Tn'A: Missoula, MT.

10/26 Missoula, MT

Our stay in Montana was with one of Adam’s best Friends from high school, David, and his wife Deidad and their new 4 month old Baby Sophia. They have a lovely home just outside the west side of town. Sophia was just a ball to be with, a very happy baby. She is huge for her age, around 20 pounds, but not fat at all, just large. I guess she might grow up to be a tall woman, just like mommy and daddy (well the tall part anyways about daddy). We each took turns entertaining Sophia, she is at the age that she loves stimulation and personal interactions, which is sometimes a challenge to keep up with. Adam is so great with children; he had Sophia entertained during most of the visit.

David and Deidad are doing well. David was recovering from a broken wrist injury over the summer, and they seem to be both adapting well to parenthood.

David and Deidad

We cooked dinner the first two night, which is always fun- roasted veggies and Adam’s black bean, spinach and tempeh enchiladas the first night, then lasagna the second night with some of David’s pork sausage. Yum.

Mostly we hung out on our stay, running a few errands, helping with the baby, catching up on the computer. It was funny watching 3 grown adults trying to get Sophie into the car carrier seat in the parking lot of Costco.

Friday while we were out shopping, we came across some liquid rennet, used in making cheese. We explained to Deidad what it was used for, and decided to make some mozzarella just for fun!

This time the cheese came out great, unlike our previous experience where we ended up with a soft spread-able cheese. Of course this time we actually followed the instructions.

First you warm the milk slightly, and add citric acid to curdle it, then continue warming, and then add the rennet. Let is sit for about 5 minutes, until the curds have solidified, then separate out the curds and whey.

Then you heat the curds (we used a microwave) and knead them like dough, working out the liquid and developing a smooth, shiny texture to the cheese.

And Voila! You have mozzarella. We probably got about a pound out of the gallon of milk, so it is not exactly cost savings over buying the cheese in the store, but it is a whole lot fresher!

Adam and David did launch into a project on Saturday, building a bed frame for the guest room we were staying in. They did a great job with just a couple of 2x4’s and 2x6’s.

almost done

Navigating it into place

Tony tried once again to find the slow leak in the air-mattress with soapy water, but no luck. We may end up picking up a new one at some point in the trip to save Tony’s back. Nothing like waking up in the morning flat on your back on the ground!

Thankfully we were on a mattress the whole time, and it was even off the ground by the time we left! (not that being on the ground was any problem, mind you).

Before

After

On Sunday we went for a walk at a nearby park by the Bitterroot River, taking Sophia for a test drive in her new 4-wheel drive stroller.

The Bitterroot River.

Even though they’ve had hard frost in Missoula for weeks now, we still got to enjoy a lot of fall color and even a few flowers peeking out of the grass. The weather was perfect, a crisp 55 to 60 degrees, great for a walk!