Sweetwater

by Dorothy Garlock

  “Ya can’t stay forever!”

  “No, but I could stay all night.” His chuckle was low and loving as he turned on his side taking her with him.

  “Trav,” she whispered several kisses later. “Do you think Trell and Jenny are as happy as we are?”

  “I hope so, sweetheart. But I doubt it. No one in the whole world could be as happy as we are.”

  In the bunkhouse at Stoney Creek Jenny lay beside Trell. Colleen’s capture by Hartog, her narrow escape, had made them realize how fragile life was. Tomorrow they would be married, but they still had tonight.

  Her brilliant green eyes laughed up at him. She and Trell had come together as man and wife, as woman and man, as male and female, and their hearts were still pulsing with the joy of it. Her face was damp and flushed and lighted with a happy smile.

  “You’re not sorry we didn’t wait?” he whispered, moving his hands down to her buttocks and kneading gently while being careful the splints on his broken leg didn’t scrape her soft skin.

  “No, no, no.” She stroked his hair. Love for him filled her heart. “And I’m not ashamed of what we just did.”

  “This is a part of married life that some women don’t like.”

  “Then they don’t love their husbands as I love mine! I read somewhere that this is one of God’s great gifts to mankind. I understand now what that means.”

  He caressed her mouth gently but firmly. A little sound of happiness came from his throat. He held her tightly to him and pressed her head to his shoulder.

  “When I saw you at the stage station, and you flashed those green eyes at me, I was lost. You’ve not been out of my mind since. I never dreamed that I’d hold you like this.”

  Jenny laughed happily, her mouth against his smooth skin. Her fingers gently stroked his chest.

  “I never thought I’d be so brazen as to lie naked in the arms of a man. I thought only whores did that.”

  “Well … do you like it?”

  “I love it. And we can do it every night for the rest of our lives! Trell,” she lifted her head as if a sudden thought had pulled it from his shoulder, “do you think Travor and Colleen are as happy as we are.”

  “I hope so, my love. But I doubt it. No one in the whole world could be as happy as we are.”

  A KEEPSAKE GIFT

  FROM

  DOROTHY GARLOCK

  TO YOU

  TASTES FROM THE FRONTIER

  Recipes from the Past

  used by characters in

  Dorothy Garlock’s

  books of

  early America

  In my books of the Old West, I have tried to show you the world in which our ancestors lived and in which my characters made their way: to let you smell the wilderness, feel the rockiness of the road as metal-bound wagon wheels jolted you along the trail, experience the loneliness of the endless prairie and shiver in the icy mountain streams. This booklet is intended to bring you the flavor of the food. Here are thirty recipes, just as they were passed among the settlers—imprecise and improvised—not especially for your kitchen or table, but food for your imagination.

  If you have enjoyed this addition to Sweetwater, I would like to hear from you—and if you have a recipe from the past you would like to share, I will add it to my collection. Who knows, the collection may result in a book … someday.

  To my readers—your letters are precious treasures. Thank you.

  c/o Warner Books

  1271 Avenue of the Americas

  Time Life Building

  New York, N.Y. 10020

  Love and Cherish

  (Warner Books—1995)

  1779 Kentucky

  Running frantically into the Kentucky wilderness after being sold to a pair of despicable trappers, Cherish Riley met a tall, lean, buckskin-clad man with a large brown dog who offered her his protection. Within hours he had proposed marriage. He needed a woman to care for his motherless child. Cherish agreed because she had nowhere else to go. There were miles to travel, angry pursuers, hostile Indians and frigid winter weather to face before they reached the safety of his cabin on the Ohio River, but plenty of time for Cherish to fall in love with the mysterious, silent man.

  INDIAN PUDDING

  Mix a scant cup of molasses and one of corn meal. Add one egg, a heaping spoonful of butter or fat, dash of salt, ginger or cinnamon to taste. Beat this, then stir it into a quart of sweet milk that has almost come to a boil. Remove from the fire and add a cup of cold milk, Pour into a pan and bake one hour.

  BLACKBERRY MUSH

  1 quart wild blackberries

  water 1 teacup sugar

  enough flour for thickening

  Add small amount of water to washed and picked-over berries. Cook until berries are soft. Mash through a sieve. Mix sugar and large spoonful of flour. Add to berries and return to cook until thick, stirring constantly. Cool. Good with milk.

  Wild Sweet Wilderness

  (Warner Books—1985)

  1803 Missouri

  Berry Rose Warfield was eighteen years old when she arrived at the village of St. Louis on the Mississippi River. With only her gentle stepmother beside her she left the wagon train to search for her father’s claim and brave an unforgiving frontier. Trappers, rivermen, riffraff and savages stood between her and her land. Spunky and mouthy, Berry was fast with a musket and slow to believe in a man. She was determined to prove that she was a match for the hardworking cynical trader who fell in love with her, temper and all.

  TO DRY APPLES

  Slice apples into thin slivers or core and slice into rings. If in rings, string on a cane pole and set out in the sun until the slices are brown and rubbery. This usually takes three days to a week.

  FRIED APPLE PIE

  Cook apples in a little water. Add sugar and cinnamon or nutmeg. Roll pie crust out on a floured board. Cut in circles by tracing around a saucer or small bowl. Place a large spoonful of apple mixture on one side of the circle. Fold over and pinch tightly to seal. Cut three or four small gashes in the top to let out steam. Fry in a small amount of grease in a shallow skillet until brown on both sides. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

  Annie Lash

  (Warner Books—1985)

  1806 Missouri

  When her parents died, Annie Lash Jester was left alone in old St. Louis. Since a single, healthy woman was a prize, suitors, young and old, lined up at her door. The willful lass would have none of them, for she yearned for a man who would love her completely and whom she could love in return. A young frontiersman named Jefferson Merrick offered her a chance to escape the town and live in a distant settlement on the Missouri River. She accepted, never realizing that she would have to deal with river bandits and Jefferson’s political enemies. Even harder to cope with were the problems of her heart.

  CATFISH CHOWDER

  Cut a large skinned and boned catfish into small pieces. Simmer in a covered pot for a while in a small amount of salted water. Add diced salt pork, chopped onion and potatoes (amounts according to size of family) to the fish broth. Cook until potatoes are done and water almost gone. Add milk, pepper and butter.

  CORNMEAL MUSH

  Bring a scant quart of water to boil in heavy pan. Add dash of salt. Slowly pour in a heaping cup of commeal, stirring constantly. Simmer for ten minutes. Eat with butter and molasses, or pour in greased pan and let set. When solid, cut in slices and fry slowly in hot meat fat until brown.

  River of Tomorrow

  (Warner Books—1988)

  1830 Illinois and Kentucky

  Blond Mercy Quill grew up to be as sassy a spitfire as she had been as a child. An orphan raised by Liberty and Farr Quill along with her foster brother Daniel, she often needed his loving protection. When two Kentucky brothers arrived, bringing a stunning secret, one that could separate Mercy from Daniel forever, she knew that he would stand by her and fight against her enemies. If she dared to confess her love, would he respond with his dependable brotherly kindness and break her
heart? River of Tomorrow is the third book of the Wabash Trilogy, which began with Lonesome River and its sequel, Dream River.

  PUMPKIN

  Slice the pumpkin into circles. Remove peel and seeds. Thread the circles along a pole and hang crosswise of the joist of the house for several weeks until dry. Store in a bag. Soak overnight, then cook for several hours. Season with hog meat for table use or add sugar, eggs and cinnamon to make pie filling.

  FRIED HAM AND REDEYE GRAVY

  Slice smoked ham 1/2-inch thick. Cook in heavy skillet until ham is brown on both sides. Remove from pan and keep warm. To the drippings in the skillet add 1/2 cup of hot water. Cook until gravy turns red. Serve the ham and gravy with hot biscuits.

  This Loving Land

  (Warner Books—1996)

  1852 Texas

  Summer went home to the vast Texas range, hoping to find Sam McLean, the man who had cared for her family long ago. Instead she rode into a future filled with renegade Apaches, a scheming enemy, and Sam’s son, Slater. Hard and handsome, Slater lived and worked for one thing: to find the outlaw who had killed his father. Summer was a sweet memory from his boyhood; he had told her, Go get all growed up. Summertime girl. Now she had arrived—a beautiful woman. She could bring joy into his life, but a secret long hidden, long feared, imperiled their love.

  COLLARD GREENS

  (Collard greens are best in autumn after they’ve been through a frost.) In a large pot cook chopped ham or a hock. Wash greens in cold water, throw away stems and yellow leaves. Tear in bite-size pieces. Add to ham with enough water to cover greens. Put in a small dab of sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer about an hour.

  BAKED ONIONS

  Peel and slice enough onions for the meal. Cook in salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain and cover with milk. Place on stove until milk is scalded. Dip out onions, arrange alternate layers of bread (biscuits can be used, but not cornbread) and onions. Dot with butter, pepper and salt. Pour the scalded milk over and bake until brown.

  Yesteryear

  (Warner Books—1989)

  1865 Arkansas

  Addie Hyde spent four years waiting for the husband she had married in haste to come back from the War. He never returned to her, her young son and the two foster children she cherished. Deserters and drifters were making Addie’s isolated farmhouse a dangerous place for a pretty woman without a man. John Tallman, a freighter, arrived in town asking about a Mrs. Hyde. Soon he was protecting her from a self-serving preacher and a despicable hill family. Addie’s heart told her not to fear traveling with him across Indian Territory to his ranch in New Mexico.

  CHRISTMAS COOKIES

  To a pint of sugar add four eggs, beating after each one. Add one pint of flour and a pint of chopped nuts (hickory or walnuts) and a handful of raisins. Work well into eggs, sugar and flour. Add cinnamon and a grated nutmeg. Drop by spoonfuls in baking pan. With only eggs to make them rise, the cookies bake quickly and spread out to the right size. Sprinkle with sugar.

  HARDTACK

  (Hardtack was the staff of life for a soldier when he was out in the field.) Mix plain flour, salt and water to the rolling stage. Roll out thick. Cut in squares. Place on baking sheet and punch holes in dough with a fork. The dough will rise to a fourth of an inch and brown on top. (Hardtack is much like our crackers today, except much tougher.)

  Midnight Blue

  (Warner Books—1989)

  1866 Wyoming Territory

  Leaving a girls’ school in Denver, Mara Shannon McCall traveled to the lawless country near Laramie to reclaim the ranch that was her father’s legacy. Her heart beating wildly in her breast, she rode toward the home she scarcely remembered. She stopped short when she saw a wounded man lying across the rugged trail. Pack Gallagher was beaten and bloody. She took the handsome Irish brawler with the midnight blue eyes along with her. Maybe he could help her take back her ranch from her drunken uncle who was in cahoots with criminals who used her ranch for a hideaway.

  MOLASSES CANDY

  Mix equal amounts of molasses and water in a heavy pan. Add a dash of salt and boil without stirring until a drop forms a hard ball when dropped into a dipper of water. Remove from the fire and let stand until cool enough to hold in greased hands. Press one end on a chair spindle and pull the other until the color of the taffy changes to a light tan. Twist into a rope and cut into pieces.

  YEAST

  Place one pint of hops in a cloth bag and boil for a couple of hours in a gallon of water. Peel and slice a gallon of potatoes and boil with the hops for another hour. Pour the liquid over a pint of flour. Add mashed potatoes, a cup of salt, one of sugar and three large spoonfuls of ginger. The yeast should be kept covered and in a cool place.

  Restless Wind

  (Warner Books—1986)

  1868 Colorado

  On a cold rainy night Logan Horn came to the door of the isolated cabin where Rosalee lived with her blind father, her brother and small sister. The woman the stranger carried in his arms was an Indian, his dying mother. When Rosalee gave him a place to rest and his mother a peaceful place to die, she unleashed the anger of neighboring rancher, Adam Clayhill. He had Logan beaten, Rosalee’s cabin burnt and harassed her friend, Mary. Were Logan’s pride and Rosalee’s devotion strong enough to win against Clayhill’s power? Restless Wind is the first book of the Rocky Mountain Trilogy. Wayward Wind is the second. Wind of Promise, the third.

  VINEGAR PIE

  Melt butter, size of an egg. Beat 2 eggs, add 3 spoonfuls of vinegar, the butter and a cup of water. Mix together a scant ½ cup of flour, a cup of sugar and a grated nutmeg. Add to the egg mixture and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 30 minutes. Cool until the filling is firm enough to cut.

  FRIED CABBAGE

  Shred a firm head of cabbage very fine, sprinkle with salt and let stand 5 minutes. Melt large spoonful lard in a hot kettle, add cabbage, stirring briskly until the cabbage is quite tender. Add a cup of milk, remove from heat and stir in 3 spoonfuls of cider vinegar.

  Forever Victoria

  (Warner Books—1993)

  1870 Wyoming Territory

  Victoria McKenna was a Western woman—tough when she had to be, but soft inside where she kept her secrets and dreams. Her cattle ranch on Wyoming’s notorious Outlaw Trail was the only home she had ever known. But her cheating half brother, Robert, had sold it to a stranger named Mason Mahaffey, who turned out to be a rangy, handsome cowboy with five orphaned brothers and sisters. Victoria had to choose whether to fight him for her land or listen to the instincts that told her he was a man who could love a woman with a lonely heart.

  CABBAGE AND APPLE SALAD

  (Amounts are according to family size.) Shred cabbage, chop apples and raisins or nuts. Mix equal amounts of cream and honey. Dribble over the mixture. Mix lightly. Let stand a while before serving.

  POTATO CAKES

  Cook and mash 8 medium-sized potatoes. Add two beaten eggs, a grated onion, pinch or two of baking powder, dash of salt and just enough flour to hold mixture together. Shape into patties and drop in hot fat. Fry until brown on both sides.

  FRIED VENISON STEAK

  Rub slabs of meat with salt, pepper, then coat with flour. Fry in hot fat until brown on both sides. Remove. Add a chopped onion and several spoonfuls of flour to fat. Let brown. Add hot water and stir. Add steaks to gravy and let simmer until tender.

  Nightrose

  (Warner Books—1990)

  1873 Montana Territory

  Katy Burns, her sister, Mary, and her tiny niece were the only people left in a desolate Montana ghost town. Without a horse, they hadn’t a chance of crossing a wilderness crawling with outlaws, Indians, and grizzlies. All Katy had was a firm will to survive and a derringer in her pocket. Then a stranger named Garrick Rowe rode down the empty main street. He wasn’t a desperado; he was a rugged, frontier-smart man with a daring scheme to bring this town back to life. After he met Katy, he also had personal plans for her. All she wanted from Garrick Rowe was a way out
of this miserable town.

  COTTAGE CHEESE

  Do not throw out a pan of milk that is turning sour. Cover it and set it in a warm place until it becomes a curd. Pour off liquid. Tie curd in a clean bag with a small hole so it can drain. Hang it up. Do not squeeze the bag. After 10 or 12 hours put the curd in a bowl and add rich cream and a dab of fresh butter. Press and chop with large spoon until it is a soft mass.

  FRUIT COBBLER

  Soak dried fruit or berries overnight. Sweeten and cook, leaving a large amount of juice. To regular biscuit dough add a half cup sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. Pour hot fruit and juice in a shallow pan and cover with dabs of biscuit dough. Bake until top is brown.

  A Gentle Giving

  (Warner Books—1993)

  1880 Bighorn Mountains

  Willa Hammer had narrowly escaped the lynch mob that unjustly hanged her foster father. She had nothing left but her dog and her faith in herself. Forced by circumstance to join a strange, secretive family heading west, Willa ended up on a run-down, intrigue-ridden ranch in the Bighorn Mountains. There she had to depend on the protection of a hardened cowboy with a haunted past who wanted nothing to do with her. He could infuriate her, hurt her, and … love her, if both dared to take the risk.

  STEW

  Stew was a staple in the Old West. There was no set recipe for it. It was made with squirrel, rabbit, pheasant, beef or venison. It included potatoes, onions, peppers, cabbage, corn, turnips, beans and carrots. At times it was made in a 20-gallon black iron pot hung over an outdoor fire to feed a roundup crew or a platoon of soldiers.

  Coat meat in flour and brown in hot fat. Remove meat and place in large kettle. Add several spoonfuls of flour to the fat, brown, then add water to make a thin gravy. Pour this over the meat in the kettle, add more water, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is almost tender. Add whatever vegetables are available and cook for several hours. On the second day, you can reheat, adding several hot peppers to give the stew a different taste.