Getting Settled

Sunday in the kitchen Pam and I still were working together and we really didn’t have that much to do. We still found 8 hours worth of baking, but a lot of it was prep for the next day, etc. I love not having a ton of guests here! I made blueberry turnovers all on my own and some poppy seed muffins. We plated the raspberry mousse cake, which I decorated with a rosette of whipped cream and chocolate shavings, as well as raspberry and chocolate sauces. We also made pizza dough, onion bread, pate fermente (a French bread), chocolate chip cookies, apple crisp, lemon olive oil sorbet, and Basque cake. Basque cake is really interesting because it’s a Spanish cake with very bready crust and a pastry cream filling. It’s a very very rich cake and apparently a favorite of ranch guests. I already feel like I’m learning a lot and am hopefully getting quicker on my feet.
Another shot of the ranch covered in snow

It’s been interesting trying to fill my afternoons, during which every other staff member is still working, but the nights are so far a lot of fun. A bit of pool is played in the very classic billiards room and many drinks are consumed – helpful for my 9’o’clock bedtime. Things are slow up here these days, but every day more staff members show up. Right now we’re about 20 at most, but at the height of the season we’re over 60! I better enjoy this relaxed atmosphere while I can. Pam took me on my first hike around Mountain Sky, up around Big Creek, which is in fact a big ole’ creek – perfect for floating when there aren’t a few inches of snow on the ground. This whole area is so beautiful and it seems like the hiking trails are endless. Its nice to finally be sitting down!

Nights at Mountain Sky vary. A couple days ago I went sledding for an hour with the general managers five year old son and Sunday night after a brief hiatus in my cabin to recuperate after 8 hours of baking I meet a bunch of the staff in the ranch bar, where the staff are spoiled by unbelievably cheap drinks, country music plays consistently, and guests and staff alike do line dances. Then last night it got pretty raucous when the DJ started playing Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas. Its Wild Women of the West week here at Mountain Sky, and these ladies like to party. (It’s pretty hilarious.) The wranglers are in high demand as dance partners – its like Dirty Dancing, but better.

In fact, I recently watched Dirty Dancing, one of many wonderful VHS tapes here at the staff lodge – (others include Michael and Grease… somebody obviously has a John Travolta inclination). Anyways… Dirty Dancing is about a summer resort, although in Maine and not in Montana, many things are very similar, including the fact that both states start with M. There are areas with large signs that read Staff Only, which of course Baby ignores. There are charades in the west lobby. We both have talent shows with dance numbers. The owner is a very wealthy man and the guests are very wealthy too, while the staff works seasonally to just get by. We have staff parties and dances and apparently all sorts of relationships, which everyone is aware of within two hours. Instead of dance teachers with sexy bods and black muscle tees, we have wranglers with sexy bods and five-gallon hats – who I am told frequently have flings with older lady guests. So as you can see, if you need a clearer picture of where I am living you should probably rent Dirty Dancing.

EQUALS...

Today was my first day alone in the bake shop, because Pam leads the all day hike once a week and today was that day. So I came in a little early and made muffins, some pastries, and the bread for dinner, which was, hilariously, challah, a bread I only make every Friday. So when I whipped out the six braider they were all so impressed... bwhahaha. It was a good day, I was nervous at first but then actually enjoyed being in the little space by myself and sort of in charge of when I do things and how I do them. I even stayed an extra hour to make some extra breakfast goodies, its nice to finally have a kitchen stocked with everything you need to play with ingredients. I freakin' love this job. After work I went on my first 6000 feet of elevation run, which was an experience. One I had to watch out for grizzlies, which were apparently spotted on the same trail I ran on, just yesterday and it was at 6000 feet! So a bit of nausea resulted, but dang is it beautiful out here.

Tomorrow is my first day off and I'm going to head 20 miles up the road to the grand ole' town of Livingston, population 5,000, to get some basics and maybe sit in a coffee shop with a different group of people. Woohoo! Love you all!