Cooking in the West

When September rolls around, our thoughts turn to wondering what kind of winter we are facing. For our region, which is region 12 that stretches from the Canadian border down into Texas, the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” predicts the following:

Winter will be warmer than normal in the north and colder than normal in the south, with the coldest periods in early and mid-January and early and late February. Precipitation will be near normal, with near- to above-normal snowfall. The snowiest periods will be in mid-November, mid- and late January, and late February. April and May will be warm, with conditions drier than normal in the north but wetter in the south. Summer will be warm, with the hottest periods in mid- to late June, early and late July, and late August. Rainfall will be below normal. September and October will be warm, with the north wetter than normal and the south drier.

Because those predictions seem about as vague as a horoscope, I decided to conduct my own research. I found the rhyme, “Squirrels gathering nuts in a flurry will cause snow to gather in a hurry.” So, I decided to observe squirrels. Funny thing about squirrels--they don’t walk anywhere--they run everywhere even straight up trees. I haven’t really communed with squirrels since I quit cooking in hunting camp where those goofy squirrels invariably awakened me from my nap as soon as the sun started hitting the tops of the trees. You see, the cook has to get up at 2:30 A.M., get the hunters fed and out of camp, and then catch a nap to try to survive a sleep-deprived week. Nap time ends when the squirrels wake up and start pelting the top of the cook tent with pine cones. I really don’t know how to tell if they seemed to be in an abnormal rush to wake up and start stockpiling cones this fall or not, since I have had no occasion to nap in a cook tent recently.

Then, there’s the woolly worm. This larvae of the Isabella tiger moth is brown and black and fuzzy. Oddly, the ones I have found have a white band also. Am I observing the wrong larvae? The ratio of brown to black is supposed to indicate the length of winter with a narrower brown band indicating a long, cold winter. A wider brown band indicates a mild short winter. What do you suppose a white band indicates? My scientific intuition tells me that it probably indicates that I should move to Arizona immediately. The woolly warm has 13 segments in its body--which is supposed to be the exact number of weeks in winter. I wonder if the woolly worms had 17 segments in the fall of 1978 before the legendary winter of ‘79?

During my research, I tried to figure out if the spider webs are larger than usual this fall, but I don’t have much of a frame of reference when it comes to analyzing spider webs. However, I did find my favorite weather folklore story, which is this one.

Apparently, the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be mild or cold. Since he was a chief in modern times, he had not learned the old secrets. He studied the sky and could tell nothing. Finally, he decided it would be far better to err on the side of caution, so he told his tribe it was going to be a harsh winter. The tribe should begin collecting firewood and food for a long siege.

The next month passed, and the weather remained mild. Again the tribe asked their leader if the winter was going to be mild or cold. The chief told them he had to go on a journey to consult the signs. He drove to the next town, found a phone booth, and called the National Weather Service. He asked the meteorologist to predict the winter weather, and the meteorologist said that it looked like it could be a harsh winter.

Back to the tribe he went, and he told them to increase their efforts to bring in wood and store food. They were in for a long cold winter. A couple weeks passed, and it stayed Indian summer. The chief went back to the phone booth and called again. Again he was assured it looked like winter would set in with a vengeance. The tribe continued collecting wood and storing food despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, but they began to question the chief’s wisdom.

For the third time, the chief drove to the phone booth. He asked if the meteorologist was absolutely sure it was going to be a bad winter. “Oh, yes!” the meteorologist replied. “The Indians have been collecting firewood for two months! I think I will just wait till this spring to make my weather predictions for this winter, because in my research I found this popular wisdom: “Only fools and newcomers predict the weather!”

Fall is in the air, so I would like to share a few fun autumn favorites.

Easy Peach Cobbler

1 box yellow cake mix

three 16 oz. cans of sliced peaches, drained

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

Lightly grease inside of 12” Dutch oven. Add sliced peaches, making sure oven is level. Prepare cake mix as directed, then add cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour mix over the peaches. Use 6-8 coals on the bottom and 18-20 coals on top. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Check every 10 minutes and rotate lid. You can also bake this recipe in a 9 X 13 pan in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden browned and bubbly.

Apple Enchiladas

21 oz. can apple pie filling

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. white sugar

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 C. water

Spoon a heaping 1/4 C. pie filling evenly down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and roll up tucking the edges in. Place seam side down in buttered baking dish. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter, sugars, and water to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Pour sauce over enchiladas and allow them to sit 45 minutes. (You may want to make extra sauce to pour over enchiladas when serving them? If so, double the sauce recipe and reserve half for serving). Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream and top with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Polar Express Hot Chocolate

1 1/2 C. heavy cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 C. bittersweet chocolate chips

6 C. milk

1 t. vanilla

Pour all ingredients into a crockpot a few hours before your guests arrive. Cook on high and stir occasionally. When they arrive, the ingredients will have blended into a decadent hot chocolate!