My love of cooking comes from watching my mother cook night after night as I grew up. We never had to microwave TV dinners or fend for ourselves for a meal.

She had dozens of cooking magazines that she would try recipes from. We would try a new one almost every night. When I was 7 or 8 she started letting me help her, even if it was just stirring the pasta.

As I got older, she would let me find my own recipes and make dinner myself. It was a couple of years ago when I decided I wanted to go to culinary school, so I enrolled at The Culinary Institute of Montana at FVCC, and that is how I ended up here, writing this for all of you.
One of everyone’s favorite meals as a kid is macaroni and cheese, and I was no exception. Honestly, this classic is still my favorite. I’m not talking about the boxed stuff – no, not the stuff with the packet of cheese powder.

 

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Last Thursday afternoon, local artist Jennifer Li was putting the finishing touches on her preparations for that day’s art class. Her class, kids ranging in age from 5 to teens, was going to draw ducks.

It might sound simple, drawing the familiar waterfowl, but this exercise was more complex than simply tracing the outline of a duck. Li, having set up taxidermied ducks for the budding artists to study, also had pages outlining a duck’s anatomy and bone structure lying on the desks.

These kids were going to learn to draw ducks from the inside out, to think about why their skulls are shaped the way they are, and that a duck’s back slopes the way it does because the vertebrae are built that way.

 

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Pretty soon we will be in the heart of grilling season and sometimes, for your family’s grill master, that means hours of standing in front of a hot grill in the summer heat.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is almost no place I’d rather be. But sometimes you need to get your grilling fix and you just don’t have the time or the energy for a couple of hours behind the flames.

One of my favorites in this situation is flank steak, and to me nothing goes better with grilled steak than chimichurri sauce.

 

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COLUMBIA FALLS – Edd Kuropat is a lot like the wood and glass he uses in his art – they both started out with one purpose and now they’re being carved into something totally different.

That’s because Kuropat, 60, never meant to be an artist. Just 18 months ago, he didn’t consider himself one. But this month he has two gallery openings in Kalispell and Whitefish.

“This is all new,” he said in his studio north of Columbia Falls. “I’ve never had an art degree or took an art class.”

 

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Some people are surprised to hear that I had a strong love for venison even before I moved to Montana.

One of my older brothers hunted in areas of Western New York and was usually very successful.

One of the first dinners my brother cooked for me when I moved to Montana was venison parmigiana. It is so simple, but the flavors are incredible - it will turn anyone into a venison lover. Eating game, whether it’s deer, elk, moose or buffalo, is an acquired taste. Personally, I prefer the taste of deer that graze in mountain fields.

 

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Like many in the Flathead Valley, local playwright JeAnna Wisher has experienced the ripple effects that come with having family and friends serve in military service – the pride, the fear, the waiting, and the hope for successful reintegration once the tour is over.

Though she’s not in the military, Wisher wanted to contribute to the conversation about America’s relationship with war, and the potential avenues for peaceful conflict resolution.

And with her extensive background in theater, the answer was to write a play, Wisher said.

 

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Spring is an inspirational time of year. We set goals, deep clean, and rub the winter hibernation out of our eyes.

We watch trees bud and grass return to its shade of green color.

Along with spring comes the anticipation of favorite green vegetables coming into season.

 

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If television ratings, movies tickets and book sales are any indication, most people enjoy digging into a good murder mystery, following the whodunit and formulating their own theories before the detective eventually nabs the killer.

Fortunately for those who are inclined to a little armchair investigation, the Conrad Mansion Museum will offer a chance to get up off the couch and put those inquisitive skills to work during its 12th annual Death by Chocolate fundraiser.

The fundraiser takes place April 26 and 27 at 7 p.m., and will offer guests wine, hors d’oeuvres, music and two chocolate fountains to enjoy while they work to solve the evening’s murder mystery show.

 

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