Sunday, August 25, 2013

2013 Western Trip – Pastys and The Dixon’s

As usual, I’d done a little web research for our trip and discovered that a common food item in Montana is a pasty (pronounced pass- tee), which is a baked meat pie and a place to get them is Louie’s in Deer Lodge, near where we were staying.

When we went to supper at the Broken Arrow Steakhouse and casino (even the gas stations have casinos) in Deer Lodge, we discovered that Louie’s was combined with the Deer lodge Bakery next door to the restaurant.  So while the girls slept the next morning, Sweetie Pie and I drove down to Deer Lodge to visit the bakery.

I walked through the door and took a big step back in time because it looked as it must have a 100 years ago, except the display cases were filled with some of the most gorgeous baked sweets I’d ever seen, but I did not want to be so obvious as to go back to the car to fetch my camera.  One of the things I really liked about the place was the man who followed me in was greeted with “do you want your usual today George?”

I bought a loaf of French bread, a giant apple fritter for Madison (Bev & Pat ate most of it) and a mixed case of beef and chicken pastys ($2.33 ea. by the case vs. $4.50 individually).  They apparently only make them every so often as they were frozen, which was our plan for most of them anyway.

A month or so before leaving on our trip, I had begun reading several RVer blogs, especially full timers, who were traveling around the areas we would be visiting to gain from their experience.  One of them was “Where Are The Dixon’s Today”, written by Sandie about the RV life of her and husband Jim.

Since I knew they were spending the summer in Helena, I asked if they would be interested in a meet-up to which they agreed and we met for breakfast at the Avon Café in Avon, MT which was on our way to Kalispell and about a 30 mile drive for them (a nothing drive in MT).   It was the perfect little hole-in-the-wall place with great breakfast food.

Since Sandie was running low on blog material and my camera (or me) was having an issue, we agreed she would post about the event.  I will say that once again I’ve been rewarded by making the effort to meet fellow bloggers and RVers as the Dixon's are a totally delightful couple that we hope to see again.  Please pop on over to Sandie’s blog (link above) for the rest of the story – she advise we should put gravy on our pastys and there will surely be a post about them in my future.

Since her post is already up, I’m going to skip ahead and post this one out of order and I’ll go back and get the other one tomorrow.

Photo best if enlarged by clicking on it - I'm getting really bad about forgetting to take meal restaurant shots even with Bev's phone..

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/23/2013 event date

11 comments:

  1. I'm not familiar with a pasty, so I'm off to read Sandie's post. Louie's sounds like a great place and one you might have missed had you not known about it. Looks like planning in advance has really paid off Larry.
    Sam

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  2. I love finding little places like that. And I've never heard of a Pastys. I'll look forward to her blog post about your meetup. Have a great time with Vickie today.

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  3. Sure hope you enjoy those pasties. We're going to go pick ours up a little later this week after we clean out the freezer a little bit. It was soooo good to meet up with you guys. What a great time. Definitely looking forward to another visit. Hope all the repairs went great.

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  4. Looks like more fun on the road. Can't wait to see the other posts, I'm power blogging today!

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  5. If you want pasties, you need to visit the U.P. of Michigan; they are pervasive there. Yummy.

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  6. Reading about this bakery brought back memories of the bakery in my hometown. The aroma when walking through the door was heavenly. I agree that meeting other bloggers (we don't have an RV) is a wonderful experience.

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  7. Larry, Since Pasties are a staple in the UP of Michigan...and Michigan is my home state...I was hoping for a picture of a nice pasty or two! Gravy does make them better but I'm usually just happy with ketchup... Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  8. You guys are having a blast! The stuffed meat pastries are no doubt delicious. A box will probably not be enough (smile). I think you should try to recreate the recipe when you get back home!

    Velva

    P.S. Thanks for your comment. Many beehives are shipped west to California to pollinate the almond groves, and vegetable farms in California. I have never seen a truck filled with beehives but, when you are traveling that far west it is probably seen often. Thanks for sharing it with me.

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  9. I've heard of pastys --but have never had one. When we were out west, we ordered buffalo/bison ALOT... Delicious.

    Glad you met up with some blog friends... I left Sandie a comment. sounds like they have a fabulous life up there in Montana--and all over!!!!

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  10. Your header photo is spectacular, Larry. There is so much of the country I haven't seen and I am enjoying your posts immensely. I love small town bakeries and try to seek them out when I travel. I'm clicking over to visit Sandie now to check out her blog and learn a little bit about Montana.

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  11. Your are such a great guy to do meet-ups. That's one of the best parts of blogging. Montana - wow - the thought of all that outdoor wonderfulness makes my heart go pitter pat!

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