Every time Cheryl Pierson and Livia Reasoner send out a call for submissions to a new Prairie Rose Publications anthology, folks get all excited. Regardless the theme, both old-timers and whippersnappers have a lot of fun with the group efforts.Competition can be fierce, though. It gets rowdy with so many folks jumping up and down, yelling “Pick me! Pick me!” We also frequently see the classic elbow-to-the-ribs tactic and tried-and-true tripping. Some of us have been known to bribe the bosses with chocolate. Others make sad-puppy eyes and beg.
Occasionally, a full-fledged shootout erupts. Things get a mite tense at times like that, because we never know when Ozark Belle (Cowboy Action Shooter Tracy Garrett) is liable step in and break up a perfectly good gunfight. She can outshoot all the rest of us put together.Right now, everyone is jockeying for a spot in the July 4-themed anthology A Cowboy Celebration. The roughhousing was going along just fine…until we realized the book will include a recipe based on a food mentioned in each story.
Everyone froze. What if we all wrote about fried chicken? What’s more traditional and Old West-y than fried chicken?
The recipe hunt was on. (I can almost guarantee no one will write about fried chicken now.)
Of course, there are the usual suspects:
Biscuits.
Apple pie.
Ice cream. (Is anyone else getting hungry?)
Even including fried chicken, though, that’s only four foods. So here’s the burning question for today:
If you were attending a Fourth of July celebration in the Old West, what would be in your picnic basket?
Tell us in the comments! At the very least, you’ll stop a food fight that’s about to get out of hand.
Better? You may win an e-copy of one of last summer’s PRP anthologies: Lassoing a Bride, Lassoing a Groom, Lassoing a Mail-Order Bride, and Cowboy Cravings. A commenter chosen at random Saturday at noon will receive his or her choice.
Get to commenting! Don't make me drag out the lasso.
Potato salad. Like my mama used to make--none other.
ReplyDeleteYum! One of my favorite cookout side dishes. Mustard, or no mustard?
DeleteI like both, but I prefer red potatoes with no mustard and a little dill
DeleteRed potatoes, mayo, and dill is delicious. Have you ever tried "German" potato salad? It's similar, but it also includes bacon -- at least around here. Pretty good stuff!
DeleteI love German potato salad and I prefer German coleslaw too. Hmm, maybe I should write a post-war Maggie story - from Hazardous Unions - about her first Fourth of July in Texas. Are submissions still open?
DeleteSubmissions are open until May 1, Crazy Canuck, and PRP doesn't discriminate against Canadians. ;-) Get that story in gear! I, for one, would love to see Maggie again. That girl is a pistol.
DeleteSubmit! Submit!
Definitely with mustard. 1/3 potatoes, 1/3 boiled eggs, 1/3 dill pickles, plus pimentos, olives, chives, radishes, mixed up with dressing made with mayo, mustard, dill pickle juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Yummmmy.
DeleteGerman potato salad is good, but we don't consider it potato salad. :) Just another potato dish.
Radishes?
DeleteThose poor taters are outnumbered. :-D
Not many radishes--just for color mostly.
DeleteMacaroni and cheese--with extra sharp cheese. Maybe even some crisp bacon on top.
ReplyDeleteGotta have extra-sharp cheddar. I tried a new recipe using Swiss the other day, and it just didn't cut it.
DeleteAnything with bacon is fine with me!
Kathleen,
DeleteBacon, you say? Here's a sandwich recipe from my hand-me-down recipe book: "The Household Searchlight Recipe Book" (missing the cover and first 58 pages, but my research suggests c. 1941 edition).
Bacon and Pickle Sandwiches (pg. 308)
6 slices crisp cooked bacon, chopped
2 dill pickles, chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise dressing
Combine ingredients. Mix lightly. Use as a filling between thin slices of buttered white or whole wheat bread
***
I'm still undecided on a recipe for my story. Well, that's an exaggeration. I have no idea what my H&h have planned for the 4th of July celebration. Apparently, they're going to surprise me. lolol
What is it with heroes and heroines these days? The entire lot of them is ill-behaved. Maybe we should send them all to Cheryl's green room and put the fear of author into them. **evil grin**
DeleteBacon and pickle sandwiches? Never heard of that one, but we put pickles on hamburgers, so why not?
0_o
DeleteI think the wine that probably complements a bacon and pickle sandwich is grape Mad Dog 20/20. Maybe if we add a side of fava beans, a good Chianti would be nice.
Blech.
ROFL!!!! I almost asked if you got the bacon and pickle recipe from Elvis's cookbook. ;-)
DeleteMy mother used to make this great cake using prunes, so I'm thinking in the old west you'd be using dried fruits for cakes and pies or whatever fruit was in season.
ReplyDeleteA cake using prunes? Maybe if more people had the recipe for that cake, there wouldn't be so many jokes about prunes!
DeleteYou're right about dried fruit. One of my grandmothers refused to make pies from anything except dried fruit, because that's all they had when she was little. I still prefer to use dried fruit for apricot pie. :-)
Multi-layered cake with fresh strawberries. Mom made a tasty cake. Strawberries were fresh picked so sweeter than what you can buy today.
ReplyDeleteLivia, now I'm drooling. Did I mention I love strawberries. I think I could eat my weight in just about any kind of berry.
DeleteEverything tastes better homegrown, doesn't it? We've gotten so spoiled by the convenience of grocery stores these days that the flavor of fresh, ripe produce straight from the plant is a shock.
My *favorite* cake!
DeleteDill pickles. Or maybe strawberries. I am blessed to live in strawberry country where they grow year-round. Yum, maybe I'll hit the fruit stand this very day....
ReplyDeleteTanya, I have to hate you now. I keep trying to grow strawberries and tomatoes, and neither likes the environment. At least citrus does well. My lemon and clementine trees produce enough to feed a small army! :-D
DeleteCobbler. My mother made the absolute best blackberry cobbler.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had blackberry cobbler in AGES, and it's so delicious. Could I convince you to share your mom's recipe? :-)
DeleteI love peach cobbler.
DeleteToo fun Kathleen. I wouldn't have fried chicken. Either salted cod cakes or maybe chicken mole. Who knows! I will say, it is fun to speculate. If all goes well, I'll be in the ring with the rest of you, and I would say wish me luck, but then...? Doris
ReplyDeleteSalted cod? Are you from New England originally? Now chicken mole... I KNOW they've got that in Colorado! Good chicken mole is hard to beat.
DeleteDoris, run your Colorado hooves right on into the corral, woman. We need a new story from you! :-)
I was thinking of trying my hand at this though short stories are not my strong suit. Now that I've read about the food fight, I'm not so sure I should get involved. I'm getting up there in age, ladies and my throwing arm is just not what it used to be. If I think I can stand the heat (of the flying food) I was going to use my great-grandmother's recipe of a cake she called Knee-high. (My mother always made this one at Christmas.) It's made with thin layers of short bread and iced between the layers with dried apples that are stewed and spiced up.
ReplyDeleteAgnes, I have GOT to have that recipe! Shortbread and spiced apples in one dessert? Sounds decadent.
DeleteDon't let the food fight scare you off. I've read your stories. Anyone who can write scenes like that one with soldier about to get his head bashed in by the heroine is plenty tough to hold her own in this outlaw gang. :-D
Try your hand at short-story writing. I didn't think I could do it, either, but I've grown to love the form. It's a different kind of challenge from writing a novel. Writing short taught me a lot about cutting fluff and "throat clearing" I didn't even realize I was doing. It's fun -- and, in a way, very liberating. :-)
Agnes, that sounds delicious!
DeleteBean salad! (Or cold baked beans, for that matter.)
ReplyDeleteBean salad? What do you put in yours, Angela? I've seen a bean salad made with a mixture of wax beans, snap beans, and pinto beans. I think it was dressed with some kind of vinaigrette. Is that close?
DeleteSounds great! Mine has chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes, garlic, avocado, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, olive oil, and lime juice.
DeleteOoh. That sounds REALLY good! You had me at avocado, but the red pepper, cumin, garlic, and lime juice would add a delicious kick.
DeleteLadies, if ya all ain't gonna bring somethin' to drink, I ain't comin'! How about some bread puddin' with raisins? If I could hop in my Way-Back machine and introduce my cheesecake recipe to the Old West, I'd be helpin ya all load up the wagon right now.
ReplyDeleteJD,
DeleteI've been thinking the same thing about the lack of beverages in this recipe conversation. Hard lemonade, anyone? *wink*
I'll bet the Trail Boss (Jacquie Rogers) will bring a jug or two of tonsil varnish. She's got a whole stash of them things.
DeleteJD, I'll let you take that cheesecake anywhere you want, darlin', as long as I get a piece! :-D
Speaking of bread pudding with raisins (another of my great weaknesses)... Cowboys on the trail ate "spotted pup" -- rice pudding with raisins. Never sounded all that appetizing to me, but if I'd been driving cattle, I might've eaten just about anything that didn't eat me first.
I always heard that rice 'n' raisin dish was called 'horse thief special." Maybe you could bring some corn dodgers or some cush (or is that cushes, never could figure out how to make that plural). If any of you gals can make bear sign, I'm in.
DeleteI've heard it said a chuckwagon cook who could -- and would -- make bear sign was worth his weight in gold. Everybody tried to keep him happy. :-D
DeleteI love the name "horse thief special," but what's cush?
How about a barrel of homemade ale? That oughtta liven things up a bit.
DeleteSee? Told you she had the hooch covered.
DeleteIn that case, I'll be there, Jacquie! A cush is a sweet, fried cornmeal cake..
DeleteI've never heard of putting sugar in corn cakes, but crumbled cornbread in milk with a liberal dose of sugar was a favorite dessert in the Kentucky hills. I guess folks in the backwoods couldn't afford to waste anything, and that dessert would've been one way to use day-old cornbread. My dad, who was born in the Kentucky backcountry, he loved the stuff. So did his parents.
DeleteWhat a fun post, Kathleen! Now you have me thinking about what I might have my heroine make for this picnic--you know, they probably had all kinds of meats--we always think of friend chicken, but I bet there was plenty of ham and brisket, (here in cattle country). Oh, the possibilities! and my goodness you have made me SOOOO HUNGRY!
ReplyDeleteCheryl
I'm glad I'm not the only one starving to death after all this food talk!
DeleteI posted a link on Facebook, and Linda LaRoque came out with all kinds of good stuff. I'll tell you what -- I'm going to HER picnic!