150th Anniversary of the Pony Express

Wow! Its been a while. I would like to say that there was some cataclysmic event that prevented me from posting but I suggest that you take a look at the clause in my blog title - "when I get around to it". OK, OK, I know laziness ain't no excuse but I've been busy with my new German Shorthaired  Pointer, and constant companion that I rescued, Homer, the chuck wagon wonder dog.



He and I wound up cooking, well he spent most of the time sunning himself and barking at other passing mutts, with some good friends - Waly, Debbie, and Cheesy Cindy (there's a story there so stand by). We were very happy that we were able to support the Sandy, Utah Museum and the Pony Express Association.

So, here's the deal. The riders from the Pony Express Association started out in Sacramento, CA and are retracing the Pony Express route on to St. Jo, MO. At several relay stations along the way are celebrations honoring and recalling the history of the Pony Express.

Ol' Splatterdab setup the chuck wagon, with the help of Waly, across the street from the museum. The fare for the public and the riders was Cowboy Beans, Dutch Oven Taters, thanks to Debbie, rolls, and varieties of dump cakes, thanks to Debbie and Cindy. So, what did Ol' Splatterdab do? Well, supervised of course. Can't leave women in the kitchen alone ya know (boy, am I gonna catch it for that one).

So, let's get to this blog post's recipe which is a variation on the beer bread recipe. This also brings us back to my explanation of my introduction of Cheesy Cindy. So, beer bread is a wet bread and the recipe is simple:
3 cups self rising flour
1 Tbs sugar
12 oz beer (not light)

Mix the ingredients well and pour into a greased 10" Dutch oven. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Now, Cindy had not made a beer bread before so I handed her the recipe to work from and I suggested that she could get creative and use an additional ingredient such as red crushed pepper, garlic or other spices. I think she made a batch of beer bread using those and others. Mind you, I encourage creativity but Cindy asked me a question about an ingredient I didn't expect. She said, "Where's the cheese". Now, have you ever heard of a chuck wagon cook carrying cheese. Ol' Splatterdab gave her a look like she had just asked me a question in some foreign language. "No, thar ain't no cheese in this camp. What aire ya thinkin'?" Well, Cindy bein' the creative creature she is found some cheese. I'm thinkin' she stole it from somewhere but anyway she put it in a batch that was near done that was made up using a brown ale from the Wasatch Brewery.  You can use a regular beer like Bud or Coors. But, the brown ale turned out a bread with a very interesting character and darker color. And I will admit, it was pretty dad-gum good. Thanks Cheesy Cindy.

All-in-all, it was a very good day. We all worked pretty hard and I really want to thank Debbie, Cindy, and Wally for their volunteering to help me and the Sandy Museum. A very special thanks to Colleen Sloan, Skip and Audrey, Will Ward and his son (apologize - can't remember the young man's name) for helping me break camp and getting me on the trail home.

Splatterdab
Where the cowboy coffee is always hot.