A Fall Drive in the Hills

by Jan Drexler

On a day like this, with a north wind blowing and the highs not expected to top 70° this week, we know fall is here and winter is nipping on its heels!

Before the snow comes, let's take a drive through the Black Hills and enjoy the fall scenery!

On Friday, my husband and I had an errand to run in Custer. One great thing about Custer is that on the way we have to get to drive by this famous landmark!

Not the best picture, but I took it through the truck window. It's always good to say "hey" to these guys as we pass by.

After we stopped in Custer to pick up our apples (delivered by truck from Washington,) we decided to head west and have lunch at one of our favorite burger places. Wayback Burgers is a chain, and there's a franchise in Newcastle, Wyoming. The burgers are great, and the drive is even better!

Since the day was so beautiful, we decided to take the "scenic route" home - aka "I don't think we're lost!"

We followed the old Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Route north through the Beaver Creek Valley from Newcastle along the state line, then turned east and came back into South Dakota northwest of Deerfield Lake.

If you're following along on your map, you'll see that we're in the high country. This is all National Forest and the home of deer, elk, mountain lions, and even a wolf sighting now and then. Some insist there are also bears here, but the official word is that there isn't an established population.

We saw a lot of cattle along the drive. Ranchers lease the public lands, which is a win/win situation. The ranchers are able to move the cattle across a larger range, preventing overgrazing. At the same time, the cattle keep the underbrush down, keeping the forest healthier and less likely to be destroyed in a forest fire.

In other parts of the country, autumn leaves turn bronze, yellow, red, orange, and brown.

In the West, we have gold. The aspen leaves glow in the sunshine, stark against the Ponderosa pines.

We came home to supper cooking in the slow cooker. It was a great sounding recipe - but we ended up with a fail! I'll take you through it and hopefully you won't have the same experience I did!

Slow Cooker Potatoes and Sausage

ingredients:

8 russet potatoes, diced

1 package of kielbasa (14 oz) sliced thin

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 can Cream of Chicken soup (or Cream of Mushroom)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

pepper to taste

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Okay, here's the first mistake I made:

I didn't have enough potatoes! I used what was left in the pantry, but I should have known it wouldn't turn out well.

If I hadn't been in a hurry to get on our way that morning, I would have realized that with fewer potatoes, I also needed less kielbasa! 

The creamy/cheesy part of the dish came together well. Just mix the soup, milk, sour cream, and pepper together. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Spread it on top of the potatoes/onion/kielbasa, then sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top.

Doesn't it look delicious?

And this is where the second major mistake came in - I should have let it cook for six hours on low, and I ended up cooking for eight or nine hours. WAY overdone! It tasted good, but too salty. 

Lesson learned.

I think my next slow cooker will have to have one of those timers on it!

I didn't even take a picture of the finished product. But I'll try this again...when I'm not going to be away from home all day and when I have enough potatoes!

But the day ended as beautifully as it began. The sunset was gorgeous.

Have you had a recipe fail lately? Do you think you'll ever try that one again?

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.