Cooking in the West

Many readers know the Story family and might remember that Chance Story, from Martinsdale, Montana (formerly of Big Timber and Ennis, Montana) won a $3000 Academic All-around rodeo scholarship last spring in part for his essay that I ran in this column last spring. Chance, who is a freshman rodeoing for the MSU Northern Rodeo Team in Havre realized a rodeo family's worst fear when he was kicked in the face by a bucking horse on April 1, 2022 at the Bigger Better Barn in Havre.

At the time of the accident, Chance was at the top of the collegiate Big Sky Region standings in steer wrestling and was sitting good on points in team roping and tie-down roping. As Chance had also been doing volunteer work in preparation for the Montana State University Northern PRCA Extreme Bares and Broncs event, the Saturday night performance included a fundraiser to help Chance who had been injured the night before.

Coach Doug Kallenberger described Chance as, "A great young man that was having a breakout season... kind of our little stud all-around cowboy." His spring and summer rodeo season ended abruptly with the April 1 accident, but Chance and his family are thankful that he will likely fully recover after reconstructive surgeries and months of recuperation.

Following the accident, Chance was flown to Great Falls where it was discovered that he had broken all of his facial bones except his lower jaw. He had a skull fracture, shattered upper jaw and cheek bones, and damage to his teeth. He underwent 4.5 hours of reconstructive surgery, which was the first of several reconstructive surgeries, on Saturday and was released Sunday evening.

His mother, Lyndell Story, explained, "We are working on getting the swelling down and getting some nutrition in him. They fixed most of his face and upper jaw through his mouth. They had to fix his right eye and jaw through an incision by his brow bone. We will see how his teeth line up. He has some broken ones that will need to be fixed, and his nose will need more work later on."

Coach Kallenberger said he and his wife Emily, who is the assistant coach of the team, drove to Great Falls Friday night to be with Chance and his family until midday Saturday. On the trip home to see to their responsibilities with the second night of the rodeo, they brainstormed ideas to help raise money for Story's medical expenses.

As a quick jumpstart on the fundraising Emily Kallenberger baked two June berry pies to be auctioned off that night at the rodeo. "We were just hoping for something small, and it turned into something not so small," Coach Kallenberger said.

The pies were auctioned off and then donated back for subsequent rounds of bidding until in the end the two pies brought in a total of $10,000 for Story. Coach Kallenberger summarized, "The community of Havre and the Hi-Line is just a great place and a great home, and for them to donate $10,000 to Chance was, y'know, you just can't - it just warms your heart to live here and be here and be a part of our community. It's just amazing. We just can't thank the community enough for everything they've done."

If you want to support Chance's recovery financially and/or send him a note of encouragement, you can send support directly to him at Chance Story, 6391 Highway 12 East, Martinsdale, MT 59053.

I wish you all a blessed Easter! I would like to share some of my favorite easy recipes to make your Easter celebration special.

Grape Salad:

2 lbs. green seedless grapes

2 lbs. red seedless grapes

8 oz. sour cream

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 t. vanilla

Topping:

1 C. brown sugar, packed

1 C. crushed pecans

Wash grapes. Mix sour cream, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Stir into grapes in a large bowl. Combine brown sugar and pecans and sprinkle over a bowl of grape salad. Chill overnight before serving.

Croissant Breakfast Casserole:

8 plain croissants

2 C. cooked diced ham or browned pork sausage

2 T. butter

4 C. sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 C. sliced green onions

8 eggs

2 C. milk

2 C. Swiss cheese, shredded

2 C. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 C.Parmesan cheese, shredded

Split croissants in half. Place bottoms of croissants cut side up in a rectangular baking dish. Saute mushrooms and green onions in melted butter. Drain. Add cooked diced or crumbled meat to mushrooms. Whisk eggs and milk together. Pour half of the egg/milk mixture over croissants. Put meat/mushroom mixture and cheese on top. Pour remaining egg/milk mixture over top. Position croissant tops over bottoms cut side down. Let the casserole stand overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. Cover with foil during the baking process if the casserole is browning too quickly.

Raspberry Heaven:

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 C. lemon juice

12 oz. Cool Whip, thawed

1 large Angel food cake, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 C. raspberries (could use sliced strawberries if you wish)

Mix sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Fold in the Cool Whip. Set aside. Put half of Angel food cubes in a 9 X 13 pan. Top with half of the raspberries (or strawberries) and half of the Cool Whip mixture. Repeat again with a layer of cake, berries, and Cool Whip mixture. Garnish top with fresh raspberries or strawberry slices. Chill before serving.