Talk of the West

4th Of July

Courtany — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:02:58 +0000

Howdy! I am hoping all of you guys have found yourself well over this 4^th of July weekend. The Cream of the West family had an array of events planned for this weekend: we had our annual 4^th of July Rodeo which means the cowboys filled this town in no time; our parade which is always surprising; and our breakfast at the Midtown, which is our only grocery store in town. I know that your mouth might be dropping if you live in an actual city but please contain your shock.

Reason for the Fundraiser

The Rodeo is always a good time no matter if you are a cowboy or not! The extravaganza consists of bull riding, roping and my personal favorite, the calf chase. Not sure if the “calf chase” is the actual name for it but it basically consists of ribbons being pinned to the calf while the children run around chasing the calf to win the ribbons. The ribbons are worth five dollars so you can see why children are anxious to participate. Last year was a more entertaining experience because of the mud that filled the arena. You can already imagine chasing the calf looking redneck. Add on the mud you got yourself a whole new type of redneck fun!

We also have our Harlowton Annual Parade both July 3^rd and 4^th that always includes some of the most interesting things. We have golf carts, swathers, tractors, semis, old fashioned cars, and horses of course; plus many other things that prove we are true Montanans.

Mr. Holmes Flipping Our Cream of the West 7grain Buttermilk Flapjack

We donated about 35 pounds of flapjack mix to Midtown Market who was having a fundraiser of sorts for our firefighters. The money was being raised for their annual firework show down at our park. The flapjacks were such a hit at the event that we had to call Stacy to go get us some more at 9 on Sunday morning. We might not always strive for moments that are this unexpected but they are the moments that encourage us that we have a product that is liked by customers at any given moment of the day.

I hope this gives you a glimpse into Cream of the West and what we experience living in Montana. I know that you will never truly appreciate life in Montana without letting yourself enjoy all of the beauty, redneck extravagance (not truly an oxymoron) and of course our good home-grown

Cream of the West Montana products.

Food For Thought

Courtany — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:05:06 +0000

Today I thought I should tell you a story about one of our grains, Kamut. Hold on to your pants ‘cause this might be too crazy for you too handle.

Once upon a time there was a US airman who went into an ancient tomb and gathered a handful of precious grain from a stone box in the ancient place of Dashare, Egypt. He took thirty-six kernels of the Kamut grain and sent it to his friend who then mailed the kernel to his father, a Montana wheat farmer. The wheat endured the ocean and the tough terrain of America to the house of the Montana wheat farmer. This farmer was overwhelmed with his great wealth of wheat and did what any Montana farmer would do: he harvested a small crop and displayed the grain as a new innovation at the local fair. Since the belief was still that this “giant” grain kernel was taken from an Egyptian tomb, they dubbed the grain, “King Tut’s Wheat”. Not long after its brief moment of fame, the grain became forgotten.

Many years later, in 1977, Mark Quinn, another Montana wheat farmer, discovered the remaining jar of the Kamut grain. Mark’s son, Bob, was an agricultural scientist/biochemist so together they researched this “unique” grain. The Quinns discovered that kamut originated in the “fertile crescent” area which runs from Egypt to the Tigris-Euphrates valley.

THE END

Well too bad I won’t end this like a real story since it’s a blog, in stead I will leave you with some food for thought…of course I mean literally! Check out the 100% organic Kamut flakes that we have for sale at Cream of the West. They’ll be in the Green Barn section. Kamut, plus all of our other products, are very healthy for you and might possibly inspire some thoughts! If so, write back and tell me your blog story.

New Recipes

Courtany — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:57:22 +0000

Well I posted some new recipes on our website as long with some ways to cook some of our organic products. If you have never used them you might find it very helpful. There are a variety of types but the cooking instructions are pretty straight forward. Have fun with your cooking endeavors! Oh and I hope this up coming 4th of July is your best one yet.

Green Barn Organics ready to roll…

Susan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:50:51 +0000

At Cream of the West we have officially introduced our new line of organic flours and grains. We begin our foray by offering our line to natural foods stores in Montana…so kudos to the Good Earth Market in Billings for being our very first GBO customer!

Mission Statement!

greenBarn organics (GBO) is the brainchild of Richard, Alicia, Steve and I, and we have all worked very hard bringing these “Montana-made”, and to a certain extent “Montana-grown”, flours and grains into your home. Bobby and Stacy, our production crew, have labored tirelessly getting our plant in “organic” order, which involved some remodeling and much re-organizing. And our office manager, Liane, has been chugging away seeing that nutritional labels are being generated, customer sheets are being designed, and our inventory system is up to date. Our certification from Montana’s Department of Agriculture came to us in May, and since then we’ve been narrowing down the product list, setting prices, and finally, FINALLY, we are ready to introduce you to greenBarn organics!

meet Green Barn Organics!

Richard and Alicia made the delivery to Good Earth Market last Thursday, so you should be able to head straight to their bulk bins and stock up on some organic and Montana-made grains! Please stay tuned as we expand our list of Montana natural foods outlets, and be sure to keep watch on our website for retail offerings, nutritional information, recipes, and more!

Alicia delivering our first GBO order!

THE LINK BETWEEN ASTHMA AND WHOLE GRAINS

Courtany — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:39:14 +0000

Many people may not know that whole grains are not just for healthy eating but a healthy life. There is a link between asthma and whole grains which is a health benefit. This is just some of the information I found linking the two together.

According to the American Lung Association, almost 20 million Americans suffer from asthma, which is reported to be responsible for over 14 million lost school days in children, and an annual economic cost of more than $16.1 billion.

Increasing consumption of whole grains and fish could reduce the risk of childhood asthma by about 50%, suggests the International Study on Allergy and Asthma in Childhood (Tabak C, Wijga AH, Thorax).

Just hoping to give you information on why whole grains can be a smart choice. I hope you find the information useful or beneficial. So put that in your back pocket.

DESTRUCTION MEN

Courtany — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:57:26 +0000

Thursday we had people doing construction and we were left with no internet connection which means phones are not working either!

They are building a new rest stop right here in beautiful Harlo which is good but we really wish we didn’t lose our connection because of it. Sorry for the ranting but it really deters your business from operating. Hoping you guys are having a good day and wish we could have field some of your calls! Have a good day and do not do anything too crazy!

ORGANIC ORDER

Courtany — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:46:59 +0000

The entire office has some awesome news and we can’t hide it for very long so I am just going to scream it, through the computer, “WE SOLD OUR FIRST ORGANIC ORDER YESTERDAY!!!” We received the call yesterday which gave us our first official order. Liane was the one that answered the phone and rejoiced to the whole office that we had made our first organic order! Then Susan followed it up by making a video so we could reenact the whole event although you never can really reenact the excitement as well for the camera.

Of course everyone here is overwhelmed with joy and can’t wait to field more calls for more organic orders! I hope you rejoice with us as we celebrate this monumental occasion! Sorry for all the explanation points but I am excited for us!

HELLO FROM HARLO

Courtany — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:31:41 +0000

I am finally back from Mexico and in the states and it’s nice to be home in Montana. When I saw the “Welcome to Montana” sign was when I realized how much I really missed this place. Of course I will also miss the culture, food, and people of Mexico. There is always excitement of trying new foods, but something about seeing familiar food opposed to the food I didn’t recognize much less pronounce, makes you miss the simplicity of Montana grown products.

Mexico was a great experience where I was allowed to work with children during a Vacation Bible School “trying” to talk to them, giving the piggy back rides which they call caballos and then vuelto which is basically spinning them. We did all kinds of work projects around the compound like painting, stuccoing, and I even put in a shower which neither me or my partner were well educated in but we got things done. We had times to experience what church is like there in Mexico which is not like the states at all. When you go to a 3^rd world country and see what having nothing is you see how blessed you truly are.

First day back and got to spend it with the Cream of the West family who are home from their various locations, although Stacey just left for western Montana to do some hiking. We got back on track by having our “crew chat”, that is the name that Alicia has dubbed it, and we got right back on track to making things go round at the Cream of the West.

Rainy June morning

Susan — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:08:47 +0000

Rainy, snowy June morning

We woke up to this beautiful view yesterday morning after 1 1/2″ of rain the night before!

Things are happening at Cream of the West today…we have a group of graduate students from the University of Montana visiting. They’re on an eight day adventure, touring central and eastern Montana studying a diverse group of businesses and their roles in sustainable agriculture!

They’ll be setting up tents in Alicia and Richard’s yard, so tonight Steve and I will join them for a bar-b-que and tomorrow they will tour the plant.

The Scattered Crew

Courtany — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:14:07 +0000

Summer is finally here in a sense, that it is what you call this season, but looking outside most days you would never know. We all are enjoying the little bit of sun we have been granted these past weeks and all have things to do. We all are packing and things have become a little more hectic with much of our crew going off either which way. Bobby, our production manager, is off to Canada, Liane, our office manager is going off to Seattle to be with the new grandbaby and I am going to Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego and finally Mexico for my mission’s trip. There is so much to do in so little time and much of us are running around to make sure it is all done before we are gone. Alicia then is off next week to do her other job teaching Gifted Education at MSU Billings. Although it seems we have are all abandoned you there are still great people staying behind. Don’t worry though because we will be back before you know it!  I am excited to see some of the places but nothing beats being home in Montana. Something about the big open skies that is so inviting and calming. I am sad to be leaving but it will be good to experience life!! Have a good summer vacation and try to make it down to Montana or even Harlowton to see where the magic happens. Thanks and enjoy all the sunrays and whatever other weather summer brings your way. You could be like us 2 years ago and have snow in the middle of summer but I would not curse that on anyone!!

-Courtany Kent