Good Medicine recipes now in cook book

After sharing hundreds of recipes over

the years to guests at the Good Medicine Lodge, co-owner and cook

Betsy Cox is finally publishing a book of her famous breakfast

creations.

The hardcover book “Good Montana

Morning” features more than 100 dishes she’s used to tantalize

guests at the lodge since she and her husband, Woody, took over

ownership in 2002.

“The book mostly consists of our

guests’ favorites,” Cox said. “It’s beautiful, and I think it

represents our lodge very well. That was the goal.”

Before taking over the lodge, Cox wrote

an infant nutrition column for a newspaper, taught art for

elementary through high school, and has written and conducted wine

and food-pairing seminars for adults.

It took Cox more than a year of

planning, photographing and editing before “Good Montana Morning”

was ready to go to print. From a database of about 1,000 recipes,

she chose the ones that best spoke to the flair of Whitefish and

her lodge.

“I wanted it to be local and unique to

here,” Cox said. “The connection to Whitefish is what makes these

recipes significant.”

The book is divided into sections that

include fruit, syrups, eggs, French toast and pancakes, cereal and

pastries. Cox notes that the book and recipes are crafted with

simplicity in mind. Anyone with basic cooking skills can make these

breakfast dishes.

“I wanted it to be a simple as

possible,” she said. “Hopefully, you can measure things,

though.”

One of the recipes is “Going to the Sun

Eggs,” which happens to be the first breakfast she ever served

guests at the lodge. There’s also the famous granola recipe that

Cox says is “highly sought after,” and there’s the French toast

strata that is one of her most frequently requested recipes.

The largest chapter is about pastries,

scones, muffins and biscuits. Cox says she only included the scone

recipes that are “100 percent guaranteed to work,” noting how

difficult scones can be to bake.

The 128-page book shows off nearly each

dish with photography by Megan DiTizio, also of Whitefish. Cox

hired DiTizio because of her ability to shoot food naturally

without fake enhancements.

Over all the years of giving out

recipes to guests at the lodge, Cox has never asked for money, only

that the recipient makes a donation to the North Valley Food Bank.

She’ll continue that practice by giving a portion of book sales to

the food bank.

Cox is already planning her next book,

which will be about cooking with children, based on experiences

she’s had with her children and grandchildren.

The Good Medicine Lodge will host a

book release reception on Wednesday, April 20, from 6-8 p.m. “Good

Montana Morning” will be available at the lodge, local bookstores

and online at www.farcountrypress.com. For more information, call

the lodge at 862-5488 or e-mail info@goodmedicinelodge.com.