Cooking for the Cowboys
December 27, 2018
One of my favorite days of the year is when we ship cattle. Not only for the check that comes home at the end of a very long day, but because I love to cook for the cowboys. The day starts early and usually by the time lunch comes they are ready to eat and stop to rest for a few minutes. My day starts early as well. I always fix a hot lunch with all the fixins’ and end it with cake or pie. Today, I made my favorite chocolate cake. It’s made with mayonnaise (sounds awful I know), but it’s really good.
I try to time it so when I hear the trucks and trailers rattling down the drive, I’m taking the food out of the oven and putting it on the table. Those cowboys are ready for a cold glass of sweet tea and some food. I sit down with them and listen as they banter back and forth about the things that went well that morning and the things that didn’t. There was lots of teasing and today there was even some remembering. It was good to laugh about past days when the cowboys came. Today we remembered a little dog we had, Bandit, and how they always threatened to charge an extra $25 if Bandit helped. He was always in the way, usually under the trailer barking at the calves as they tried to load, and my husband would end up giving him a good cussing and dump him in the house.
Before I do the dishes I like to walk out to the pens and watch them bring the cattle up from the pasture and into the lot. Those cowboys and their horses make it look so easy.
Everyone—man, dog, and horse, know just what to do and before long they are in the pens.
The dogs bark, the men holler, the cattle bawl. I love the noise of cowboys.
Here comes the wormer and the needle. They get sorted, sprayed and stuck. The bigger calves are loaded and are auction barn bound.