Get to the Hi Mountain for party to field dressing flavors

Hi Mountain’s for home cooks/field dressers Riverton, Wyoming is a far piece from the Gulf Coast of Texas. While I’m surveying the pantry for the never-ending hurricane/rare snow/whatever’s next season, I’m grateful for some shelf-stable dip mixes on the shelf. Hi Mountain Seasonings caters to the briners, smokers and field dressers who go for beef, venison and fish. A lightweight like me can go to town with Cucumber Dip Mix and Sun Dried Tomato Dip Mix. These powders mix into cream cheese and sour cream, but I’ve found that a sprinkle into Greek yogurt gets you flavor with fewer calories. Don’t be afraid to blend up the richer version for celebrations. Ready for that? I especially enjoyed the cucumber taste so late into the season and dipped with colorful bell pepper slices. Buffalo Wings Burger Seasoning – I worked at Bennigan’s in the ‘80s when this area got a buffalo wings introduction. Now the flavor is known to all and Hi Mountain’s blend lets you shake it on any sort of meat, so some flank steak got the treatment. I’m dreaming of tinting a giant, steaming baked potato with Greek yogurt and a shake of the orange seasoning. Satisfying for cooler weather meals, this can also go onto the cauliflower version popular for air frying. * Half my last turkey got Emeril’s seasoning found in my late mom’s stash. Hi Mountain Garlic Pepper Rub got patted onto the other side with great results. This is the kind of spice you may walk by in your pantry and just open the bottle to get a rich whiff. When I told friends about my Garlic Pepper turkey, one said she hoped I had enough left to try this spice on potatoes. A big old “yes” to that idea. Note to Southeast Texas has anglers and hunters enjoying the bounty of Sabine Lake, The Big Thicket and other points of our great outdoor: If you’re the kind to make your own sausages, visit www.himtnjerky.com for ideas on how to care for your catch.

Coffee in bourbon, woke style Coffee with a cause is kind of a new thing. Coffee with flavor has always been a thing. Serve yourself up some of these blends to make mornings meaningful: Don Pablo Coffee Growers & Roasters began as a love story. Darron and Eliana fell in love and traveled around Columbia and Latin America to learn the trade. How romantic. And that’s just from the single-serving cup version of Bourbon-Infused Coffee. Wait until you see the old barrel-style packaging on the whole beans. You’ll be grinding that aroma all over your house. My first cup did, as promised, knock my socks off. This is presented as an after-dinner, special occasion flavor. Don’t be afraid to wake up to it. www.donpablocoffee.com Caribbrew is Haitian direct trade coffee and hot chocolate and even coffee scrub. Aside from fulfilling aroma and flavor, it’s hard to pick my favorite thing about these products, but I’ll begin with colorful artwork on the bags, from a woman brewing a rustic coffee outside her yellow home to a couple gazing out on the fertile mountains of their homeland. See for yourself at caribbrew.com and find out why their whole beans are not shiny. It’s so much fun to read about your product. The Arabica coffees are intense and the drinking hot chocolate is a thick powder that makes a memorable sweet tonic for these winter months. What comfort. If you love to smell coffee, consider taking it to another room with coconut rum moisturizing body butter and coffee scrub. You can get “coffeed up” inside and outside. What is no-mess scrub? You’ve got to feel it to experience it. When these coffees are over (booo!), I’ll console myself over their loss by making something crafty from the bags, until more arrive. www.carribrew.com. This one is def coffee for a cause.