Seasons.








Things have changed.  Here it is Summers Pass.  A name-place, by Native American account.  It is place as much as it is summer.   I reside only to see the spring.   I have come to love again.  This is dangerous as it is exciting.

Mr. Montana my friends East call me, my students call me Mr. Holtzman.  I am Scott.  My name-place resides on 10.2 acres of Montana land in the Three Forks area.  I do not hunt, I garden.  I am mostly interested in plants.  I'll take a fish if I am able, and have the right permit.  I do not 'game' yet I have had several proteins placed before me.

I am a Chef now.  It's my Master Status.  I did not even consider my title before moving here, people ask about ascribed or assigned - think I was given this, in part, I perfected my craft by Fire.

Why I am No Longer Concerned What I Eat or Wear

Writing this I think back upon 5 years of my past.  I lived in NY.  I was not from Montana and I was married.  I challenged many things, and I was happy.  Happy to be married to such a beautiful person who promised me security and happiness - for better or for worse.

When 'worse' happened by her estimation, she got gone.  People call it the big "D" ~ stupid thing to say, unless you are apart of the culture of today.  If you are not, you call it "Drought".  Drought of reason, promise, happiness or hope.  Contract vs. conduct of the one who breaks a 'Vow'.

Shattered & broken ~ I got gone, geographically that is, I moved to Montana.  Leaving it all to her, if she wanted it, surely she did not like the dog as she said 'give it to the 'pound', good thing we did not have children as she would have fostered them to adoption. I drove across the pond as I put it, or Bozeman, MT.  Left job, career and family.  All destroyed by the grenade hand of her Big "D".

The dog, Digger - he's still with me.  Nine years old now, showing some age in the past year.  He has a Viszla companion now - nine month old Viszla (female) named Aspen, adopted from the local shelter here in Bozeman where I volunteer.

I've begun new studies at MSU Campus this year, Nutrition: Sustainable Food Systems & Bio-Energy.  I now hold land here, apart from my home and am working on a small off grid cabin in which to retire to ....... life is good.

I have learned this through the scripture in Job 6:10.  Today, I do not worry for the worst a person can inflict upon another has been done to me today, short of the removal of my physical life.  Life is so much more than this though, for the wise, it is eternal.   

(Easy) Egg Cream

(Easy) New York Egg Cream Recipe

Approximately 1/2 cup cold whole milk*
1 cup bottled seltzer
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup**

* Skim or 1% milk won't foam as well

** Fox's U-Bet Chocolate Syrupis used in New York.


Pour 1/2 inch of cold milk into a tall soda glass. Add seltzer or club soda to within 1 inch of the top of the glass; stir vigorously with a long spoon (this will cause it to become white and bubbly with a good head of foam).

Very gently pour 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup slowly down the inside of the glass; briskly stir with a long spoon only at the bottom of the glass where the chocolate sits. The resulting drink should have a dark brown bottom and a 1-inch high pure white foam top (if you mix it too much, the foam disappears).

NOTE: Do not let Egg Cream sit for a long period of time-5 minutes or more; it will go flat.

Makes 1 servings

A Better Way of Gardening?

Does anyone know the real reason people garden? Why do you want to garden and grow vegetables? Most surveys show that the majority of people who garden say they want that special homegrown flavor and the satisfaction of growing their own vegetables.

Others grow their own food to save money, and still other people garden just to have a nice hobby that provides pleasure and pride. The pleasures of gardening are many - getting outdoors, exercising, putting your hands in the soil, growing things, and the special pride of accomplishment that comes with the harvest. Many gardeners want to experience the feeling of being self-sufficient or at least partly so.

Also, they want to have some control over what they eat - particularly to have fresh wholesome food that doesn't contain additives or preservatives, that isn't contaminated by pesticide residues, and that hasn't been grown from genetically engineered seed. All of these are good reasons for gardening. It is truly one of America's most popular leisure activities. Of course, for homesteaders and other people who garden on a large scale, it's a way of life and a means of subsistence.

Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work

Cherry Season

It's nice to enjoy food in season, simple, fresh foods that make a day special in remembrance. Here's a recipe that will make a simple moment one of fond food memories for years to come.

Cleveland Heights Cherry Pie

12 ounce flour
8 ounces butter
4 ounces ice water

5 cups sour cherries, pits removed

1-1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn starch

Cut the butter into the flour, mix in the water just till a dough forms (don't over work it). Chill the dough. Roll out three quarters of the dough to fill a pie dish, save the rest for the lattice crust.

Combine the cherries, sugar and cornstarch and toss. Pour the mixture into your pie shell, lay your lattice over this and pinch the edges to form an appealing rim. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 and continue baking for another hour or until the filling is thick and bubbling.

This will make fans out of people who didn't even like cherry pie before tasting this simple pie.

Days Like Theses.....

It all starts with an itch......, and one begins to scratch, but you can't quite reach it, for a time you remain asleep. After all sleeps good, and when you've not slept good for months, sleep means everything. Then you wake.


"Cultivate the habit of early rising. It is unwise to keep the head long on a level with the feet."



For my own purpose, I have remained asleep, as a form of hibernation. Bears do it, and well. Yet, they do wake, to explore the dawn and see the landscape forlorn and with distant wonder wake to see a day without the dawn, but twilight and a night come long.



Rome is burning, but for how long?

Passings

Children should be given the chance to play instruments, to sing.

Luciano Pavarotti

Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy. His father was a baker and his mother worked in a cigar factory. As a young man, Pavarotti sold insurance to pay for voice lessons. Listen Here.

The great singer was also known as an equestrian expert, organizing one of the international show jumping circuit's most important competitions, the Pavarotti International, in Modena. Coinciding with that event, Pavarotti also staged an annual charity concert, Pavarotti and Friends. A gifted singer who shared his voice with the world, Farewell.