A politically incorrect recipe for you...

Before you start getting all incensed about my recipe title, and writing pointed comments for the fridge door, let me tell you that this recipe wasn't named by a member of my family. And I don't know what else to call it. "Native American Woman Corn Casserole" is pretty cumbersome to write across the top of the recipe card. But feel free to call it whatever makes you comfortable.

My Aunt Bert introduced Squaw Corn to us when I was a little kid, and from the first taste, I was smitten. When I got old enough to dig through the recipe box and attempt some cooking, it was one of the easiest recipes to make. Today we're having it with ham, but it's really great with steak, too. This version has been modified a little, because I can't stand not tinkering with food, so this is my take on Squaw Corn!

Squaw Corn

Mix together in a large bowl:

2 cans cream corn

2 beaten eggs

3/4 c. cornmeal

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cooking oil

1 can diced green chilies

Pour half of the mixture in a casserole dish, and layer with 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Pour remaining corn mixture on top of cheese, and top with ANOTHER cup shredded cheddar.

Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, until a knife comes out of the center clean. *Maybe an hour? Depends on your oven.

Serve warm.

Kids and Calves

Introducing Annie Light...she finally got used to us, and has become a rather pushy member of the OC herd. After about 3 days of listening to the other calves shlurping the bottles, she decided she'd consort with the common calves and sample a bottle.

Now, she tramples over the top of them getting to the chow, and she's so obnoxious, she makes Daisy look positively prim. She finishes Festus' bottle most days, and consumes a goodly amount of rolled oats and pellets. I think she'll be a keeper!

Annie Light and Festus Jack...little tongues out, in anticipation.

Annie is true black, and fine boned. My other two calves are more dark chocolate colored, and she's making them look a little shabby.

Daisy Mae and Festus
Daisy is still the lead calf and bosses the other two around quite a bit.
Wayland moved their pen fence, to allow them more alfalfa and grass, and last night all I could see of Daisy was her rump and happily switching tail! She's growing at a good rate.
We are going to brand them, this next week, and she will not be impressed.


These are a bunch of 7's, watching the chores with rapt attention. These cows are 2 year olds that just had their first calf this spring, so they are like teenage mothers. Notice there are no calves with them...they are dingbats!

Dingbat 7's, pretending to be scared so they have a reason to dash away. Immediately following this shot, they put on the brakes and turned, once again, in unison to watch the chores again.

They tickle me!

Yeah, that's my boy....he climbs EVERYTHING!

Here he is, wanting to get down in the pen with Daisy and Festus, but he forgot his boots. So he has to cling to the fence like a little sparrow, chirping about the whole situation.

Angus, again. I keep looking at this picture, trying to locate his other leg.

I think it's behind the fencepost.

This looks like a sweet picture, but Maggie has Angus pinned, hugging him. (Angus doesn't like being hugged, unless it's his idea...and Maggie knows this.)

I love this picture of the little feeties!!!

Princess Maggie Bella, surveying her rural kingdom...

This week I'm helping with Vacation Bible School, or VBS, in Jordan, so that's why you haven't heard much from the Chronicles. Now, I know the Bible verse that states" I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" but I've usually embraced that verse for little stuff...like giving birth. Or working bulls in the corral.

Yesterday, I recreated nine of the ten plagues visited on Pharaoh, 4 times! That's right...4 insane times. The day before that, it was the burning bush, with the voice of God. Today, I'm building Israelite tract housing and we're doing the Passover. And each time, I have 20 minutes to do the lesson, one terrified little junior high helper, and a 5 minute re-setup time.

The glorious thing (and really, it is, once we got past the shock of it) is that although we planned for about 30 kids, we've hosted around 45. Isn't that cool?!

(I think we lost a couple of leaders, though. In fact, the lady who was to do crafts all week, called and said her husband was in the hospital and the doctors just can't figure out what his malady is. Doesn't that sound suspicious? They've come up with "maybe it's the spleen", which is safe, because nobody really knows anything about the spleen, it's location or habits. Hmmmm....)

It has been a little rough, for this laid back family to be on the road first thing in the morning, when we're usually feeding the bums and watering flowers in our bare feet. And we are TIRED! Not just because of the socialization stuff, either.

All the songs in this VBS are aerobic. I hopped on the scale, yesterday morning, and was down two pounds. And it's not because I've been eating salads, mind you. When we get done with the morning songs, there are leaders sprawled in the pews, clutching their chests and praying for air and strength. It's pretty inspirational. But the kids are wound up to a respectable level, for the lessons.

AND (this is a particularly endearing component of the program) when the leaders say key phrases, such as God is powerful, the kids respond with a shout that could fell Jericho's walls, FEAR NOT!

Little old ladies across the street are starting to wonder if God is speaking to them, because while they are making their lukewarm Sanka coffee out of Jordan water, they are hearing "Fear Not!", when they haven't heard a thing in years. The Lord is moving in this town, I tell you, and it's not just with the kids...

Well, I'm off to the shower and Day Three. Please keep us in your prayers, and if you aren't doing anything for the rest of the week, we have jobs for the brave. Fear not!

Lost in Translation, Part I of an ongoing series...

It has been suggested I write about Rancher-ese, a complex form of communication employed by rural Montana men. Thus far, to my knowledge, there has not been a definitive manual on this dialect and it is long overdue. We're going to start with some vocabulary. (And by all means, if you have some to add, please comment!)

A pretty good goudge- This is a term of measurement, used to denote an amount of feed; generally, but not limited to, cake pellets or hay. It can be modified from "a pretty good goudge" to "a little goudge". The amount of the goudge depends on the barometric pressure that day, size of the bale, approximate body score of the cows or mood of the man at that very moment. (Note: if you are his wife, you WILL estimate wrong. Every time. Don't sweat it, you can't be fired.)

A little ways- Again, a term of measurement, only this time it ascertains distance. In my experience, it usually means "5-10 miles as the crow flies", which can be stretched out, depending on the draws and coullees between Point A and Point B. If you have to find a specific fence post, they will direct you "a little ways North of the reservoir". Good luck.

This afternoon- A time span that starts sometime around 10 AM and can extend to midnight of that same day. Usually, I get a call from the Farmer telling me to be ready to move cows "this afternoon". I may get another call in about 15 minutes wondering where the h--l I'm at, already!

A small bunch- Between 15-130 head of cattle.

A minute- A measure of time that can cover anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours.

He may stay for lunch- He MOST CERTAINLY will be staying for lunch, along with 3 other guys that are here to help. We'll need something for coffee, too, if it isn't too much trouble. This afternoon.

Were you going to town today?- You are, now.

The summer pasture- One of two pastures with the same name, used during the same time of year (obviously). You are expected to osmotically know which little bunch of cows is going to go in which summer pasture. (You will always choose wrong.)

You didn't have any other plans, did you?- Well, if you did, they are null and void as of this moment.

That piece of paper- The little dirty, smudged, barely recognizable-as-a-document thing that has been laying on the counter since last December, with 3 cow numbers written on it, that is the only thing between us and bankruptcy that you finally threw away this morning. (Glaring and stomping around the kitchen accompany this revelation...)

parts- These are objects with a myriad of descriptive terms that you'll be sent to town for. You will have all the components carefully noted on "that piece of paper"....things like "3/16 quarter counter screw lug nut with a 9/16 half wrench rictofrazzer, stainless, not brass alloy". And I can GUARANTEE you that there will be one crucial detail missing from that description on a $250 non-refundable "part" that is needed in 30 minutes in order to complete harvest, thus saving the family from sure and immediate homelessness. And the rancher who gave you the list will be unavailable by any means of communication...yes, even smoke signals. So you and the parts man will choose the wrong one.

It's no hurry- It's urgent, and needed to be done yesterday.

Here's an actual statement from my husband; see if you can translate it, using the terminology you just learned.

"Hon, we're going to move that small bunch of cows from up North, a little ways to the summer pasture this afternoon. We'll need to give them a little goudge of hay when we get there.

Were you going to town today? I need some parts from NAPA, but it's no hurry on that. The little piece of paper on the counter has the list. You didn't have any other plans today, did you?"

This is by no means an exhaustive chart of Rancher-ese. In fact, there are so many terms that I'll be adding to it now and again as I encounter them. And stay tuned for my special post on Rancher Hand Signals; coming soon.

Print it out, post it on the fridge...

(I couldn't get the image to scan straight.) For those non-native Eastern Montanans, this comic is drawn by Wally Badgett aka MC TinStar, a Miles City cowboy- turned cartoonist. I don't know how many of his cartoons are clipped from the local papers and taped to ranch refridgerators or (rather pointedly) dusty dashboards of feed pickups....