The Cowboy Poet, BBQ, and Tofu Peanut Noodles

Last night was pure magic for me. I will be the first to mock the great state of Idaho (I-da-ho. No. U-da-ho.), but one thing is certain—it is majestic. The descriptions beautiful or pretty just do not do it justice. Neither do stark, elegant, lovely. I like majestic. One place that shows the many facets of Idaho is Silver Creek Preserve. Mountains, slow-moving rivers, wildlife, plains. Absolutely breath-taking. And that was where I was last night. The Nature Conservancy had a staff retreat and I was invited (my cuz, Eli works for TNC). 

Eli made my favorite quick dish—yummy hot or cold. Noodles with fried tofu and peanut sauce. All you do is make the sauce, cook a package of the noodle of your choice (we chose spag), and then got a package of tofu and sauteed it until golden. Mix it all together and there you go!

But back to the night. The food was great. BBQ's always are. Burgers (enough to have the double meat, which I went for), hot dogs, elk sausage, and all the best sides. I topped my burger with the scrumptious coleslaw Nancie brought to the table. And we got to finish it off with some excellent lemon cake from Stephanie and Heidi. I even went in for the second piece. Awesome.

Ernie Sites was the man of the hour. Singing classic songs, song writing, yodeling, poetry, storytelling, picking on a guitar, picking

 on a mandolin, AND picking on a banjo. I honestly can't put it into words - it was so enjoyable. Just a magic night.  I wasn't the only non-TNCer there, but they made me feel part of their night and it was just hella fun. Thanks Ernie, the entire staff of TNC's Hailey office and SC preserve team for such a great memory!

I Dig the Pig

Ok. I can't help it. I LOVE pork. Just about everything that comes from a pig - bacon, chops, roasts, tenderloins, rinds, even corn dogs (read: NOT pickled parts, or hot dogs. Only when the dog is covered in a cornbread-like substance and then fried). I search the web and have found such treasures at the bacon explosion, porkgasm, the many bacon-styled gifts, and my favorite present to give—The Bacon of the Month Club (Just ask my brother-in-law—or anyone that saw the glimmer of excitement in his eye on Christmas morning—it rocks the house.).

So last night was incredible as I had friends over for a Porkfest of sorts. The pork chops were covered with a spice rub and some served with a raspberry chipotle sauce; and the pork ribs were grilled and then glazed with BBQ sauce. So hella good. One thing I do need to note is how much longer ribs are to cook than any kind of pork without a bone. They were good but a little pink inside, which freaks me out. Just be sure your pork reached over 180 degrees for a couple of minutes and the meat should be ok, even if it isn't totally white. Always good to know the rules of cooking meat.

I have no recipe here as you can check out some pork ideas from my Memorial 'All Things Pork' Day post. I just wanted to share my love of pork (and this, in no way, compares to my deep affection and devotion to bacon—which I will blog about a lot). Thanks Eli and JHT for a good night, and late arrivals Steph and Lacey made it fun!

My new plan

ok. I feel like I have been a little 'blog happy' lately. I write a blog for Sun Valley Magazine - www.sunvalleymag.com - and I have been copying it here. Now I love to share my recipes - but this space isn't as conducive for huge long posts. So I am going to work at doing at least one quick blog a day - to share my love of food/the things I have tried/and what I am eating now. And I will alert everyone when my new SVM blogs are up.