Adventures Of A Latter Day Coosie

I have been looking back at some of my files and found an accounting of a couple of cook-offs and some of the trials and tribulations that went on several years ago.  I hope that you are enjoying my adventures and hopeful too that if you are new to chuck wagon cooking you get some ideas about what goes on around the campfire and behind the wagon.  This writing was done nearly eight years ago.  Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Desert USA

March 2006

For some time now I have been thinking about writing an essay on the ins and outs of one of the chuck wagon cook offs that Skip Clark and I attend each year.  The next one we have scheduled is The Festival of the West and it is in March of 2006.  In conjunction with the cook off, there are many vendors, reenactors, SASS Shooters and the like who make the pilgrimage to Scottsdale, Arizona each year.  This invitational chuck wagon cook off event is being held this year on the Gila River Indian Reservation.  The site should prove to be very picturesque.  The desert is going to be pretty with its springtime blooms.  This will be the first time for us to compete in Arizona.

Our friends John & Sandy Sullivan have convinced us that this is one event we need to attend.  They say that it has a real laid back atmosphere and the organizers don't get too excited about competition rules.  In other words, they don't get their shorts in a wad over the little things.  After several calls to Silky, (she runs the cook-off for the festival) I thought it sounded like a pretty good event and fun.  When  skip said, "let's do it", I fired off the registration form and started the process of being accepted to their gathering.

This particular festival is one that has had several bits aired on the Encore western television channel.  Thereare always many entertainers like Rex Allen Jr., Buck Taylor, and Dennis Weaver who, by the way, passed away this past week.

I tried to find out as much as possible about the little things like:  where is the water supply, is there hardwood available, is there security, does the event furnish all the food items for lunch and breakfast, what are some of the food items people enter in the competition, do the judges like to see all the accoutrements, when  do we setup, when can we leave, and other things I'm sure were important at the time that I can't remember now.  I thought the more information we had the better off we would be since we have to take so much stuff.  If we can get

by without taking wood and water that would be a big help.  You never no for sure what a new event is looking to portray in their "festival" such as:  do they want all the fluff, because some events want just the bare essentials as far as accoutrements are concerned. And if you turn in some real fancy dish at some events you will sort of get of get your feathers clipped because they may want you to serve just "trail" food.

Being able to show off some of the things we have collected over the years was of great interest to both Skip and me.  Now i get tot display some ites I inherited from my Dad and Grandfather.  I'm really proud of some of the tools and especialloy the Cx brand that was registered by my Great Great Grandfather Elija Clayton Calk in Atascosa County, Texas in 1876.  Ship has some old firearms that came off Patty's (his wife)  family ranch in Sonora, Mexico.  They go back to the Pancho Villa days and one particular revolver that dates to the American Civil War.

This section of "Adventures..." will be the 1st of several and will be continued over several weeks.  Please check in again on this blog and see what happens during the event as some of the things unfold at a "new" competition for us.

New To Chuck Wagon Competitions......continued...sorry, been on vacation....

You are also going to need about three washtubs, or wreck pans, for adhering to the requirements of the various health departments.  One tub will be used for wash, one for rinse, and the third for sterilizing.  Try to gather up some old knives, enamel or tin cups, some bone or wood handled forks, and any thing you can find that is really old....old cooks are good too.

  Even as late as say 1930 or 1940 will work.  There were a number of chuck wagons still doing their thing on ranches at that time and even still today.  You have to remember we are trying to preserve the western heritage as it developed in the 1800’s and up until the 1940’s.  As I started into this “chuck wagon business” I got to use many things that belonged to my late father and grandfather.  So ask around and see if there are some antiques around the old homestead.  It will make you smile with pride every time you use them. 

Some cook-off organizers allow for certain ingredients to be used in the preparations of the entries and others do not.  Some are specific about what is to be prepared and what you can and can’t use in the preparation.  For instance, at some cook-off’s they want the menu to be strictly trail food.  Only entries that would have actually been cooked with what was available on the trail and the seasonings of that era can be entered.  Definitely no gourmet entries of any kind would be allowed or you would be disqualified.  While other locations allow you to expand your culinary skills and they leave the entries sort of open ended.  Many of the organizers will want you to prepare Chicken Fried Steak, mostly because it’s what the public wants.  In the other categories you will find some ingredients that are taboo.  Some of the no no items are:  cheese, biscuit mixes, chili mixes, bbq sauces, mushrooms, powdered sugar, frozen foods, and mayonnaise.  Some will specify the kind of bread they want prepared.  Most of the competitions provide the basic ingredients such as:  meat, potatoes, fruit, beans, potatoes, onions, flour, sugar, oil, wood, ice and water. If you are going to go to an event or have just heard about it, look it up on the web and check out the particulars.

When you get to a competition site you know how much food you are going to prepare because the organizers will tell you in a letter prior to the event.  For example, you will be cooking for 40-60 ticket holders.  Or, while other sites may have you only prepare enough food for the judges.  Most of the competitions you will have “blind judging”.  That isn’t to say that the judges are blind even though there was a time or two when I thought we had the very best, the grand daddy, the ultimo entry and the only thing I could figure out was the judges were blind and had no taste.  The “blind judging” is, for those new to these types of events, when the judges never see the name of the person or outfit that prepared the entry.  Some smaller events will have the judges go from wagon to wagon to judge the various entries.  This very seldom, if ever, happens in the larger events where there are more that about 3-4 wagons.  There was one particular organizer that "caught" the food judges walking around the camp sites looking at what was being prepared and the organizer disqualified the judges and obtained ones that were not familiar with what was being prepared by whom. 

The purpose to have a chuck wagon and enter competitions or cater of your local events is the same:  To preserve “Our Western Heritage”.  What goes along with that is to have fun while doing it.  You can spend a lot of time and money putting together a great wagon and accoutrements.  You can also put together just the bare essentials necessary for competition and spend a good bit less money.  The same goes for the clothing outfit(s) you and your crew chooses to wear. 

However the big money is spent on the wagon, then you have to have a way to haul it from place to place.  You can buy horses or mules, maybe a truck and flat bed trailer, or even a truck and goose neck trailer.  If the ole do re mi allows, you can buy enclosed trailer with or without sleeping quarters.  There are many things to consider and the decisions you make will ultimately impact your bank account. 

Most of the competitions you will receive information about will have at least six or seven categories that are judged.  The food judging will be for:  meat, bread, beans, potatoes, and dessert.  Along with the food will be the authenticity of the wagon and the camp.  There may be additional prizes for the “farthest traveled” and for the “most hospitable camp”.  Sometimes you will find a “hard luck” category you most assuredly don’t want to win. 

You will see all sorts of rigs at the various events and generally their camps are set up basically the same.  There are some notable differences, however.  A person with a non educated eye might see two wagons and think, “Wow, those are great looking wagons.” 

To the trained eye you might find one of the wagons was purchased for several thousand dollars and is of exceptional quality with no detracting features, while the other wagon may have been obtained for far less money and yet may not be as fine or fancy as the next person’s.  The main thing the judges consider is(or in my opinion SHOULD consider):  Will the wagon be in the condition necessary to be pulled by a team up the trail and have the necessary equipment to feed a couple dozen cowboys?  They will both compete in the same wagon division with the only separation being if the competition is divided into a Trail Division and a Ranch Division. And speaking of judges, just so you will be aware,  there have been circumstances where wagon builders were secured to do the judging of the wagons and it turned out that there were wagons in the competition that were built by a judge.  You probably don't want to know who won the competition.  As much as we would like to believe that the judge would not be biased, I would certainly expect the judge to disqualify himself from the judging.

A question arose; do you have to have a ranch to compete?  No, absolutely not.  Many of the competitors do have ranches which use their wagon on “cow hunts”.  Still many others are interested in the Western Heritage and the Cowboy/Cowgirl Culture and want to preserve what they can by getting a wagon and doing what all of us find to be a lot of fun.  Hard work-yes, but more importantly-FUN! Another question that may come up is "do we have to have a team to pull our wagon?"  That is a simple NO!

Speaking of fun, all the fun is not had while cooking.  There is so much BS’ing going on that you have to get up really early to get ahead of some of the past masters. 

Besides all the “bullshipping” going on you can walk around the camp sites and hear guitars, fiddles, drums, harmonicas, and an occasional bag pipe. Hee, hee, bagpipes?

I hope that some of the things in these few paragraphs may be helpful to someone just getting started.  

See you on down the road...............