After dinner the kids played on the deck and I stepped out to observe the flat plain of the Palisades Dam, so low at this time of year, filled with sheep. What a sight!
Loved reading about your window of the world in Alpine Horseradish Pizza with shredded Swiss cheese and corn beef ??😅 😍