By Liane Faulder
Though it’s only 6:30 a.m., and my brain is still struggling to wake up, the yeasty smell of the kitchen and the big white mug of coffee warming my hands tell me the morning is firmly in the grip of camp cook Karen Slusar, and all is well at Homeplace Ranch.
Yes, there is something reassuring about watching a confident cook sprinkle raisins onto a pillow of dough soon to be fresh cinnamon buns. You just know it’s going to be a good day.
Homeplace Ranch, near Priddis, a 20-minute drive southwest of Calgary’s city limits, offers trail rides and ranch vacations to tourists. This morning, Dutch tourist Hester Dogger is helping Karen in the kitchen. She and her husband are at Homeplace for two weeks, and they pay for a portion of their stay through ranch labour. Sometimes they work, doing everything from kitchen cleanup to stable duties. Sometimes they play — enjoying horseback riding, evening campfires and the sunset.
Others come for varying lengths of stay to enjoy anything from a half-day trail ride to a clinic on horse-bonding and awareness. On this particular morning, Homeplace Ranch — which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011— hosts a group of food writers from Alberta and British Columbia who are on a Travel Alberta culinary tour of the famed Cowboy Trail.
The Trail, some 700 kilometres of highway from Cardston to Mayerthorpe, offers a range of outdoor experiences, including scenic vistas and historic sites. But we foodies are just as intrigued by what goes on indoors, in the kitchens of the Cowboy Trail. Today, in Part 1 of a three-part Saturday LifeStyle series, our tour bus heads south from Calgary to Waterton Lakes National Park, stopping at watering holes along the way, ever on the lookout for that hidden gem you can’t wait to share with friends.
Homeplace Ranch, owned by veteran wrangler Mac Makenny, is the third stop on this tour, which began in Calgary with lunch at Divino on the Stephen Avenue pedestrian mall, where we enjoyed perfectly grilled buffalo tenderloin brought from the nearby Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch. The ranch, our second stop, is run by four generations of the O’Connor family and specializes in natural game meat — elk, buffalo and caribou raised without additives, antibiotics or growth hormones. According to resident veterinarian Dr. Terry Church, the ranch exists to supply high-quality, consistent game meats to the company’s 10 restaurants and resorts, which include Emerald Lake Lodge in Yoho National Park and Deer Lodge in Lake Louise. (Customers can also buy meat directly from the ranch, or order a frozen shipment by calling 1-800-563-2242.)
Divino is a combination of big-city chic and bistro comfort. The air in the restaurant is infused with the scent of charred apple wood from the wood-burning grill that doubles as a smoker. The meat is the key item on the menu, but chef John Donovan knows food writers like dessert, so rounds things off with a raspberry lemon tart, its crust thin as paper.
The food at Homeplace is a far cry from the fancy-pants likes of city dining. No Magret Duck Breast with Gingered Spaghetti Squash at $36 a plate. Here, it’s Miss Karen’s dinner fare — a hearty plateful of ribs brushed with the cook’s secret sauce (available, not so secretly, on ScanLife today). Baked potatoes with beans, and old-fashioned devilled eggs are on the side, with brownies and ice cream for dessert.
"I never cook out of a box," says Slusar proudly.
Rather, her honest, homestyle cooking starts with a big, blue binder on the kitchen table, labelled with masking tape — a collection of Slusar’s favourites, from her Grandma McRae’s comfort foods (think boiled raisin cookies and ragged robins), to standards from Company’s Coming that Slusar has adjusted to suit her own palate. Any time during the day, guests at Homeplace can wander into the kitchen to snitch from the cookie jar, or top up from a plate of homemade squares or muffins on the sideboard. One has to wonder whether the calories expended during our leisurely, morning horseback ride will be enough.
Soon we are on the road again, heading south toward Waterton. Our tour guide leaders, Mary Bailey and Judy Schultz (co-authors of The Food Lover’s Trail Guide to Alberta), emphasize southern Alberta is home to a burgeoning local food scene. A catered lunch stop in Turner Valley gives us the chance to meet Mark Klaudt of the Route 40 Soup Company, an inventive chef whose locally inspired homemade soups — we loved his asparagus and spinach soup with a dollop of yogurt — star at the Millarville Market, which runs every Saturday morning until October.
(If you’re thinking of checking out the market, remember the Millarville and Priddis Fair runs on Aug. 21. Go to millarville-ab.com/market for details.)
Next up, a delightful surprise in Black Diamond, where Marv’s Classic Soda Shop is worth the trip all by itself. Owner and soda jerk Marv Garriott started out many years ago in the music business, and still entertains diners with a damn fine version of the Elvis classic That’s All Right Mama.
The sodas, though, are no impersonation: they are the real deal, carbonated classics in numerous flavours, from the popular chocolate (fizzed with carbonated water and topped with whipped cream) to the sweet and seductive cherry. Not full enough? Stop in next door at the Black Diamond Bakery and Coffee Shop, where the Dead Fly Pie is quite a lot better than it sounds.
The day has turned rainy while we charge from one eating extravaganza to another, so we take refuge at the Longview Jerky Shop (longviewjerkyshop.com). This tiny shop, a family-run business since 1979, is home to an astounding variety of dried meat. Everything from Alberta beef to elk is processed on-site, from Pioneer Style (for the toughs among us) to Jerky Stix (softer, for people with dental issues).
Luckily, the farther south we drive, the bluer the sky becomes. By the time we hit the Twin Butte General Store and Mexican Restaurant, the air is dry and warm, and we are able to sit outside with the chirping crickets for our mid-afternoon snack, a bustin’ big plate of nachos studded with hot peppers, and layers of cheese and ground beef.
Surprisingly good Mexican food (and beer) is available at this hole-in-the wall, which also offers regular nights of live music. A local bed and breakfast and the opportunity for "rustic camping" are also on-site. For more information, go to twinbuttestore. ca.
But the biggest food surprise of the trip was yet to come.
The townsite of Waterton park is tiny, and perhaps best known for the shabby elegance of the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel, standing proudly atop a windblown scape overlooking spectacular Upper Waterton Lake. So we were blown away to discover an authentic Italian bistro in the village called Bel Lago, where we enjoyed a tasting menu of eight items created by co-owner and chef Kris Spencer.
"We catch quite a lot of people off guard," says Spencer of his first-rate Italian cuisine, inspired by an intensive course he took in Calabria, Italy.
The antipasti was my favourite, consisting of Fort Macleod’s Fairwinds Farm goat cheese with pepper jelly, and a selection of house-made nibbles, including apple-braised fennel, spicy marinated zucchini with pickled onions, and salt-cured eggplant served alongside camparini tomatoes and roasted balsamic cippollini onions. Take note of the freshwater buffalo mozzarella on the menu, supplied locally by Old West Farms in Mountainview.
We also enjoyed a spot of local colour at Bel Lago — a serenade of Italian arias courtesy of a local tenor in a red fleece vest who was tickled to see an entire group of city ladies, in pashminas and glittery earrings, captive, as it were. A "remember when?" moment if ever there was one.
That is exactly what I’m looking for in a foodie vacation.
Edmonton Journal
