My Wild West Weekend. This last weekend, my wife was out of town. She knew I had been having a rough time at work, so she arranged for me to go to her familys farm/hunt club in the boonies for the weekend, allowing me some shooting time. Friday afternoon, I pack the Ford, Conestoga, Ranger, and go. I found out no one was going to be around (I think I have my lovely wife to thank for this too), so I would have the place to myself for the entire weekend. This gave me enough time to plan on going totally period Wild West for the weekend. (With the exception of a cooler) I will list everything I packed at the end, and will include recipes to the chuck wagon fair. I hope no one is put off by the length or rambling nature of the post.
Friday evening
I arrive and my dog, a 10 lb poodle (he does not sport the poodle haircut, and tends to think he is 8 foot tall and made of stainless steel), does not like the look of the wild, but he goes sniffing for rabbits while I prepare our camp. I made a lean to with canvas and willow poles. I follow that with a fire pit; dont want to burn the place down. I am close enough to the barn that if it rains, I can get to better cover and if it gets real bad, Ill head to the house. I bring a bucket of water from the creek as fire prevention and begin to gather wood. Dog is curled up in lean to watching in interest. I start a small fire and unpack. Dinner tonight is fried beef tongue. I remember reading the buffalo hunters prized the tongue and liver of the big shaggies, decided to give it a try. I have a fine meal of beef tongue, fried potato and onion with a few corn dodgers. Dog enjoys the tongue and dodgers as well. I put the pot on the coals for some coffee as it gets dark, doctors orders for the decaf, so I will have no trouble sleeping. Enjoy coffee and corn dodger with some apple butter. Dog enjoys another dodger too. Hope he doesnt get fat this weekend, wife will kill me. I put another linen bag of ground coffee in the boiler with water; it will be ready to heat in the morning. I roll out the bed roll, another piece of canvas and a light blanket. Dog and I compete to who can snore the loudest.
Saturday morning
Enough coals from last night to get a fire going quickly. I have the coffee on in 15 minutes. One non period item is the cooler, as I dont want period stomach problems. I grab some salt pork and slice it into cubes. I also grab the eggs and one prepared package of biscuit mix. It takes a little while, but with the skillet and dutch oven, I have salt pork eggs and biscuits, yum. Dog enjoys a little of everything while I gather the guns together, finally some shooting.
I brought my Henry Rifle, 1860 Colt Army with shoulder stock, a Pietta, and my 1851 engraved Colt, also a Pietta. I put up the targets and mark off 5, 10, 20, and 50 yards (I have twine cut into those lengths, hey I am a scientist I am supposed to be accurate). Dog grabs a mouthful of food and eats it on my pillow, he then curls up on the pillow and begins to snore again (Note, the dog was rescued from an abusive environment, he had his nose broken several times (thus the snoring) and has two pins in his hip, oh what I wouldnt give to have that guy here in the country where, like space no one would hear him scream). Had sporadic rain, but nothing to dampen my spirits. Anyway, I shoot for hours, working up a real appetite. Dog sleeps for hours (the guns never bother him), he also worked up a real appetite. For lunch, we have cold tongue and corn dodgers; I think I brought enough for a whole passel of Marshals. Afternoon, I think a nap is in order, I dust off my pillow and the dog and I snooze. This is my first successful shoot with the 1851. I bought it last year and lots of trouble with the hammer detonating the caps on the first strike. I replaced the springs, nipples, you name it. Then I noticed the hammer needed to be thinned in the inner curve, a little sanding and it fires like a dream.
I wake up and decide more coffee is in order. Fire is refueled and pot put on to boil. Dog and I eat a few corn dodgers with the coffee (did I mention I brought a few of these). More shooting, I shoot 25 grains of clean shot in my colt army. I had trouble locating black powder post 9-11, and found clean shot before the law suit. Not bad stuff. Off hand with the shoulder stock, I get a similar grouping at 50 yards as I do with the Henry, I shoot Winchester 44-40 cowboy loads-225 grain bullet. This would be an option for competition, at least for 5 shots, might get kudos for style if I bought another pistol and changed out the pistols on the stock.
Evening is fast approaching, I save 1 cup of coffee and add some chicken stock goo to the cup, this goes to the cooler for breakfast. I add more wood to the fire while I get things gathered for dinner. Remember what I said about buffalo hunters? Dinner is grilled beef liver. I had soaked it in salt water since lunch. I drain off the water and salt and pepper the liver. Some sliced onions were placed in aluminum foil and tossed in the coals, the liver goes on a small grill over the wood coals. In about 5 minutes, I turn the liver. In four more minutes, liver is done. I put it on the plate with the onions. I drink some water with dinner as I feel dehydrated. Liver is fabulous, but I like liver anyway. Dog heartily approves, snorting at me when I have taken too many bites with out handing one to him. Now for dessert, rehydrate some dried apples and add sugar and cinnamon. The apples go to the dutch oven and I add some sweet biscuit dough to it. I turn once again to my dark mistress and make coffee, glad I packed lots. I eat way too much and add more wood to the fire. Dog and I look at the stars until we cant keep our eyes open. I serenade him with my dulcimer. It is the first time I have played in eons, the dog looks at me strange through the songs, but at least he didnt howl!
Sunday morning.
Fire is refueled, needed to add a little paper to get it going. Now for breakfast and coffee. I pull out a ham steak and the skillet. Biscuits are going in the dutch oven. The ham steak is cooked on high in the skillet, I add the remaining salt pork as well. I am going to be on the treadmill for hours. I use the chicken stock coffee to make red eye gravy, adding a liberal amount of pepper. Dog enjoys the ham and biscuit, not the gravy. I am stuffed.
I pack most everything up, leaving the lean to so the dog can stay out of the sun and shoot through the morning. My shirt is dirty as am I, but man do I feel relaxed. Around noon, the dog and I eat the last of the corn dodgers with cold tongue and liver, with some onions. I pack the guns away and bury the fire, with lots of dirt and water. The truck-Conestoga is loaded and we head for home. After the drive, I brush out the dog and give him a bath, followed by bathing the guns. Finally I make it to the shower myself. I havent thought about work since leaving early on Friday, this was one good weekend.
Recipes
Corn Dodgers (I doubled this, made lots)
2 c Corn meal
Boiling water
1 tb Shortening
1 Egg; beaten
2 tb Milk
1 ts Salt
Place corn meal into a bowl; pour in enough
boiling water to moisten, stirring all the while.
Add shortening, stir, and let cool. When cold, add
egg, milk and salt. Shape into thick long sticks,
and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees
for about 20 minutes, or fry on the griddle.
Beef Tongue
Take 1 beef tongue and place in a pot, cover with water and add a chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 chopped carrot, a bay leaf and 10 pepper corns. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. Remove tongue and allow to cool. When it is comfortable to handle, remove the skin from the tongue, this is what has the taste buds and makes it look like a tongue. Once the tongue is skinned, it is all meat. Slice the tongue into slices. I pan seared mine for dinner and ate as is for the lunches.
Beef liver
Soak beef liver in salty water for 4-5 hours this will remove much of the blood/bitter taste, drain and rinse. Season with salt and pepper and grill.
Red Eye Gravy
Ham steak
2 cubes salt pork or 2 tablespoons butter
½ cup of coffee
½ cup of a very thick gelatinous chicken stock. It gives the gravy more body.
Take 1 ham steak, minimum of a quarter an inch thick, I prefer about half an inch. I used some salt pork (available at most stores) for the grease, butter is more traditional.(usually 2 tablespoons) Brown the ham steak on both sides, remove from pan and making sure pan is good and hot, add coffee and stock. Bring to a boil, scraping up the brown stuff from the bottom, pepper to taste. I like it on biscuits, grits are more traditional.
Easy trail biscuits.
I use bisquick and powdered milk. I pre-measure the bisquick and add powdered milk in the right amount so all I need out is water. Works pretty well. For sweet biscuits, I just add a few tablespoons of sugar.
I am a coffee hound. I took an old fashioned tin coffee pot. I grind the beans and home and put pre-measured grounds in linen tubes, and then tie the end. It keeps the grounds out of the drink.
Packed Items:
First aid kit, a must, including a much hated cell phone
1 camp shovel
1 7x10 piece of canvas, with grommets every 2 feet. This is a piece my father made years ago, works great as a lean to with about 3x7 of it serving as floor.
1 3x10 piece of canvas (guess where this came from)
1 light blanket
Pillow-okay I am a pansy when it comes to needing a pillow.
Strike anywhere matches, not always easy to find-Kmart had them.
Camp Hatchet
Knife
Cast iron Skillet
Dutch oven
Tin plate and cup
Coffee boiler
Salt and pepper
Fork and spoon
Dulcimer
Food
Items in cooler
~3 lbs sliced tongue
~1 lbs liver
~1/2 salt pork
1 thick ham steak.
3 tablespoons thick homemade chicken stock
2 eggs
4 onions
2 potatoes
Ice
6 gallons of bottled water. I am not much for drinking muddy water from a hoof print, no offense to you Texas Brush Poppers.
I did bring a change of clothing, just in case. All told, everything packed took up less room than guns and ammo.
