"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Here in Texas, the cowboy way...........

is..........just that.............
the cowboy way..............
 
Big hats, tall boots, cows, horses, and cooking outside on a mesquite fire.........

 
I love it, but I also love the history of pioneer and long ago cowboy days........when folks ran their daily lives out on the trails out of an old wagon, with only a few ingredients to make a decent meal. It has been something that has always intrigued me!
Once a year, my husband treats me to a trip to a cowboy/chuck wagon cook off.
We just got through going to one yesterday in Lubbock Texas.

As most of you know, these groups of chuck wagon chefs camp out all night and keep their fires going for this event.  Some start cooking at 3 A.M to make sure that food is ready for all of us hungry visitors.  Here a cowboy is fixing mashed potatoes......
 
Here is another, getting the biscuits into the hot iron dutch oven.
As you can see, the fire pits are in the ground. Don't you love the woman in the background dressed in her long dress?
Lucky for her.............instead of 100 + degrees this year, a cool front moved in......making the weather pleasant for the cooks and for us!
 
This is the gang that was preparing our meal. Mesquite smoke was in the air, everywhere.

I was so impressed with our chuck wagon group. Before we were served, the head man introduced his team, which was all family and ranch hands. Then he had us all say prayer before eating.
These two lovely ladies are here every year............look, they are making my favorite apple cobbler!!!

There were cowboy performers during our meal...........but I was trying to balance my food on my lap and trying to eat it at the same time............so I did not take their photos.
The food was so delicious! Chicken fried steak, pinto beans, mashed potatoes, the most wonderful buttermilk biscuits ..............and heavenly apple cobbler!!
Watching them all cook and knowing how long it took to prepare this meal really made me appreciate it even more.
How about you?
Have you gone to one of these............or even a barbecue cook off before?
I would love to hear!
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

19 comments:

Country Gal said...

Wonderful photos ! Looks Yummy and fun ! Thanks for sharing your nice day with us !

Sherri Farley said...

Looks tasty!! I can even smell it!

Martha said...

I enjoyed reading about the cowboy cookout. Alot of work, but the food looked so good. Enjoyed it alot.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Glad to hear you had nice weather for the day. Give me pinto beans, a biscuit and apple cobbler and I'd be happy. :) Hope your day is a good one. Tammy

magnoliasntea said...

What a fun outing! I would love to attend a chuckwagon cookoff. Thank you for sharing the pictures. Have a great week!

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

How very interesting! We've been to barbecue cook-offs, but never a chuck wagon one. It looks like a lot of fun, and my mouth is watering at how good the food looks! What a sweet hubby to take you to this.

Hill Top Post said...

Well, this is just my kind of day...so much fun just reading about it, but wish I could have been there too!

Connie said...

I've never been to such an event, Kathleen. I didn't even know they held them! The food looks great, though, and it sounds like you had a lot of fun. :)

TxFarmhouse said...

Oh, Kathleen, I haven't been blogging in so long but came across your post. How I love these cookoffs..as a matter of fact, I've got one coming up in a couple weeks in Alvarado. There's going to be six wagons (I think 6) and we're each cooking for 75..potatoes, beans, bread and cobbler. It's so much fun to go back in time!

Doris said...

Kathleen, well here I am again. Stopped by to visit and sure enough you had several posts I have not read. I've just got to do better in keeping up. Lots of changes in life here as I've known it, but God is still faithful.
I need to hear about your goings on, so I'll try to do better. Blessings from Arkansas,

Doris
Grammyof16

The Farmers Daughter said...

What a fun cookoff! I lived in Texas for a few years and always meant to go to one of these--but never did. Wish I had now!

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

I have never been to one of these but it looks interesting. I can only imagine how strong one has to be to lift some of those huge pots. Its a skill to cook like that and these guys look like they have mastered it. I like the gathering and a prayer!

janice15 said...

Looks like a most wonderful day....I would love to that one day...Happy Tuesday with love Janice

Paula said...

These pictures were great, Kathleen! I'll bet it smelled so good there... and I love how they all dress like cowboys. (And Cowgirls!)
We have lots of barbecues around here... but there are also cultural events in Knoxville every year like Greek-fest. (The food there is WONDERFUL!)

A Colorful World said...

I've always been fascinated with open hearth cooking, on a fire with iron cook pots. I almost got a job at Williamsburg once many MANY years ago doing just that, but I became worried that my asthma would be a problem in the kitchen all day in the summer heat, so I withdrew my application. But, I love it! This looks like it was great fun, and I sure bet the food was delicious!

Green Gal said...

How fun! I have never heard of this kind of cook-off before, so thanks for sharing.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Kathleen, no similar events here on the VA eastern shore. The festivals and soecial events we have are usually connected with seafood. Your meal looked wonderful and kudos to those cowboy chefs.

deb said...

How fun that must have been. I've not heard of this lind of activity before, thatnks for sharing! We sure take for granted how easy we have these days.
*hugs*deb

Ladybug said...



Awesome Cook-Off Day...We have
Chile cook-Offs, Lots of Cowboys
around here too.. Good Old Round
Up Days..

Hugs Ladybug :-)