At the Drop of a Hat

Being the ranch cook means you have to have a hot meal ready at almost all times of day. You have to be able to pack it up, wrap it up, lay it out at the drop of a hat. Dealing with cowboys and animals sometimes a 5 o'clock dinner is moved to 3 o'clock or pushed back to 10 o'clock at night. It's not uncommon for the Cowboss to call and say there will be 3 extra hungry cowboys for supper or that they'll all be to the house in 15 minutes. The calmness in my voice always surprises me when I tell him "sure honey, that sounds good" when I have no idea what to make much less have anything thawed out. The nice thing about feeding hungry cowboys is that no matter what you feed them, they tend to like it because its hot and they are out of the weather for the short period of time it takes to eat.

Now a days I find that a staple in my bag is a loaf of bread and a jar of Gobber Grape (peanut butter and jelly in the same jar, genius!!) You can't believe how a grown cowboy will react when they see one of my sons walk or ride by with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, " Hey, Son where did you get that Sandwich, You think Momma will make me one". In the middle of Preg Checking cows or vaccinating calves it hasn't been uncommon to see the crew of cowboys with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in hand. That's our definition of "Fast Food" on the prairie ;)