We don’t want to wish a beautiful Montana summer away, but we are already planning for one of our favorite celebrations of the year—the farm-to-table festival we call Autumn Harvest Weekend. When the hay is baled and stacked, the pumpkins are picked and kids are back in school, we’ll take a weekend to appreciate Western Montana’s rapid and abundant growing season. Here are three reasons why we can’t
wait for October to arrive. Read more…
As Valentine’s Day approaches, our bartenders in the Saloon and Great Room aren’t content to just chill the champagne in anticipation of the celebration. They have been busy creating a seasonal cocktail menu that will give guests a taste of winter in Montana with Big Sky spirits and local ingredients. Just like Executive Chef Drage’s menus, the cocktail menus change frequently, highlighting the holidays and activities that we enjoy. Read more…
“Eat, Drink and Be Merry” might be the perfect recipe for a good holiday party. It’s certainly how we like to celebrate the season. In anticipation of hosting and sponsoring the Granite County Festival of Trees in just a few weeks’ time, our culinary team has shared some winter comfort food recipes. They believe that the key to a memorable celebration is putting a lot of care into what you serve and then taking the time to savor it.
If you can’t join us at The Ranch for Christmas or New Year’s, we hope you’ll enjoy these delicious recipes and use them to channel a country Christmas wherever you celebrate this year. Happy Holidays!
As with each of The Ranch’s seasonal celebrations, such as Thanksgiving and Midnight in Montana, our staff anticipated that this year’s Autumn Harvest Celebration would be a memorable gathering of friends and family. As always, guests would experience grand luxury, Western adventure and the finest Ranch cuisine.
And, for months, we were all excited to welcome special guest, Grammy Award-winning vocalist LeAnn Rimes, for she would be treating everyone to a live acoustic performance on Saturday night. Read more…
If you’ve never been given the nearly impossible task of trying to book an ideal family vacation, then we envy you. It’s hard to please everyone, especially when you throw in grandparents, teenagers and infants. With more than 30 different activities available throughout the year, (and that list is growing all the time), family ranch vacations in Montana can be a horseback riding vacation, a relaxing mountain retreat, an angler’s paradise or a romantic getaway at the same time. We have a plethora of activities that cater to individuals, small groups and kids’ preferences, but this week, we want to focus on some of the features that turn a group experience, like dining, into an unforgettable family moment.
Montanans take pleasure in foraging for seasonal ingredients. Guests who visited us in the spring might have enjoyed cuisine filled with flavorful morel mushrooms, gathered in the local forest. Now, the Flathead cherries have just been picked and huckleberry season is upon us. The recent heat wave means that the berries arrived early and will disappear fast thanks to foraging animals—bears and humans alike.
If you’re on the hunt for these elusive berries and you find a berry-rich hill, it’s a good idea to pick as many as you possibly can. We suggest reserving some for fresh uses, while divvying up the majority between preserves and freezer containers so that the sweet grape-like smell can linger in your kitchen year-round.
There are several types of huckleberries, but the two types that grow in our region of the Rockies are the black huckleberry, or Vaccinium membranaceum, and the blue Cascade huckleberry, with the fitting name of Vaccinium deliciosum.
Over the past 10 years, glamping has moved up the ranks of the travel world. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s a primer on this growing trend. While it might seem like a silly word, these hybrid concepts are nothing new to the English language. (For example, “Automobile” combines the Greek word for self with Latin word for moveable.)
Glamping is the combination of the words “glamour” and “camping.” Although backpackers will scoff at the idea that camping can be upgraded, many people who have slept on the ground for a night or two might admit that they prefer some small luxuries, like a mattress, a shower or a chef cooking them a delicious, filling meal prepared after a day of hiking.
A seating area in a canvas cabin at The Ranch at Rock Creek Read more…
Last Tuesday, I interviewed Katy Harjes—who raises certified organic, grass fed and finished lamb with her husband Rich outside of Bozeman—for an upcoming post by Wyatt Nelson & myself about their annual Willow Spring Ranch Sheep Shearing Party. The Harjes’ are smack in the middle of lambing season, so Katy & I spoke on the phone between her walks to the pasture to check on laboring ewes and various bottle feedings. Though my family has attended a Willow Spring shearing, I mentioned that my kids had never bottle fed a baby animal. “Bring them out!” encouraged Katy, who is passionate about increasing awareness of sustainably grown, organic lamb and loves sharing hands-on ranch experiences with children. Read more…
Luck is a luxury few of us take for granted—whether you believe that luck comes by eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve or by a conscious decision to make your own luck in the coming year. Most cultures believe that the New Year should start by getting together with friends and family, and we agree that it’s only right to recognize that the earth’s revolution around the sun holds enough gravitas to warrant a special weekend of celebration and relaxation.
At The Ranch at Rock Creek, we celebrate Midnight in Montana with a special dinner, live music, fireworks and plenty of libations in The Buckle Barn. Guests spend the day in The Spa at Rock Creek, downhill skiing at a powder-filled Discovery Ski Area or skating on the pond. The winter activities continue as long as the snow does. All our winter stays include downhill skiing and snowboarding.
Our corner of Montana is ready for the winter holidays. We love the winter so much, we’re celebrating it with three curated specials.
December ushers in snowshoeing treks, UTV tours and sleigh rides. In between activities, there are opportunities to enjoy our “winter warmers.” These hot drinks quench a cocktail-hour thirst, and they heat the body thoroughly, so you won’t miss a herd of migrating elk or a silvery sunset.
