Cooking in the West

Every year I find myself in the same predicament as I look down the barrel of the Christmas gun. Every year, it is as though Christmas sneaks up on me out of the blue. So with just days left before Christmas, I am in my usual pre-Christmas panic caused mostly by procrastination!

I started off the month with the best of intentions, as I made several batches of my favorite fudge, but I made them too early, and we have eaten or given it away already. No problem! All I have to do is go to bed 15 minutes later each night to whip up one batch per night until December 22. Cookies will be keeping me up really late, so I will schedule cookie baking for the night of the 23rd.

To pull this Christmas off, I think I am going to have to think outside the box--literally. We open presents on Christmas Eve, which shortens my preparation time by at least twelve hours, so maybe we should consider opening presents on Christmas morning this year to give everyone a few extra hours to anticipate (and shop and wrap and bake)?

Since postponing the opening of presents is unlikely to be embraced as a new tradition, I need to think of other ways to streamline the Christmas process. Gift bags come to mind. All I need is an assortment of bags, a bunch of tissue paper, and I will have eliminated the need for hours of wrapping. I will have to wrap presents for my children and grandchildren though, because peeking into a bag is not nearly as challenging as discreetly unwrapping and re-wrapping presents without getting caught. Half of the fun of Christmas is previewing the presents and then pretending to be surprised when they are unwrapped legally.

A couple months ago, I was going to order some travel mugs, wild rags, caps, and sweatshirts with our ranch name and brand on them to give to everyone. However, since I never did get around to ordering them and it is much too late now, I will just have to buy a pack of Sharpies to "personalize" the bandanas and cups and gloves and caps and claim that I was going for a rustic/DIY look this year rather than admit I forgot to order the gifts in a timely manner.

One of the biggest distractions of my Christmas readiness regime is those wonderful Christmas Hallmark movies, which are fun to watch but in no way represent my life. In fact, the plot of my life is more along the lines of the story of the ranch couple who went to the nearby big city to go Christmas shopping. Suddenly, the wife realized that her husband had "disappeared". The somewhat irate ranch wife called her husband's cell phone and demanded, "Where are you?"

The husband answered, "Well, you remember that jewelry shop where you saw the diamond necklace and totally fell in love with it. I didn't have the money at that time, but I said to you, 'Baby, it'll be yours one day!'"

"Yes, I remember that," blushed the wife, feeling ashamed that she had been short with him just now.

"Well, I'm in the bar next to that jewelry store," he said.

My recipes this week were sent in by Chance Story of Martinsdale, Montana. The best part about writing this weekly column for all these 27 years has been the ability to use my column to help many people out of a tough spot. You might recall that Chance, a freshman on the MSU Northern rodeo team, was badly injured when he was kicked in the face by a bronc on April 1 last spring. All of his facial bones except his lower jawbone were broken, and he had to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery and miss the remainder of the 2021-22 rodeo season. This was particularly disheartening since he was leading the Big Sky Region in steer wrestling at the time of the accident, and he was ranked in the tie down roping and team roping standings.

Chance, who was majoring in Heavy Diesel Mechanics, was able to return to school but not to rodeo practice until August. He lost 40 pounds, only two of his teeth were aligned, and he will need to undergo nose surgery, but he came back strong this fall including winning the long go-round in steer wrestling at the U of M Western rodeo this fall. With spring rodeos right around the corner, Chance is sitting eleventh in the Big Sky Region in steer wrestling.

Chance received an outpouring of love and contributions from a wide variety of readers including celebrities, the Governor, and a class from Highwood School. Chance wants to express his appreciation to everyone who sent money, prayers, and words of encouragement. Chance said, "Thanks so much to you and all the generous readers who sent prayers, cards, and donations to me. There are so many awesome people who reached out to me. We appreciate the huge impact on our family both financially and emotionally. There really are no adequate words to thank you all!"

No Bake Cherry Cheesecake:

1 package softened cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 C. lemon juice

In a medium bowl mix cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk until mixed well then slowly add lemon juice. Once all 3 ingredients are mixed smoothly, pour into graham cracker crust. Let sit at least 2-3 hours to set. Serve with your favorite fruit topping or fresh fruit.

Uncle Thom’s Spicy Pretzel Mix:

Mix in an extra-large bowl:

1 large box Cheez-It crackers

1 large bag pretzels

1 large can of favorite salted nuts (I like cashews)

Mix in a medium bowl:

1 package Fiesta Ranch Mix

1 cup olive oil

2-4 T. crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

Let the oil mixture sit for 1 hour. Then stir and pour over the pretzel mix and stir gently to coat all ingredients. Put mixture on sheet pans and bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes, to set the oil, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Creamy Soft Tacos:

1 lb. ground beef

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup of your favorite salsa

Shredded cheese and other favorite taco toppings

15-20 Corn Tortillas

Oil to soft fry tortillas in

Brown beef in a pan and drain grease. Add in cream of chicken soup and 1 C. salsa. Mix together in a pan until warm on the stove. In a separate pan add about an inch of oil. Over medium heat, soft fry corn tortillas and put with paper towels to soak up extra oil. Spoon creamy taco mixture on corn tortillas and top with favorite taco toppings. Great with a side of Spanish Rice.