A year of plates

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

A year can be defined by the places you traveled, the music you listened to, the people you met, the investments you made or the habits you picked up or broke.

The older I get, the more my year is defined by the food I ate.

It is tempting to call eating a “simple” pleasure that people rarely take enough time to fully appreciate, but the reality is that food and how we enjoy it isn’t a simple relationship at all. Whole phases of my life are marked by problematic eating habits. Frozen dinners, cereal, popcorn, Taco Bell and the occasional apple made up the bulk of my diet in college, from about 2014 to 2017. Food took the backseat while working myself to a pulp became priority No. 1. I didn’t have time or space to cook, and I didn’t see the point. I was still (barely) standing, wasn’t I?

I don’t know when the shift occurred, but in recent years, eating has almost become a hobby, which sounds silly when talking about an activity that’s necessary to live. But, while I used to approach food as entirely utilitarian, it has become almost a creative outlet. When cooking, it’s a chance to take on an artist’s role. When going out, it’s a chance to be adventurous and push personal boundaries.

As a result, my 2022 saw some pretty wonderful dining experiences.

My furthest travel destination over the past year was Bozeman, Mont., the easternmost stop on my husband and I’s honeymoon road trip. Despite plenty of pre-planning, our chosen breakfast spot proved too packed on the morning we tried to get a table, so with the help of my phone’s map, we walked half a block further and down a long hallway to a true hole-in-the-wall joint with lime green walls and a bar with a clear view of the buzzing kitchen. Seated there, we watched five cooks churn out plates like a well-oiled culinary machine, and got a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes work that has convinced me, during my own time in restaurants, that food service isn’t for the faint of heart.

I ordered a basic breakfast (eggs, ham, hash browns and toast) while Alex chose bison biscuits and gravy. The food came fast, our coffee mugs remained full and the portions were generous for the price. We left full and happy, knowing we found a treasure and prepared for the journey toward home.

On that journey, we also discovered Butte Brewing & Pizza Company. Crisp, cold pints and incredible crust made that stop my favorite on the Montana itinerary. 

Also among the eating-out highlights of my 2022 is the dreamworthy, drool-inducing chili pork dinner entree at Pearl’s on the Lake at Beyond Hope Resort. It is here I should say I worked there this past summer as a server, but my professional obligation to hype the food at Pearl’s does not play into my love for the chili pork: Slow-cooked pork shoulder in a chili sauce piled on house-made creamed corn and topped with fresh cilantro crema and an entire half of a mashed avocado. The sweet harmony of those flavors nearly made the memories of a grueling dinner shift fade away.

Some of my favorite meals also had more to do with the setting than the plate’s contents. In August, Alex, my sisters and I stayed at Lunch Peak Lookout. We had a dinner of hot dogs, crackers, strawberries and cherry tomatoes, and a breakfast of bacon, eggs, avocado, toast and the rest of the strawberries. So far from the comfort of home and caught in a pretty gnarly lightning storm, they felt like feasts more than camp food. 

The author’s husband and younger sisters enjoy a perfectly simple mountaintop meal at Lunch Peak Lookout in August 2022. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.

The past year also saw plenty of memorable meals at home, including our first creations prepared under an awning Alex built to protect our prized new barbeque grill. Smoked meat and grilled garden veggies were staples of 2022, all prepared while listening to music and playing in the yard with the dog. I’m not sure how it gets better than that.

I’m thankful that my relationship with food has grown to encompass elements like leisure, experience and adventure, rather than the eat-to-live code to which I used to adhere. 

Here’s to many more plates in 2023, along with the memories.