Rain, Glorious Rain and Food

By Lynn Harlan

June 1, 2021, as some of you may recall, was 90 degrees Fahrenheit that day. We all looked at each other and thought, how are we going to get the lambs docked in this?

Processing lambs, also known as docking, is where producers castrate, vaccinate, remove tails and paint brand the lambs. It’s best done on cool mornings. 

Thankfully the weather did cool off and eventually the ewes and lambs made it to the mountain where there was a little bit of grass and water.  

June 2022, what a difference! We’ve got grass, cool weather and the other night had a gully washer, which filled the reservoirs. 

As the old timers would say, “We’re in high cotton.” High green grass is more like it.  

No one is complaining about rained out brandings, cancelled arena events or a very wet and snowy Memorial Day weekend. There may have been a few campers who were surprised, but we’re all walking around with a big smile on our faces. 

May was full of graduation parties and brandings. As a food lover, I always look forward to these gatherings. 

I especially hope for a neighbor lady’s brownies. They show up at all major functions around Kaycee. Everyone waits for them, and I may have even snuck one home for breakfast the next morning. 

Ok, to be truthful, they never last long. I believe the recipe is in an old Barnum cookbook somewhere, but they never turn out like Cheri’s.  

For several years, Kate has had a teenage, all girl docking crew. She’ll get the occasional high school boy, but it seems football camp or something else keeps them busy.  

We attended a graduation party for three of the gals at the end of May, and I learned something new. They had chunks of watermelon to put in a cup and sprinkle Tajin seasoning (pronounced ta-Heen) over them, and then pour a little Chamoy Mega sauce over all of it. 

Tajin is a seasoning made in Mexico, which is a little spicy, salty and tangy from lime juice. The Chamoy Mega is a sweet and sour sauce also made in Mexico.

I read Tajin is wonderful sprinkled on mango, pineapple, melon, jicama and cucumbers. You can find it in the Mexican food aisle at most big supermarkets. 

Am I the last person to know about this? You can teach an old dog new tricks. 

Charcuterie (shahr-KOO-tuh-ree) is a French term relating to the preparing of cured meats, like prosciutto, bacon, salami, etc., but these days it is usually referring to a fun meat and cheese board, which may include cured meats, a variety of cheeses, crackers, nuts, fruits, vegetables and dipping sauces or spreads. If you’ve been anywhere fancy lately, you may have seen one. 

A friend who does a lot of boating makes hers in a tackle box – handy on the boat and has a lid for keeping the wet out. Filled with sliced meats, salami, olives, sliced cheeses, nuts and crackers, it’s an all-in-one “snackle box.” 

I saw a picture where a mom had made an Easter basket in a similar type of box filled with all kinds of candy goodies. 

On a ranch, your charcuterie board is probably a sleeve of Ritz Crackers and a tube of beef salami sliced with an almost-clean pocket knife. There may be a can of Easy Cheese to go along with it, and it’s all topped off with a handful of trail mix. 

Preserved children

Take one large field, half a dozen children, two or three small dogs, a pinch of brook and some pebbles.

Mix the children and dogs well together, put them on the field, stirring constantly.

Pour the brook over the pebbles, sprinkle the field with flowers, spread over all a deep blue sky and bake in the sun. 

When brown, set away to cool in the bathtub.  

Thank you, Bonnie Smith.