As the years have passed at the Feathered Pipe, staff have come and gone. Certain foods have become more popular, and others less so. It may feel like an escape from the world at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, but we are not immune to trends. While these factors will always be dynamic, one core belief has continued to resonate here. We firmly believe that food serves to promote community and well-being of the self and of the planet.
While we will still continue to hold the original Feathered Pipe Cookbook near and dear, we are thrilled to announce that we have begun the process of creating a new edition. As we begin to break ground on this new endeavor, we’ll be testing our literary, visual and culinary skills right here on the Feathered Pipe Kitchen Blog. With huge thanks to Feathered Pipe’s Marissa-Kanduri Helping Hands Initiative, we have spent the past few months traveling across the globe to seek a little bit of inspiration. We are returning from Western Europe, Georgia (the country!), India, and Sri Lanka with thousands of photos, exciting new flavor combinations, and a ton of new memories which we’ll be sharing and archiving here.
As the world seems to change a little bit more every day, I think we can all take comfort in the ways we know it might stay the same. A restaurant that still exists in the neighborhood you grew up in. A recipe passed down from your great grandmother. The friends you share a meal with once every few years. At the heart of it, we want to make a cookbook that reminds you of the importance of those things. A cookbook that reminds you of our duty to honor these flavors, these traditions, memories, people, and landscapes that serve as the soul of our planet. To make the world seem a little bit more comfortable and familiar. To empower ourselves to be the change we wish to see, one meal at a time. To encourage ourselves to face challenges– in and outside of the kitchen, on and off the yoga mat, at and away from the Feathered Pipe Ranch– with an open mind and heart. Because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. So get ready to join us on this heartfelt journey into the far reaches of your heart and palette, and explore with us the many flavors this beautiful planet has to offer. And now, a little bit about us…
Sam: When people ask me where I grew up or where I’m from I struggle to answer confidently. The facts are that I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio only to move to New Smyrna Beach, Florida at the ripe age of three years old. The summer between middle school and high school we moved to Helena, Montana. After graduating from Helena High School I moved 120 miles west to study music at the University of Montana in Missoula. I’ve bounced back and forth between Helena and Missoula for the past fourteen years calling one then the other home.
When I was eight years old though, my mom started taking my sister and me along to the Feathered Pipe with her, all the way from central Florida. It started with a week one summer. We spent two weeks the summer after that. A month the following summer, and then we finally made the full time move to be closer to the Feathered Pipe. How much closer? We moved to a house only two miles down the road from the place. So since the age of eight and amidst the bouncing around in my young and young adult life I’ve had the Feathered Pipe community as a steadfast home.
Growing up at the Feathered Pipe I understood the importance of so many things that I am eternally grateful for. The two most notable being the importance of delicious and diverse foods, and the importance of world travel. I was fascinated by the different and exciting foods from around the world that the Feathered Pipe kitchen staff would prepare. I felt compelled to comprehend the intricacies of different flavors from around the world and the cultures and landscapes that inspired them. While sharing these meals, Feathered Pipe folks would be fondly reminded of and share tantalizing stories of times that they were in a foreign land. I yearned to collect stories of my own.
Suzy here: A little bit of info about me. I grew up in New York, just north of NYC. As a foodie, it was about the best place in the world to grow up. I had access to one of the best food scenes in the world, just an hour train ride from my house. As a teenager, I would wander around the Chinese markets in Queens, eat Caribbean food in the Bronx, go to Brooklyn for authentic Italian food, and high-end butcher shops in Manhattan. Just beyond my backyard, I had access to a wealth of plants which grew wildly, spending each spring processing and freezing batches of dandelion, garlic mustard and ramp pesto. When I lived in Vermont during high school, I would hike up to the top of our local ski hill before sunrise, watching the sun come up as I packed fresh fiddlehead ferns and morels into my backpack for lunch.
Although as good as the food and foraging were in New England, I knew the Rocky Mountains were where my heart was happiest, having spent many of my teenage summers backpacking, rock climbing and whitewater rafting my way through some of the greatest wilderness locations in the western US & Canada. So, I packed up my car and drove to Montana. I started working in kitchens to fund my time in the mountains. In my early 20’s, I cycled solo from western Montana to eastern North Dakota. After that, I cycled thousands of miles from Alaska back to my home in Missoula. In the winters, I spent most of my days hiking up remote peaks in the backcountry and skiing back down them.
As my athletic endeavors ramped up, my health & nutritional endeavors had to follow. As any adventurer knows, proper nutrition and mental fortitude are two huge parts of any athletic undertaking. I think that’s why I found my home at the Feathered Pipe Ranch – it’s a place where you nourish your body and your mind, daily. I’m so fortunate to be able to spend my days living out a mission that I really believe in– cooking food that helps to build, nourish, and sustain my community, both near and far. And, as Sam & I delve into this new adventure, revamping the food blog and working on a new edition of the beloved Feathered Pipe Cookbook, I can’t wait to share stories, photos and recipes from the people and places I love the most.