Simply DelecTable Catering and the Simply Delightful Cowgirl

Julie is one of the most delightful cowgirls you'll ever meet. She raises cattle, ropes, and rides, teaches church youth and volunteers for church camp. If you said something ugly to her, she would be more likely to hug your neck and call you honey than say something ugly back.

We went to lunch shortly after I moved back to the plains, and she told me she was starting a catering company, Simply DelecTable. I knew it would be successful, because she's just too nice to serve people food that is anything other than delicious.

Simply DelecTable, about a year in, is off to a great start. Here in our little farm town, we're lucky to have her offering lunch every Tuesday. The Marlboro Man sandwich, one of my favorites, was on the menu today. All that meaty delicious goodness served up with grilled peppers and onions on a savory roll had my mouth watering before I even got there. I almost had to buy two because I wasn't sure I could stave off eating it until I photographed it for this post, but I did . . . just barely.

Marlboro Man Sandwich

from Simply DelecTable

 

And brownies galore on the menu today! Of course, I needed to sample eat one of each kind for this post. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Sigh. (They were delicious!)

 

Heath Almond Brownie

from Simply DelecTable

O-M-G!

Please, may I have another?

 

Oreo Brownie

from Simply DelecTable

Will make you love Oreos like only a kid can.

Twix Brownie

from Simply DelecTable

The candy bar should be name after this brownie

instead of the other way around. It's that good.

Fun on the Plains - Time with Wilma my Ranch Horse

She's a Greyt Gal!

Texas Legends 2012 Production Sale - Waggoner Ranch - Electra, Texas

Almost 100 horses sold at the Texas Legends 2012 Production Sale held at the historic Waggoner Ranch in Electra, Texas yesterday. Inside the sale barn, cowboys showed off ranch horses' skills and ranchers found great horses at great prices.

Outside in the warm up area, it was strictly business, as the cowboys prepared the horses to show for sale.

Above: Pep Jay Dee TRR from Testa Rossa Ranch

Ridden by trainer Heith Jones

www.TestaRossaRanch.com

Above: Pep Jay Dee TRR from Testa Rossa Ranch

Ridden by trainer Heith Jones

www.TestaRossaRanch.com

Above: Pep Jay Dee TRR from Testa Rossa Ranch

Ridden by trainer Heith Jones

www.TestaRossaRanch.com

Frederick Homecoming Parade

Once a Bomber, always a Bomber. Go Bombers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She's Got a Lot of Cow in Her

 

Get behind, keep them together, push them, into the pen they go. Back from retirement after two years on break, my sweet little ranch horse has a lot of cow in her. She knows how to follow a herd at just the right distance so they don't freak out and bolt for Montana, Missouri, and Mexico.

 

Our first try, and second, and third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, she made pushing and penning cattle easy. (Although I suspect maybe my sweetheart set us up with some pre-trained cattle. That one that walked into the pen all on his own was kind of suspicious.) I'm wondering what we'll try next. Hmmm, maybe separating cattle . . . without letting them bolt for Montana.

Tasty Cactus

Until recently I hadn't looked at these and thought, "Mmmm, tasty!" Growing up in Oklahoma, they were a nuisance that found their way into crops and yards and were a pain to permanently remove, but during my years in southern California, I saw them frequently in grocery stores. A friend I worked with in downtown LA said she loved her grandmother's napolitos. From the affectionate way she described her, I could almost see her standing over the stove cooking them in her kitchen. After that each time I walked past the prickly pear cactus I had previously thought of as a nuisance in a grocery store, I imagined her grandmother cooking.

 

 

A few days ago, I told my sweetheart, "People eat these, you know," thinking it might be time for me to take the plunge and try my hand at cooking cactus.

 

"Really," he said. "How? What do they make with them?"

 

"Cactus jelly," was all I could come up with. (My ignorance and my sweet tooth were showing.) I 've seen cactus jelly many times, but on the spot I could not describe the dish my friend's grandmother made. And really, I should be better educated about cactus, because if our two-year drought continues much longer, it might be easier to grow cactus as a cash crop than cotton.

 

So I began thinking more about cooking prickly pear, also known as nopales, paddle cactus, or Opuntia.  Now I'm sixteen different kinds of curious and in search of a fabulous cactus recipe.

 

So far, I've come across the ones below, and am thinking prickly pear will be showing up on the dinner or breakfast table soon.

 

Cactus Salsa from The Hungry Texan - Yum!

 

Cactus Corn Muffins from Taste of Home - I've never gone wrong with a Taste of Home recipe.

 

Mexican Green Bean Salad from Simply Recipes - Looks tasty!

 

Scrambled Eggs and Napolitos from Spice Lines - Yes, please!

 

 

Just Another Day on the Plains

When clouds like this roll in, I am always in awe. But out here this is just another day on the plains.

 

Rain clouds roll across the drought-stricken southwest Oklahoma plains

Near Frederick, Oklahoma