June 3-11, 2008, Mary, Whitney and I cooked over the campfire for 45-55 people. Each year in June, Bill Smith comes to the Bartlett
Ranch in Wyoming and works our two-year-old horses. Young cowboys from
various states come in to start and ride these colts for Bill and Dr. Woody
Bartlett. It is a very busy, fun week.
As chuckwagon cooks, we have never had time to watch the action but we hear all about it when the guys come in for a meal! This is our 4th year of
cooking and was the best yet. We are learning as we go, how to do things better, and what meals are too labor intensive to be practical. As far as I know nobody has gotten sick from our cookin' and we are hired for next year!
We use dutch ovens and cook over coals or the open fire. Our "kitchen"
is a remodeled contractors trailer where we have two refrigerators and a
freezer, steel work table and stove. Mary and I did not have the first clue
what we were getting into the first year we agreed to cook. Now, four years
later, we really enjoy it.
It rained a lot, making it a challenge to keep the fires going, and a bull snake decided to join us for lunch one day! Mary just about stepped on him. We found a rattlesnake in the woodpile and our sugar got wet. But, those are just things that happen when you're cooking out!
