Old Salt Festival 2024 - Helmville, MT

My role as an outsourced assistant presents varied, interesting and new experiences.        The Old Salt Festival certainly fell into the interesting and new categories,                          as well as being a lot of fun!



I assume I am not alone in my failure to take the time to make really good meals. However, this past week I have given more thought to the art of a good nutritious meal.  I enjoyed some fantastic and varied charcuterie treats from The Union butcher department that were created at The Old Salt Festival.  The liver pate was excellent and even the strawberries were better than any grocery store-bought berry I have every eaten. The sight of a big cow tongue was a little unsettling, but I got past it!

Eduardo Garcia of Bozeman, MT, known as the "bionic chef" due to his prosthetic left arm, created a sumptuous pairing of savory and sweet for the attendees to enjoy. He wears his "celebrity chef" hat well as he was very generous with his time and energy on Friday when he spoke both to the crowd and to many individuals who approached his outdoor kitchen. He was encouraging of small businesses and local farms and ranches that are important sources of many of the fresh nutritious ingredients for his carefully crafted treats. He thanked his team who included the chef of the fabulous soup, noting that she was previously his personal assistant. Maybe I have a future in the culinary arts!? I was charmed as I watched Chef Garcia teach a little girl how to make a batch of potato chips! Chef Garcia has a signature line of seasonings, and I am excited to start experimenting in my own kitchen!


Cole Mannix, Old Salt co-founder and president, eloquently discussed the concept of "Boomer" and "Sticker" as described by Pullitzer Prize-winning novelist Wallace Stegner ("The Dean of Western Writers"). The "Boomer" is always looking for the next big thing, while the "Sticker" wants to put down roots and build community. Cole emphasized the importance of taking care of the land, the environment and enhancing our communities, drawing a parallel to the role of salt in a recipe.

                                                         https://youtu.be/vO7NCoUmVpc




This blog post is part of a series documenting my trip to Montana where I am performing non-traditional executive and personal assistant services with creativity, humor and through strategic relationship-building.  Please contact me to discuss how I can help you expand your bandwidth with fractional lifestyle management.














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