Riding for the Brand

It has been a little while since the ole Calk Wagon went out to cook in competition but decided "it was about time".  A while back I became acquainted with a young man on the internet when he answered a question I had about a Masonic membership card.  We visited back and forth messaging and he became interesed in what was going on with this chuck wagon thing.  It turned out that there was a local event I had scheduled here in El Paso that involved cooking breakfast at a Ford dealership.  I thought it would be a good chance to get acquainted with him and him with chuck wagon cooking.  I had my usual help: Skip Clark, John Cooper, and Joy Leos.  They are all seasoned veterans with cooking, and getting there at 5:30 am was not a problem.  Turned out that John had come down with a bug and was unable to attend so the timing was perfect for the new recruit to get acquainted with some chuck wagon cooking.

Erik Briseno is a self proclaimed City Boy .  He told me that he had never had the opportunity to get out and go camping and the like but was willing to learn.  I think he explained that he once tried to fish but didn't want to get out of the car so they drove as clsoe to water as they could and he "fished" out the window. Right now it is about learning his way around a chuck wagon.  That in itself is quite refreshing.  The fact he is a Masonic brother it doubly cool.

Erik, sweating "it" in San Antonio

The gig at the Ford dealership was breakfast for 150 and that went really well with four of us preparing migas, ham, biscuits and gravy.  Everything was cooked on propane because of the asphalt location.  Even after the event was over he was still interested.  Next came the Fort Sam Houston/Cowboys for Heroes event which was a four hour serving time meal in which we fed 500 people.  He got to see all aspects of preparing many different dishes and multiple cooking techniques.

Still not deterred, we entered a brisket cook off in which we competed valiantly but did not bring home the gold.  We did however vow to come back next year with a vengeance.

He would keep telling me that he really enjoyed learning this totally "new stuff".  He took the ribbing from all the old hands in San Antonio and managed to become a team member.  He was still lacking. He had no cowboy threads and no idea what to buy but was interested in looking the part.  He said that he had never been a person who would try to look like something they were not, BUT added that sense cooking on the wagon he felt he had become the real deal and was ready to get outfitted with some duds that would make him fit in better.  You know, boots, hat, pants, shirt, vest, wild rag, authentic glasses.  You know the drill.  We are well on our way to getting him into the fold and I must say that he is fitting nicely into mold.  Yep, riding for the brand is what he is all about.  He has proclaimed about his time around the camp that everything is heavy, a person can easily get burned, cut, scraped, sun burned, exhausted, and dehydrated, cussed, yelled at, and in all kinds of weather.....and yet is still interested in hanging out with the boys of the wagon.

Pretty cool lad and now part of our wagon crew.