Recipes for 4th of July backyard cooking By: Julie Lence

The beginning of July always brings the same question in my home: What are we cooking for 4^th of July? Sometimes, it’s a whole chicken. Other times, it’s ribs, and if we’re joining friends, I’m tasked with bringing the pasta salad. In the stories I write, on the occasions my characters take time off from ranch work to enjoy a picnic or the 4^th of July party, they usually enjoy beef roasting on a spit, fried chicken, and some type of sweet. I’m sharing recipes from those old-time days that can be prepared for this year’s celebration.

courtesy of Family Circle

Glazed Ribs:

Ingredients:

4lbs spareribs

1 15oz can tomato sauce

1 7oz envelope onion salad dressing mix

¼ cup vinegar

1/4 cup light molasses

2 T. salad oil

1 tsp dry mustard

1 cup water

Directions:

Place ribs meat side up in open shallow roasting pan. Heat remaining ingredients to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for  minutes. Pour sauce mixture over meat. Roast in oven at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours or until done, basting 4–5 times.

courtesy of Bake or Break

Ranch-Hand Cobbler

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup milk

3 cups fresh fruit (1 cup each of blackberries, blueberries, peaches or apples)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in a 9 inch square baking dish in oven. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and milk. Pour over butter. Add fresh fruit on top. Do not mix. Bake 40 minutes. Serve warm. (serves 6) 

      

courtesy of Cooking with Janica

Fried Chicken… The Only Way 

For those feeling really adventurous: (After reading this, I believe this last recipe is to be cooked over an open fire.)

Select a young chicken between 2 ½ lbs and 3 ½ lbs. Remove wings, legs, thighs. Cut remainder in pieces. Split the breast in half then cut in half again if the chicken is large. Carefully dry each piece.

Beat 2 eggs with 2 Tbsp of water. Dip chicken in egg (salt and pepper to taste) and then roll in flour. If each piece is not thoroughly coated, repeat process. Place on paper towel and let stand. In frying pan, place enough butter or lard, using half & half, to make fat in the pan 1 inch deep. Set on a good brisk fire and put chicken on to fry.

In order to cook the chicken in good shape, it will have to be watched constantly while it’s frying. Turn often so it doesn’t burn. Keep fire hot, yet not so hot that the grease will smoke or burn. After chicken is cooked, place on paper towels to drain and dry.

Note: Do not, under any circumstances, steam this fried chicken or cover the pan while frying. This should only be done in the event one is frying an old, tough chicken. An old, tough chicken will never make a good fried chicken regardless of how you cook it.   

    

Amazon

***Note: I have not tried any of these recipes, so I cannot give an opinion on the taste. They, along with several others, are found in: Original Cowboy Cookbook by: “Wild Wes” Medley, Rodeo Champion   

available on Amazon

www.amazon.com   

• ISBN-10: 096336510X
• ISBN-13: 978-0963365101

Cowboy Slang & Humor

From the Atlantic to the Pacific and from North to South, folks are firing up the backyard grill and spreading checkered cloths over tables in preparation of celebrating the 4^th of July. Potato salad, hot dogs and watermelon are in demand. Children are splashing in pools or running through sprinklers eagerly awaiting tonight’s fireworks. To add to the celebration across our great country, I present you with more Cowboy slang and humor. Happy 4th of July!!

Slang:

Bar dog: a bartender

Belly cheater: a cook

Camping on his trail: following someone too closely

Choke strap: derisive name for a necktie

Didn’t have a tail feather left: a person cleaned out at the gambling tables or a person who is completely broke

Dump: slang name for a bunkhouse

Flea bitten: a white horse covered in small, brown freckles

Gallin’: courting a girl

Haywire outfit: an inefficient outfit or ranch

Landed fork end up: thrown from a horse head first

Lead chucker: slang for gun

More lip than a muley cow: a person who talks too much

On the dodge: hiding from the law

Paul Pry: a meddler

Prairie wool: grass

Ride like a deputy sheriff: to ride recklessly

Roll your bed: command meaning you’re fired

Sacking: a saddle blanket

Shoots his back: when a horse bucks

Tear squeezer: a sad story

Humor:

 

Happy Fourth of July

by Shanna Hatfield

Growing up on a farm twenty miles from the closest town, we generally took our excitement anywhere we could get it.
Each summer, I eagerly anticipated our small town’s biggest event of the year - the Fourth of July Rodeo. Back in those days, it was a PRCA-sanctioned rodeo. Some of the top names in the circuit would join hundreds of rodeo fans for four days of rodeo, events in the park, a parade through town, and the annual Suicide Race (a crazy horseback race down a steep butte, across the highway, through the river, and into the rodeo arena).
The whole family looked forward to the celebration. My oldest brother often rode in the Suicide Race and some of my cousins often competed in the rodeo.

For a horse-crazy little girl who loved the smell of leather and the sight of cowboy hats, it was amazing. From an early age, I had a romance with the rodeo.
One of the few stores we had in town was a saddle-maker with a boot shop. When I was five, my dad took me to Leroy’s shop to pick out a new belt for the rodeo. It was the first time I got to choose my own and I was so excited.
As we walked inside, the welcoming aroma of leather filled the air. Dad led me to where Leroy worked on saddle at the back of the shop and they talked a few minutes. Impatiently waiting, they finally told me to go see what I could find. My gaze - and heart - immediately settled on a hand-tooled belt with little flowers and a silver buckle with a gold saddle that glistened in the overhead lights.

I still have that little belt today along with my love of rodeo. It’s because of how much I enjoy the watching rodeos that led to the creation of my Rodeo Romance series, set in the Pacific Northwest. Although the books all have a Christmas theme, they take readers through summer experiences of cowboys and the women who fight tooth and nail to keep from falling in love with them!

ThenChristmas Cowboy (Rodeo Romance, Book 1)

Among the top saddle bronc riders in the rodeo circuit, easy-going Tate Morgan can handle the toughest horse out there, but trying to handle the beautiful Kenzie Beckett is a completely different story.

***

Happy Fourth of July!

***

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, this hopeless romantic is out to make it happen, one story at a time. When she isn’t writing or indulging in chocolate (dark and decadent, please), Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.

Find Shanna’s books at:

Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple | Audible

       Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Newsletter | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter