Cooking in the West

I know many people are dealing with the tragic aftermath of unprecedented flooding along the Yellowstone river and many of its tributaries last month. I remember our experience with disaster agencies during our last flood in 2011. Fortunately, we were not negatively affected by flooding this year, but I remember well when our house was declared uninhabitable, and I was delighted and relieved, because it meant we would receive federal disaster aid! My heart goes out to all of the flood victims who will not be lucky enough to receive federal disaster relief, but I clearly remember our on-site visit by the FEMA inspector.

I have written about conducting emergency house cleaning using the sacks or the plastic tub method, but this declaration of "uninhabitable" was not a reflection on my housekeeping skills. Nor did it reflect my babysitting skills for those of you that have seen my house after a day of taking care of my grandsons and a new puppy.

Nope, the house was declared unlivable by FEMA, since apparently having no access to a home is an insurmountable safety issue! Fortunately our county was eligible for individual FEMA assistance, so the inspector who was from Connecticut via Florida had to pay us a visit. When he arrived on the creek bank where our bridge used to be, he looked a little worried. He said he was not allowed to ride on ATV's nor horses, so the only way to get him to the house was to drive through the creek.

As he buckled himself into our all wheel drive Ford Freestyle, he looked at the creek and at me and asked politely, "Is this going to be the first time that you have driven across this creek in this vehicle?"

"Oh no," I answered, because technically we used to drive across all the time back when we had a bridge. Just for luck I threw some hip waders in the hatchback. I offered up a prayer that we would make it all the way across and not stall out in a hole in the creek bed. I was too busy driving to look, but I am pretty sure he was doing the same thing. I doubted if his immediate supervisor would approve of him struggling into hip waders in a stalled SUV and scrambling across the creek on slippery rocks to conduct his inspection.

"If we don't make it, you will have quite a story to tell," I smiled at him. He did not seem to appreciate my humor. We made it across with just a couple bottom scraping sounds, and shortly thereafter received his condemnation of our home, which as I said earlier is a really good thing! We have always lived in a state of natural disaster, but this time we might get compensated for it!

Charlie (the FEMA inspector and I are now bonded on a first name basis after our life altering creek crossing experience) looked around and asked, "Does a child live here?" Charlie had to take interior shots of the house, which was pretty much covered in toys and stuff that had been dragged out of drawers by my grandson, Alex.

"No," I explained, "This disaster was created by my grandson Alex--Hurricane Alex--get it, a little natural disaster humor. He is 16 months old and just here for the day." Charlie did not seem amused by my joke. "He's at that age where he is into everything," I stated the obvious.

I caught him glance at his watch, because I don't think he could believe that one small child could wreak that much havoc on a home by the middle of the afternoon.

Then he noticed the can of Red Bull on the table. I think he might have been deducing that a toddler would have had to have been drinking Red Bull to have trashed the house so effectively. "Oh, would you like a Red Bull?" I asked. "I decided to try one so I would have enough energy to keep up with Alex until his mother gets back. Do they make Geritol any more? I could sure use some, because that Red Bull made me shake like a leaf."

Just then Alex came across the living room unrolling a double roll of toilet paper. "Oh no, excuse me, someone must have left a bathroom door open. Note to self--buy single rolls next time!" I babbled like an overstimulated grandmother soused on Red Bull.

When I came back from closing the bathroom door, Alex was emptying the contents of a kitchen drawer one item at a time. Charlie was busy punching things into his tablet. I suspected he had written, "The house appears to have sustained no flood damage, but it is in desperate need of serious child proofing."

By this time, the drawer was empty, and Alex was offering Charlie a Kibble or maybe it was actually a bite from the dog food dish. Charlie declined the offer explaining to Alex that four wheelers, horses, energy drinks, and dog snacks are all expressly forbidden for use by federal inspectors for safety reasons. I imagine Charlie had quite a story to tell back at the FEMA office about the afternoon he spent with the crazy granny living in a condemned house tossing back Red Bulls in a desperate attempt to keep up with her wild grandson affectionately nicknamed Hurricane Alex and the life altering creek crossing experience...all in a day's work!

My featured cook this week is Jenny Wright, who recently moved back "home" to Oakdale, Tennessee from McLeod, Montana. Jenny shared some of her favorite blackberry recipes just in time for blackberry season. Thanks, Jenny!

Seedless Blackberry Cobbler:

Filling:

2 C. blackberry juice

1/2 t. vanilla

1 C. sugar

4 T. cornstarch

1/4 C. water

Press berries with a spoon (I use a wooden one) in a stainless mesh strainer, catching the juice in a kettle to make about 2 cups of juice. Heat juice, vanilla, and sugar until hot. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch in water and stir until smooth. Add to hot juice and cook until thick. Set aside.

Cobbler:

2 C. sugar

1 C. flour

1 C. milk

1 stick of butter

1 t. baking powder

Place butter in a baking dish. Melt in the oven. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and milk, stirring until smooth. Pour over hot butter in a pan. Pour blackberry filling over dough to settle without stirring. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Blackberry Dumplings:

3 C. fresh or frozen blackberries

1/4 C. white granulated sugar

2 C. water

1/4 t. vanilla

Dumplings:

1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour can use more if needed

1/4 C. white granulated sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 C. milk

Combine blackberries, sugar, water and vanilla in a saucepan on top of the stove. Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium boil and cover the pot. You can strain some of the seeds out by using a strainer. (I’m not fond of the seeds in my teeth.) In a bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix the milk into the flour mixture with a spoon. Your dough should be where you can flour your hands and pull off pieces and roll into balls about the size of a walnut. I just put some flour on a paper plate and flour my hands good to do this. You can add a little more flour to the dumplings if you need to so you can handle the dough. Remove the lid from the pot and drop in the dumplings. Replace the top and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until dumplings are cooked.

German Pizza:

1 pound ground beef

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, diced

1-1/2 t. salt, divided

1/2 t. pepper

2 T. butter

6 medium potatoes (about 2-1/4 pounds), peeled and finely shredded or bag of hash browns

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 C. whole milk

2 C. shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Cook and stir the beef, onion, green pepper, teaspoon salt and pepper - set aside. Melt butter in pan. (I like using my iron skillet) Spread potatoes over butter, form around the edges like a crust and sprinkle with remaining salt. Top with beef mixture. Combine eggs and milk; pour over all. Cover and cook for 30 minutes at medium heat or until set in the center. Sprinkle with cheese; cover, and cook until melted. Cut into wedges.

Jenny notes: I like to add some salsa or can of diced tomatoes after the beef. I have also found southwest flavored hash browns that are yummy.