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Sin City, Cowboys and Cupcakes by Charlene Sands

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I set REDEEMING the CEO COWBOY primarily in Reno, Nevada because it’s an extension of The Slades of Sunset Ranch Series and my hero Casey Thomas, is the CEO of Sentinel Construction from the Lake Tahoe area.  Casey was born and raised in Reno and he’s come back to expand the business in his hometown.   Well, that’s only one of the reasons…Susanna Hart has a little to do with the other reasons.

Reno was known in earlier days as “Sin City”, gaining its name and reputation for underground gambling and prostitution.  After gold was discovered Virginia City, Charles Fuller decided to construct a bridge over the Truckee River charging a toll to cross, but the bridge wasn’t sturdy enough and his venture failed. Right before the Central Pacific Railroad came through the area, Myron Lake bought the bridge and land surrounding the area.  The sturdier bridge he had constructed soon became known as Lake’s Crossing.  In 1868 Lake’s Crossing was renamed Reno after Civil War hero, General Jesse Reno.reno arch

Reno became an important freight and passenger center. In 1928, the Reno City Council decided “Sin City” wouldn’t do, they needed a new slogan for their town and started a “motto” competition.  The winner received $100.00 and the new slogan and now famous arch that hovers over the main street in town reads: The Biggest Little City in the World!

 

Susanna Hart owns a home-based business, Sweet Susie’s Pastries and More in Reno, Nevada.   Here’s one of her  recipes!

Rocky Road Chocolate Muffins (credit to Cupcakes Made Simple)

rocky road chocolate muffin

6 TBSP sunflower oil OR 6 TSP butter, melted and cooled

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

2 ounces unsweetened cocoa

Pinch of salt

1 TBSP baking powder

½ Cup super fine sugar

½ Cup white chocolate chips

1 ¼ ounces white mini-marshmallows cut in half

2 eggs

I Cup of milk

Grease a 12 hole muffin pan.  Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Stir in sugar, white chocolate chips and marshmallows.

Beat eggs in large bowl, add milk and oil and beat gently.  Make a well with dry ingredients and add in beaten liquid ingredients.  Stir gently until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin pans.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Enjoy!

 

Romantic Times Book Reviews: Sands continues the Slades of Sunset Ranch series with a heartfelt story, three-dimensional characters and a storyline that flows with relative ease. This is a SURE BET! Reviewed by: Susannah Balch

 

RTCCAMAZON  

REDEEMING THE CEO COWBOY is available for pre-order and in bookstores August 1st.

Ten years ago = ancient history…right?

So what if former rodeo champion turned construction mogul Casey Thomas is back…living right next door? Susanna Hart is busy running her Sweet Susie’s pastry business and raising her two-year-old cousin. Why pay any attention to the man who took her virginity ten years ago, then left town?

Casey still feels guilty for taking advantage of his little sister’s best friend. A helping hand is just what her business—and his conscience—need. But guilt isn’t his only motivation. Casey’s got a sweet tooth for Susie. And the more she resists, the sweeter it gets!

Do you have a favorite muffin or cupcake recipe?  How would you feel about your EX- moving in next door?  Have you ever been to Reno or Lake Tahoe? Impressions?  I’d love to hear from you!  

Post a comment to any or all of these questions and a random blogger will be drawn over the weekend to win a $10.00 Amazon or BN Gift Card! 

 

Cheryl St.John: HER WYOMING MAN in Stores Now!

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I’m excited about my July release Her Wyoming Man. This story was one of those that starts out as only a snippet of an idea I had scribbled on a paper until one day I looked it over and began to flesh it out. My original idea started out like Milk Money (Melanie Griffith) or The Substitute Wife (Farah Fawcett) but transformed into something different.

Originally I had planned for a third party to seek out a prostitute as a wife for his brother/father and for the man who marries her to think she’s a regular mail order bride. Would have worked.

 

But the more I thought on it, the more effective it seemed that the woman herself be the one to instigate the deception. She became a lovely courtesan, raised in a high class brothel in Dodge City and kept by one wealthy man. When he leaves town, she is desperate to avoid becoming available to the Saturday night cowboys, so she joins with a group of soiled doves and replies to an ad for mail order brides in a booming Colorado city.

 

Of course the hero isn’t simply a rancher. Oh no. He practically started this city single-handedly. He’s a well-educated widower and city attorney being pressured to take a wife to improve his image for the governor’s race. He’s smitten at first sight. And so the deception begins….

 

My favorite stories are those in which one of the characters is keeping a secret. Ella Reed’s secret is a doozy.  After living the life of a near-prisoner, she is out in public and exposed to people for the first time. Everything is new and exciting. She knows how to pretend, but she doesn’t know how to be herself or a regular person. Reality takes a lot of getting used to. She quickly learns to love this life as a wife and mother. However, she lives in fear that the truth will bring her world tumbling down around her.

 

And of course, it eventually does just that.

 

I’ve written a couple books since writing this one, so it was fun to go back and look it over so I could tell you about it. Hope you look for Her Wyoming Man in stores now!

CLICK HERE TO READ AN EXCERPT

 

Who Introduced You To The Joys of Reading?

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 I’ll never forget a particular trip to the library. My mom heard about the summer reading program and off we went.  It was quite the adventure!  The Granada Hills Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library had just opened, and it was right next to Petit Park, another brand new facility. I walked out of the building (which at the time seemed huge) with my own library card and a stack of books that included Carolina’s Courage by Elizabeth Yates.

Carolina’s Courage is about a young girl who leaves her New Hampshire home to travel west with her family.  They’re part of a wagon train, and Carolina’s most beloved possession is her china doll. Somewhere in the story she reluctantly trades it with a little Indian girl, and it’s that trade that leads to peace and safe passage for the entire wagon train.

Carolina’s Courage was the first “western” I ever read.  I’m so glad my mom took me to the library that summer. At summer’s end I’d read 25 books, each noted in my little-girl block printing and acknowledged with a stick-on gold star. That first summer reading program led to many others, and I will be forever grateful to the librarians who made it such fun. I discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder at the library.  Same with Jack London . . . Later I moved on to Willa Cather’s My Antonia and O Pioneers.

Both of my grandmothers also encouraged my love of books.  I was about ten years old when Nana Bylin bought me my first Black Stallion book.  I read it fast, and then I read it again.  Every week for the next few months, she had a new book waiting for me.  When we finished the Black Stallion series, we launched into Nancy Drew. That was good for a year of reading! 

My other grandmother played a different role in my love for books. She was a writer at heart.  She never ventured into fiction, but she wrote wonderful letters. She lived about 400 miles away when I was in middle school, and we wrote weekly.  I wish now she’d written her memories in a journal. I don’t have the details, but she and her family traveled to New Braunfels, Texas in a covered wagon. 

The other individuals who encouraged me to read were elementary school teachers.  My fifth grade teacher put Caddie Woodlawn  into my hands and I loved it.  Every week when we went to the school library, I found something new and intriguing. For a while, I was hooked on biographies. I discovered Sacajawea  on the biography shelf and read it many times.

Has this blog jogged your memory?  What books do you remember reading as a child?  Do you remember the very first chapter book you ever read?  Books have always been magical to me. They still are!

Cheryl St.John on Log Cabins

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cheryl_stjohn_logo.jpgWe tend to think of log cabins as symbols of early American life, and indeed they embodied the inventive and hardy spirits of those who blazed new trails and settled on the frontier. The first log cabin in the Unites States was most likely built along the Delaware River in New Sweden by Scandinavian immigrants. The Swedes, Germans, Russians had been making cabins for years. Swedish settlers built log cabins when they came to Delaware in 1638. Other colonists followed their example.

When great numbers of settlers began to move westward after the Revolution, they found thick forests in Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Northwest Territory, and the log cabin became the typical home of the backwoodsman. The log cabin made the transition to the New World beautifully. With lush forests and raw materials at hand, log cabins were the perfect homes for settlers. Many times trees had to be cut to create living space or to clear fields for farming anyway.

log_cabin 0Building with logs didn’t require much skill or special tools. A sharp axe, an adz and a strong back did the job, and the new lodging went up quickly. Most could last a couple hundred years if built well, and the inhabitants were warm in winter and cool in summer.

Once the trees were cut, the farmer stripped away branches and bark so insects weren’t left behind to crawl into the house or weaken the structure. The builder then cut notches for fitting the logs atop each other. Once stacked and fitted, he then chinked or calked with mud or clay, grass and moss mixtures.

LogCabin00Roofs were made of available material, though cedar was prized because the wood split straight and resisted rot. The owner nailed the shingles to a beam and board framework. More logs could also be used as roofing, provided they were split lengthwise and fitted close on the frame. The gaps could be filled the same as the walls. A thatched roof needed a lot of upkeep, had to be replaced every year and often harbored insects, small animals and snakes. Many used sod placed flat over planks, and after a few years the earth compacted and became waterproof. Later in the 1800s, builders used corrugated tin. Can you imagine the sound of a rainstorm or hail?

abraham-lincoln-boyhood-log-cabinLog cabins were not all one room dwellings with lofts, as we tend to imagine or like we see on Little House on the Prairie reruns. Many had several rooms and even second stories. Fireplaces and chimneys were made of stones and chinked with mud or clay. Sometimes the chimney was made of sticks or wood.

stjohn.jpgThe floor was hard-packed clay or dirt. Since living in a cabin made its occupants vulnerable to attack, there were usually no windows. Besides glass was expensive and difficult to transport. Most people hung wooden shutters over oiled paper. In summer, the inventive settlers covered the openings with cheesecloth to allow air in and keep bugs out.

Probably the world’s most famous log cabin is the one in which Abraham Lincoln was born. When we think of log cabins we think of hard work, ingenuity and independence, all virtues of our pioneer ancestors.

Cowboys of the Silver Screen: GENE AUTRY

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momlogolihNot much happened in the telegraphy office of the St. Louis-San Francisco railroad, especially not on the late shift. To pass the time, the young clerk brought his guitar and played to amuse himself. On one of those lonely nights, he received a visitor. That visitor was legendary humorist Will Rogers, and Rogers liked what he heard from a young man called Orvon Gene Autry.

The chance meeting launched a career spanning six decades that included 640geneautry1 records with over 100 million copies sold.  And that’s just the start of it. Gene Autry starred in 95 movies, had a long running radio program, and produced and starred in his own television show.  When he retired from Hollywood, he went on to own the California Angels and KTLA, a Los Angeles television station. He’s also the only entertainer to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for every category established by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.  No wonder he’s on a postage stamp honoring Hollywood cowboys!

His success was quite a leap for the young man born Sept. 29, 1907 in Tioga, Texas. At the age of five, Gene’s preacher-grandfather taught him to sing. His mother encouraged her son’s interest in music with hymns and folks songs. Gene was 12 when he bought his first guitar for $8 out of the Sears Catalog. After graduating from high school, he took the telegraphy job that led to his chance meeting with Will Rogers.

Rogers advised him to purse a career in show business, and a year later Gene went to New York to audition for RCA Victor. He didn’t win immediate favor. An executive told him to come back when he’d gotten more experience, and Gene did just that. He returned in six months and made his first recording, “My Dreaming of You” with a flipside of “My Alabama Home.”

Gene Autry horse guitarIn 1929 he signed with Columbia Records and went on to star in “National Barn Dance,” a popular show on a Chicago radio station. By the 1930s, he was one of the most beloved country singers in America, and his sales proved it. Gene Autry earned the first Gold Record ever awarded. No wonder he’s known as “America’s Favorite Singing Cowboy.”

Movies came next for Gene. He first appeared on the screen in 1934, but the film that made him a star was “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” in 1935. It led to several more “singing cowboy” movies, produced by Republic Pictures at a rate of a movie every six weeks. By 1937, Gene was rated a top box office attraction in the class of Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy.

In addition to the  movies, Gene had a radio presence. His “Melody Ranch” show aired from 1940 to 1956.  Just about everyone knew the words to Back in the Saddle Again.  When television became the main source of familyGene Autry radio entertainment, Gene was the first major movie star to make the shift. He produced and starred in the Gene Autry Show for six years.

The stats for Gene Autry go on and on, but there are two things he’s known for that don’t have a number attached. One of those things is “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Gene recorded this Christmas song  in 1949, and it’s a true American Classic.

The second is even more fitting for Petticoats & Pistols, a blog dedicated to western romance.  Gene Autry is credited with “The Cowboy Code.” Here is it:

 

 1. A cowboy never takes unfair advantage – even of an enemy.

 2. A cowboy never betrays a trust. He never goes back on his word.

 3. A cowboy always tells the truth.

 4. A cowboy is kind and gentle to small children, old folks, and animals.

 5. A cowboy is free from racial and religious intolerances.

 6. A cowboy is always helpful when someone is in trouble.

 7. A cowboy is always a good worker.

 8. A cowboy respects womanhood, his parents and his nation’s laws.

 9. A cowboy is clean about his person in thought, word, and deed.

10.A cowboy is a Patriot.

If that doesn’t sum up what it means to be a western hero, I don’t know what does. Autry small

 

 The Singing Cowboy stamps go on sale Saturday, April 17th.  It’s fitting the official unveiling will be at the Autry National Center in the Museum of the American West in Los Angeles. 

My Hero’s Best Friend

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momlogolihThe hero in my current manuscript is a bad-to-the-bone gunslinger. This guy’s got a terrible past, and frankly, when I started the book I didn’t like him at all. I spend about six months with my characters while writing a book, so it’s a problem if I’m thinking, “I can’t stand this guy. He’s a total jerk.”

I had to fix my hero, but how?  The answer came in the middle of a movie on the Sci Fi Channel.  Maustralian-cattle-dogy husband picked it and I can’t remember anything about it, except that the hero had a dog. As hard and dangerous as the movie character was (I think he was battling giant snakes), the fact he loved his dog made him totally sympathetic.

Bingo!  I decided to give my hero a dog. I gave the dog a name, taught her some tricks and got busy reading about working cattle dogs.

Cattle dogs come in all breeds and sizes. One of the most well known breeds is the Australian Cattle Dog. These dogs are called heelers because they nip  at the heels of the animals they’re herding.

Welsh Corgis are another breed of heeler. Having had a Chihuahua-Corgi mix as a pet, I can testify to being playfully chased by a dog determined to herd me to the fridge for snack.

If you’ve ever seen a Corgi, you know that their legs are short. Cattle dogs are bred for speed and endurance, but the Corgi’s stature has a different advantage. BWelsh Corgiecause they’re so small, they’re less likely to get kicked by an irritated cow. I’m biased here, but I love Corgis.  They’re affectionate, playful and intelligent. 

Border Collies are another common herding dog. These dogs are different from “heelers.” Instead of chasing a stubborn cow, a Border Collie would get in front of the animal and give it what’s called “eye.”  In short, Border Collies staborder-colliere down the animals they’re herding.

These critters have another unique trait. While other breeds drive the cattle away from the handler, Border Collies circle the animals and drive them back to the handler. Because of this instinct, some people consider Border Collies the best of all herding dogs.

I didn’t give my hero a specific breed of working cattle dog. Instead I took the best traits of the various breeds and come up with a loyal, intelligent canine with strength, speed and an independent streak.  The dog in my story is a mutt and has  a little wolf in her. I made her female, and like any good heroine she’s knows her own mind.  Never mind that she has four legs!  The hero loves her, and somehow that makes him a better man.

Welcome Bobbi Smith!

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smith_bobbi.jpgHi everybody!  I’m thrilled to be back blogging at Petticoats and Pistols.  It’s an honor. 

This weekend I’m in Texas for the Golden Triangle Writers’ Conference.  Robert Vaughan and Greg Tobin are here, too, so it’s going to be wonderful – as always!  I do love Texas!Runaway

My latest new release is Runaway.  It came out this summer from Leisure.  I’m really fond of this book.  I have so much fun writing about hidden identities.  It’s exciting when the hero and heroine have secrets they can’t reveal to each other. 

In Runaway, Texas Ranger Lane Madison is tracking an outlaw gang.  Lane learns from a saloon girl in a small town that the leader of the gang won a ranch in a card game and plans to make it their hideout.  Lane goes after them, hoping to catch up with them before they reach the ranch.  As it turns out, only one of the outlaws heads directly for the ranch.  Lane decides to go after the rest of the gang, but loses their trail after a bad storm.  Frustrated, he heads back after the lone gunman and manages to catch up with him.  There is a shootout and Lane wins. 

Knowing the gang will eventually show up at the ranch, he decides to assume the dead outlaw’s identity and go there to await their arrival.  What Lane doesn’t know is that the gunman Seth Rawlins sent for a mail-order bride, thinking being married would make him look more like a rancher instead of an outlaw.

Our heroine, Destiny Sterling, is on the run.  She thinks she killed her evil stepfather when he tried to attack her after her mother’s death, so she flees her home and assumes the identity of a girl who had backed out of being a mail-order bride.  Destiny heads to Texas as Rebecca Lawrence to marry Seth Rawlins.  She’s scared, but believes she has no other choice.

It was so much fun writing the scene when she arrives at the ranch and meets ‘Seth’ for the first time. 

I asked a few guys what they thought the hero would say in this situation.  The funniest quip was from my son who said, “Wait a minute — I thought it was two for the price of one!”

RelentlessCoverI just finished my next book – Relentless.  It is coming out next March.  Dusty Martin is our heroine.  After her mother passes away, Dusty has only her father, who is a stage driver.   She’s always been a tomboy, so he decides to have her ride shotgun on the stage with him to keep her safe.  When an outlaw gang robs the stage and takes her hostage, it’s up to our hero, Texas Ranger Grant Spencer, to save her.  

Relentless is an action-packed story.  I hope everybody enjoys it.

This year, Zebra has released some of my older books again. Yeah!  The Gunfighter – originally Beneath Passion’s Skies – is back out now, and last spring they re-released Desert Heart.

In 2010, Zebra is bringing out some of my oldies.  Captive Pride a story about the American Revolution will be rereleased in June and Passion, my Viking story, will be back out in October.  What fun!  It’s neat to see them back on the shelves again!

 

 

Bobbi is giving away TWO BOOKS this visit ~ one copy of Runaway & one copy of Gunfighter! All you have to do is join in the fun and you could be a winner.

Follow the Fillies on Twitter @Felicia_Filly

 

Flying Horses

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marryingminda-crop-to-useOn our recent trip north to visit our niece Katie and hubby John in the Lake Tahoe area, we paused to take in the sites and history of Sacramento including the mansion  some-wedding-sacramento-reno-tahoe-2009-115of Leland Stanford (1824-1893). Stanford wore such hats as California governor, railroad baron, university founder…and race horse owner. One of the video displays at the mansion shows his search to settle one of the hot debates of the 1870’s: Is there a moment in a horse’s gait when all four hooves are off the ground at once?

 leland-stanford

There is a legend that Leland Stanford bet $25,000 that it was true. Common reaction at the time nixed the idea. After all, if God wanted horses to “fly”, He would have given the creature wings.  But determined to settle the question, Stanford hired celebrity photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) to prove it.

 

Actually Muybridge was born Edward Muggeridge in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey, near London. He adopted the more dramatic moniker, believing it to be the true Anglo-Saxon spelling. eadweard-muybridgeHowever, he soon shortened it to Helios and became one of San Francisco’s most celebrated landscape photographers, taking more then 2,000 photographs with 20×24 inch negatives. His 1867 photographs of Yosemite Valley brought the valley…and himself…almost mythic status.

 

He accepted Stanford’s challenge in 1872 and came to “the farm” in Palo Alto. (It now is Stanford University.)  After a bit of a detour –Muybridge went on trial for killing his wife’s lover— he found it wise to spend some time in Mexico and Central America even though he was acquitted on the grounds of justifiable homicide. Here he did photography work for Union Pacific Railroad, one of Stanford’s companies. In 1877 Muybridge came back to Palo Alto and continued his experiments in motion photography, using 12 to 24 cameras and a special shutter he developed that gave an exposure of 2/1,000 of a second. stanford-horse-farm-camera

Muybridge’s first attempt indeed captured Stanford’s horse, Occident, silhouetted against white sheets with all four feet off the ground. Although these original pictures didn’t survive, Muybridge continued to work with Stanford to develop techniques in the “science of animal motion.”

In 1878, he succeeded in photographing a sequence of frames produced on wet plate with 12 cameras that proved the “flying horse.” The slow wet plate collodion process produced images that were mostly silhouettes, but they showed something never before seen by the human eye. muybridge-horse-3

 

 

iscientific-american-october-18-18781Scientific American and other prominent publications featured articles on Muybridge’s accomplishment. However, Stanford invited his close friend, horseman and medical physician  Dr. J.B.D. Stillman to produce a book analyzing the horse-in-motion. Stillman used Muybridge’s photography without crediting the photographer. Interestingly, when Muybridge sued Stanford and Stillman for copyright infringement, he lost his suit.

Eadweard migrated to the University of Pennsylvania after that where he developed sequences of human figures, both clothed and naked (including himself unclothed). This important collection helped scientists and artists study human and animal movement, and many of the sequences were published in 1887 in a portfolio,  “Animal Locomotion, An Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movement.”. To simplify, imagine the “flip books” of your childhood. And actually, Muybridge’s sequences are available for kids in just this format in the mansion gift shop.

For all these reasons, and for the big one — the zoopraxiscope—Eadweard Muybridge is often called the father of the motion picture. To illustrate his lectures, he developed the’scope; its lantern projected images in rapid succession onto a screen. The images came from his photographs, printed on a glass disc. From the rotating disc came the illusion of moving pictures. muybridge-zoopraxiscope

Muybridge’s zoopraxiscope display, an important predecessor of the modern cinema, was a sensation at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. Muybridge continued to promote his photography and publish his work until his retirement in 1900 at which time he returned to England. “Animal Locomotion” is still in demand by art students today.     flying-single-horse 

I’m always amazed at the progress and prowess of people who came before. What a debt we owe to their ingenuity, their resilience. In honor of Eadweard Muybridge’s legacy, what are your favorite motion pictures?

marryingminda_w2706_120http://twitter.com/FeliciaFilly

Roasted Lone Star Pecans by Patricia Potter

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pecans1         I love cooking and I usually cook to taste, so recipes are difficult to share.  A touch of this and a touch of that is my usual explanation when asked for quantities. I test along the way and add a spice here, more salt there.  In this I take after my grandmother who never measured anything in her life.

       But here goes my best effort.

       One of my favorite recipes is for roasted butter pecans.  I make tons of them during the holiday season and give something around 15 tins to editors, friends and family.  I generally make a huge dent of the Lions Club annual pecan sale. They love me.

          I also take them to every family party.  I think I would be barred without them.  And every year I take several pounds to RWA National which makes my room very popular.

          The recipe is ridiculously simple for the subsequent rewards, but it does take some time and attention. And since Texas is a great source of pecans, I’m delighted to include the recipe in the Fillies’ collection. texas-flag

           Ingredients: pound and a half of pecans.   One and a half stick of salted butter.   Salt.  

           I usually roast about a pound and a half of pecans in a shallow cake-size baking pan.   You don’t want more than that in any one pan because you want to coat them all with layers of butter and salt.     Did I tell you they are fattening?    Frightfully fattening?   And addictive?

            But I digress and here’s the recipe.

            Turn oven on to no more than 200 degrees.  Place pecans in the baking pan along with a three quarters of a stick of butter.    Once butter is melted, move the pecans around until coated in butter.   Add salt.   Make sure every pecan is butter and lightly salted.    Bake for forty minutes in 200 degree oven, then add the rest of the stick of butter, tossing the pecans until once more coated.   Salt lightly again.   Bake at very low temperature for another thirty minutes or forty minutes.    Add just a little more butter and salt, reduce heat to warm and let sit for thirty more minutes.

pecan-stamp          By adding butter in stages, it seeps into the pecans and bakes inside.    

           Taste frequently.  (Alas, keep a larger sized pair of jeans or slacks handy.)

          When finished, dry pecans on paper towels.

          Patience and continuous stirring is the secret here.  I usually take two hours per batch.  If you use a higher oven temperature, they will burn. 

          Enjoy and be prepared to be invited to parties more often.

             

Victoria Bylin: Modern Day Conestoga continued . . . Fast Food or Real Cooking?

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victoria_bylin_banner A few weeks ago I blogged about loading up the “pod” and our upcoming move to Lexington, Kentucky. The Pod is long gone, which means my husband and I are camping in our own home.  My youngest son is here, so he’s camping too. The only things we have in the house are things that will fit in my car and my husband’s pick-up truck, or stuff we plan to give to the Salvation Army. 

It’s amazing to discover just how little we need to live. We have a couple of beds, a love seat, an old chair that belongs to the dog, one television, a coffee table, and few other pieces of flotsam and jetsam.

My kitchen is empty except for one cabinet that has a couple of plates, cereal bowls, one fork and too many spoons. I’m not sure how that happened. Somehow I kept out all the spoons and only one fork. I’ve got one mixing bowl, one cooking pot and my favorite microwavable bowl.spoons

Compared to what was in the cabinets three weeks ago, we’re down to bare essentials.

You know what?  I’m enjoying the simplicity.  No clutter. No mess.  With my life stripped down to basics, I’ve thought often about that Conestoga wagon and how people took care of themselves.

When it’s dinner time around here, I put a frozen pizza in the oven or head to Subway for sandwiches.  Pioneers traveling by covered wagon cooked over campfires. That meant gathering fuel for the fire, either wood or buffalo chips.  I hit “start” on the microwave, or turn a knob and hear the clicking of the electronic starter on the stove. The women traveling west struck a match and tended the fire as they made meals from what they’d brought and what was available.  

covered-wagon-desertLocal plants and animals supplied much of their food, but they had to haul along flour, sugar, coffee, beans and other essentials. They could make some purchases from forts and trading posts along the way, but you know how prices go.  When things are in short supply, prices go sky high.  And there were no guarantees supplies would be available.  Me?  Lately I’ve been heading to the local market (Giant or Safeway in this area) and picking out pre-packaged cold cuts, frozen dinners, potato chips for my husband and Mighty Dog for Hartley (our beagle / Jack Russell mix).

canned-peaches-1880

The men and women traveling by covered wagon packed bacon in 100 lb. sacks with bran to preserve it in the heat. They carried 100 lb. sacks of flour, double bagged and carefully stitched. Vegetables were desiccated before the trip. They were cut thin, pressed, dried and as hard as rocks until cooked in water. Canned vegetables could be taken on the trip, but they were heavy and took up space. Me? I can buy fresh, frozen or canned vegetables ranging from corn to jalapenos and I don’t think twice about it. It’s all so easy, and I take it totally for granted.  

Some early travelers took things for granted as well, and they learned a hard lesson. As I was researching this blog, I came across a story in A Hand-Book for Overland Expeditions by Randolph B. Marcy, Captain U.S. Army.  He wrote: “I once traveled with a party of New Yorkers en route for California . . . They soon learned that Champagne, East India sweetmeats, olives, etc., etc., were not the most useful articles for a prairie tour.”spanish-olives

Can you imagine being hungry for a real meal and finding only olives and champagne? That’s the kind of snack that makes you appreciate home-cooking. So does frozen pizza!  My goal for this move is to be settled by Thanksgiving so I can make a big turkey dinner.

What about you?  Have you ever lived a stripped-down life?  If you were moving and had to reduce your kitchen to bare essentials, what would you have in your fridge?

western-vegetable-wagon-train

 

And one last thing . . . Next week the Fillies are doing a Western Recipe Week.  Check in for some great meal ideas that don’t come with microwave instructions!