Bull in the Bog

About a month ago, my friend Amber and I slipped away from our families (leaving them with frozen pizza and Netflix) to go to a Cowboy Poetry evening at the Range Riders Museum in Miles City.
I say "my friend Amber", but before that evening we were really just acquaintances at Cohagen community functions. She had bravely sent me a message, asking if perhaps I'd be interested in this sort of thing....not knowing if I was clinically crazy or anything...and I thought it would be fun, so we made the plan.

(I had no idea what to expect. I've never heard cowboy poetry. I've certainly heard colorful cowboy vocabulary, but not poetry...and that was accidental, because all the cowboys I have known are very respectful when there are women and children around.)

We had a great visit on the way to Miles City! That's 70 miles of "get to know you" windshield time, and by the time you get there, you'll have a pretty good idea if you'll be friends or not.  The really tricky thing is, if you're NOT, the same trip back home can seem like 100 miles...

It was pretty evident when we walked into the Range Riders that we were some of the youngest attendees there.  I would have to say the average age (conservatively) was around 67 years. There were a few more of us "youngsters" that came in, but all in all it was a fairly mature crowd, if you know what I mean.

Amber and I found seats right in the front row of tables, off to the side, so we could really see (and hear) all the action. (You know...because the term "cowboy poetry" is just ripe with the notion of commotion, right?)  We had coffee and continued visiting until the poets were assembled on stage and the MC got things going.

The first poet (I use that term sort of loosely in this case) was Wally Badgett.  I hesitate to try to describe him here because there really are no words that can do him justice. He's an old cowboy who has a local (Eastern Montana) reputation for big stories that have a vein of truth somewhere in them. The books he's written are very entertaining to those who know this, but would hardly be recommended as historical references to anyone anywhere else.  His first piece was about how the CBC company came to the area to gather range horses to send back east for dog food. My grandpa Everett Mosby rode with the CBC for a short time, so it really WAS interesting to me.

After a singer who did a couple Montana songs, Ann Secrest Hanson was up to the microphone.
If I couldn't do Wally Badgett justice in description, I'm completely speechless when it comes to Ann. Take a minute right now to read this very good biography on her. (Click on the red letters to go to the link).

You can see why I would be a little star struck...
I grew up hearing Ann Secrest stories, and was so hoping to get to meet her at the end of the evening.

She smiled a little, looked down at her papers and chuckled.
"I was looking out at the audience tonight and realized there were a lot of poems I couldn't read because people who know me too well are here. I saw you *pointed out at the crowd*, can't do this one. Or you *pointed at another*, can't do this one!"
She paused for a moment, then to my complete amazement said, "I don't suppose Billy Dutton is here tonight, is he?"
Well, sitting right there in the front row was his daughter, and I laughed and told her so...still astonished at the coincidence!
Ann took a good look at me and said, "You realize I've taken artistic liberty in some of my poems. Do you still want me to read this one about your father?"
Why, YES! Now, more than ever!

So I had the pleasure of hearing Ann Secrest (Hanson) read this poem she had written with my dad in it.

This is a copy she sent me in the mail, later, because.....this was the most thrilling part of the evening...when the program took a break for dinner, Ann came over to meet and visit with me! We talked about people we both knew, Cohagen, Jordan, poetry, North Dakota (where she now lives). The woman whose autograph I wanted pushed a piece of paper over and asked me for MY address, so she could send a copy of the poem to me when she got back home. (She wanted to copy it from the book because it had my Dad's picture on the book version.)
She even ate supper with us, which was such a treat, because I was able to ask her questions about her life, which she graciously answered with good humor.

When the poem came in the mail, a copy of the cover of the book was included, with a little note at the bottom that made me happy:

What an evening!

A new friend, a real live "hero" who wrote about my other real live hero, no cooking that night...

a gold star day for certain! 

I hope you enjoy the poem as much as I did.  

(One of the "artistic liberties" would have been making my Dad a stock inspector. I'm pretty sure he never was. He would have been equipped with ropes and gear, though, and he did chew Copenhagen at the time.)

Ham and Cheese Rolls

These are my new stash-in-the-freezer-for-branding-or-shipping rolls.  Cinnamon or caramel rolls are wonderful, but often we need something with protein to sustain us partway through the morning. The beauty of this dough is that it's incredibly flexible and CAN be made into cinnamon rolls as well, if you wish.  It's also very forgiving if you forget the eggs that are warming to room temperature in the bowl by the sink, as Shelly and I did the first time I made the recipe with her....we used that dough for a pizza crust and it was excellent! 

My friend Shelly (Reeves Smith) is the illustrator of some of my favorite cookbooks, but I believe the best one is 

Besides this roll recipe, it contains the recipe for Jan's Brownies (posted here under "Recipes" in the topic list), Stuffed Spud Soup, Fried Chicken Salad....and other ideas for slim, trim eating. 

(Actually, that's what I love about it: it was compiled before all the freedoms hit...gluten, dairy, sugar, flavor, etc...)

If you get it JUST for the brownie recipe and the illustrations, it would be money well spent.

Here's the dough recipe:

(I'm posting the picture so you can see the illustration, but will type the recipe out, too.)

Light Wheat Rolls

5 eggs (place in bowl of warm water to bring to room temperature)

1 cup water

1 cup milk

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 cups white flour (or 2 white/1 wheat...I've never used the wheat, so I can't say how it works here)

3 pkgs rapid rise yeast (or, if your yeast is in a jar, 6 3/4 teaspoons...I go 7, because 3/4 tsp??)

Additional 6-7 cups white flour

Heat the milk, water and butter until very warm (butter does not need to melt); set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, 3 cups of flour, and yeast. 

Crack the now-warmed eggs into the warm liquid mixture, then add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix well for about 3 minutes or until well combined. (Use your dough hook, here.) 

Add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is smooth and elastic...the recipe says 10 minutes, but that depends on your mixer and flour.  The dough should NOT be sticky in any way.  Place in greased pan and cover with greased plastic wrap to rest while you prepare the ingredients for your ham and cheese rolls, cinnamon rolls.

 OR form into dinner rolls right now, placing them in a greased baking pan, covering lightly with a greased  plastic wrap, letting rise until doubled in size. Brush beaten egg over the tops before baking in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Makes 3 dozen rolls this way.

Ham and Cheese ingredients:

1 lb ham, sliced or chopped into little cubes (we used leftover ham this way and it worked splendidly)

1 lb shredded cheese...or more at your discretion. (The recipe says to use cheddar, but there's nothing saying you can't use Swiss or pepper jack if that's what you have or prefer.)

1 cup softened butter

4-5 green onion tops, sliced (This, too, is optional in my opinion; if your family recoils from anything green, by all means leave it out.)

1 egg, beaten

Assembling the rolls:

Roll out 1/2 of your now well rested dough on a floured surface as though you're making cinnamon rolls.  Brush the dough liberally with the softened butter, making sure to go to the edges with it. Then, (and this is how Shelly says it's supposed to be done) lay sliced ham on top of the buttered dough. I sprinkled my sliced or diced ham over it and it was just fine; probably not as pretty, but it worked. Sprinkle 1/2 of your chosen cheese over the ham, and the onion greens over the cheese.  

Carefully roll the whole mess up like you would for cinnamon rolls....see Exhibit A:

Slice the roll into 12 sections, as evenly as you can. 

Then....and this is the unexpected part, at least for me....pinch the bottom of each roll to keep all the goody contained and put it in a well greased muffin pan...like so:

Crazy, huh?

I had to buy another muffin tin for this, because with only one tin this is an ALL DAY project.

Cover the now filled muffin pans with the greased plastic wrap and let rise for 20-30 minutes.

Brush the tops of the rolls with beaten egg before baking for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

They should come out of the oven looking like this:

I'll give you a moment, here...

Remove the rolls from the pan to cool on a wire rack.

The recipe is supposed to make 30 rolls, but I found that it made 24 nice big ones for me.

It seems like a long process, but honestly, it's about the same as making homemade cinnamon rolls. Also, it's a very convivial recipe...it's much nicer to make it up with one of your best friends in the kitchen with you. 

Happy baking!

Postcards from the nursery

Not all our ranching pay off comes from the calf check in the fall.
Every spring we take a picture of the first calf because every spring it's like the first calf we've seen in our lives...it's that miraculous.
Even the most pragmatic, pessimistic, grumpy old fart of a rancher can't help but be thrilled when he sees a brand new baby, fresh in the world.

Where I Go, I Hope There's Rum...

(It's a line from a Jimmy Buffett song- Volcano.)

I've been waiting to post this until I was certain....non-refundably, absolutely certain....that it was going to happen.  The airline ticket has been purchased and the passport applied for, so I think it's time.

About a year and a half ago, my brother-from-another-mother, Ivan, sent me an advertisement for a personal chef for a small group (8-10) divers who were renting a house on the Caribbean Dutch Antilles island of Bonaire.  I didn't know if it was legit or not, but I responded to his email with a "Heck, I'd do it for the price of the plane tickets!"

I really should have done a little more research on the ad before throwing that out.

It WAS a legitimate advertisement, but it was HIS legitimate advertisement.
And I'd just flippantly applied for the job without knowing it.
(Just so you know: there were no other applicants so I was by far the lowest bid. He didn't need references either; I think the only criterion for the whole job was whether or not I would make French toast and try to cook iguana if they got one.)

Speeding along to the good part, now....
I DO have the job, there will be 5 adults and 3 kids to sling tropical hash for, and we leave around October 8th of this year!

(This will lend some credibility to my Linked In profile where among other things it says I'm "personal chef to the management".)

Now, I know practically no one knows of this little island, so here's the link to the best website I can find for it.  Now you don't have to do that whole Wikipedia thing.
And here's the place we'll be staying...Villa Lunt
I've been corresponding with the owner of the rental to try to figure out what kitchen resources and marketing options there are.  One of the most startling things, though, is that there isn't an oven or crockpot there! I'll have to get creative with the grill, I guess.  But it's all part of the adventure, right?

Other parts of the adventure include learning Dutch so I can find ingredients in the stores and markets, learning how to cook iguana, and packing my whole island wardrobe in a carry on to avoid losing or paying fees on a checked bag.

My family will be just fine. (I can see grandmas and aunties clucking over THIS.) Celestia and Jasper offered to come cook for everyone and make sure they get on the school bus in time. The Farmer is cool with the whole deal, too.

I'm reading Caribbean cookbooks and will be trying quite a few recipes out in the next six months. Come join us for callaloo stew! (Or a reasonable facsimile...)

PS: There are flamingos on Bonaire. Not the plastic ones like I have and love, but the real birds!  I'm so excited!