LOG CABIN DUTCH OVEN by Colleen Sloan

I found this little gem in a used book store and let out a "squuueee!" which I'm sure could be heard for several city blocks. 

Chuck the dang microwave!  Okay, maybe not just yet.
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I have been fascinated by Dutch Ovens since I first watch Frontier House, the PBS historical reality show about pioneer life.  Here's the series on YouTube-   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfUgTWJ4ngE&list=PL872C99D9FA0E253E

At some point during the first episode, the families are taught how to cook over an outdoors firepit with a dutch oven.  And, believe you me, it's no easy task!  If you're used to 'one minute on high' and then push the button, honey, you gotta 'nother thing comin'!  However, I'm told once you get the hang of it, you'll love it and it's easy enough just because of that.
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So, after I watched Frontier House, I had a hard time finding books on cooking outside with dutch ovens.  I did find a couple in the camping section, Roughing It Easy by Dian Thomas  

and Ultimate Camp Cooking by Mike Faverman and Pat Mac


Since then, I've found several other newer releases, gorgeous enough to be coffee table books.  I've read all that I could get my hands on, but none of them are as easy to learn the basics from than Colleen Sloan's book.  I'm not sure, but appears to have been self-published at first.  My copy is very old.  But, now it's out with Gibbs Smith

Ms. Sloan takes you through the basics, your tools, seasoning the cast iron, judging the temperature, how many coals on top of the lid, and so on, and, of course, some fabulous recipes.
 
So, if you're a Hobby Farmer, like me, or daydreaming about camping in the Spring, also like me, get you one of these books and start learning.  I don't think I can wait until Spring.  I think I'm gonna have to take my bad girl out into the snow.

Much love, Buds.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/log-cabin-dutch-oven-colleen-sloan/1112058965?ean=9781423631354

NOTHING TO TELL by Donna Gray

Blurb:

Sitting at the kitchen tables of twelve women in their eighties who were born in or immigrated to Montana in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, between 1982 and 1988 oral historian Donna Gray conducted interviews that reveal a rich heritage.  In retelling their life stories, Gray steps aside and allows theses women with supposedly “nothing to tell” to speak for themselves.  Pride, nostalgia, and triumph fill a dozen hearts as they realize how remarkable their lives have been and wonder how they did it all.

Some of these women grew up in Montana in one-bedroom houses; others traveled in covered wagons before finding a home and falling in love with Montana.  These raw accounts bring to life the childhood memories and adulthood experiences of ranch wives who were not afraid to milk a cow or bake in a wooden stove.  From raising poultry to raising a family, these women knew the meaning of hard work.  Several faced the hardships of family illness, poverty, and early widowhood.  Through it all, they were known for their good sense of humor and strong sense of self. 

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Okay, it's me here, Kimber An.  We're staying on the family homestead here in Montana right now, so I've enjoyed burying myself in state history.
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I've posted a bunch of times on my old blogs how much I enjoyed watching Frontier House    a historical reality show which put three modern families in 1883 Montana.

There's also a great book with all the details, like what they had to pack and why.

Two of the consultants on the project, Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith wrote the Forward for NOTHING TO TELL.  The title is ironic.  There is plenty to tell and anyone who is fascinated by pioneer history or Montana really out to get this book.  Here's another great book by Peavy and Smith-  

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pioneer-women-linda-peavy/1113804198?ean=9780806130545

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The trouble with history is most of us were taught to hate it through either a recitation of facts about a bunch of old dead white guys or we were throttled with politically correct revisions of it.  The truth will set you free from that, but you've got to go digging for it. 

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The basic truth of it is these were real people who lived, just like us.

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The ranching women who were interviewed for NOTHING TO TELL had much to teach us about humility, hard work, and enjoying life without iPads and Netflix. 

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I encourage anyone who is curious about how people really lived to pick up this book. 

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The heroes of history, like Davy Crockett and Lewis and Clark, are only a small fraction of it.  The rest of it was made up of folks like us, men, women, and children just going about the hard work and fun of daily life.

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It was fun to read these ladies tell their stories and talk about going to school in this town or to the store over there and I would think, "I know where that is!  I've been there before."  And history comes alive.

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Much love, Blog Buds

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http://www.peavyandsmith.com/

 

Change in the Schedule

To make sure I'm not being too hard on my hands, I've changed the schedule so that I have Mondays and Tuesdays off.  Instead, Wednesdays are now simply Non-Fiction.  That may include History, Hobby Farming, Alaska, the Old West, etc...

Whirlwind Redemption by Debra Cowan, a story from the anthology "Happily Ever After in the West"

Whirlwind Redemption   is about hundred pages long, which seems hefty for an anthology.  Nevertheless, it'll keep you engaged, especially if you were a fan of 'Dr. Quin Medicine Woman' back in the '90s. 
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Blurb:   When a bullet left Quentin Prescott's spine and spirit shattered, he broke up with first love Zoe Keeler so he wouldn't be a burden.  Now Zoe must burden him.  She needs a fake fiancé to get her inheritance.  Could this be Quentin's chance for redemption?
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So, the backstory is, like a typical male, Quentin made false assumptions about what matters and/or attracts a woman makes her fall in love and want to be with him and stay with him.  Like an idiot he dumped her, not realizing how he broke her heart in doing so. 
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As so often is the case, Quentin does some growing up in between that and meeting up with Zoe again.  He spends seven years in a wheelchair with a bullet fragment embedded next to his spine.  Unlike a lot of guys, he gets a second chance to make things right and live happily ever after. 
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Zoe's still deeply hurt though and Quentin must woo her anew and all over again.  This is made easier by Zoe still being in love with him, but more difficult because she's stumbled onto some desperados.  See, Zoe's a caregiver.  Her parents are dead.  Her sister is deaf and her special school needs to be paid.  Her brother has Special Needs too, probably Down's by the modern definition.  Not sure, but that's accurate because back then they didn't have a name or label for everything.  So, she needs some money and she has some inheritance coming to her, but with a catch - she must marry.
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Quentin's more than happy to oblige Zoe in the marriage department, not realizing her arrival and actions have riled some lowlifes bent on a scam which she could blow apart.  Time to be a hero!
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I enjoyed this one, but I must make a couple of cautionary statements.  If you love Historicals, but haven't tried Historical Romance you need to cut some slack.  Historical Romance authors, in my observation, know their history, but they can't always be accurate.  For example, not a lot of modern women I know think it's fun to make out with a guy who smells like chicken poop and has rotten teeth.  So, they kinda have to work with that, you know?
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Okay, so that's it, my very first official review for my new blog.  I feel a little rusty, but it's been loads of fun!  Much love, Blog Buds.
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Debra Cowan's Page at Harlequin
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FYI- I've reviewed for Lynna Banning before, but not Judith Stacy.  I'm certainly open to reviewing for Ms. Stacy though!   CRUSADER'S LADY by Lynna Banning

http://www.lynnabanning.net/