Spurs In The Kitchen
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Meet The Cooks

 While space does not allow me to introduce everyone that contributed to my cookbook, let me introduce the other 7D Cooks!       

                       

Adrienne (Barnes) Meck is an energy-filled country girl at heart who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Age, as we all call her,  worked in the 7D kitchen as assistant cook for the 2003, the 2004 and part of the 2005 seasons.  Her friendship, energy and willingness to put in the long hours required to help me get the job done has been a gift from above.  During the school year, Age worked her way through pharmacy school and graduated in January of 2007.  True to her talent and dreams, she now co-owns and operates the wonderful Beaver Health Mart Pharmacy in Beaver, PA.   The title of this cookbook comes from her…you will just have to ask her about the true significance of the jingle-jangle sound of  the cowboys’ spurs on the kitchen floor.  

 

                Nancy Dunlap had the reins of the kitchen for the 1998-2001 seasons as head cook.  Her last season was my first year in the Sunlight Basin.  After four years of the hectic schedule, she turned the kitchen over to me.  Nancy lives in Red Lodge, Montana where she continues to cook at a local restaurant.  She is a wonderful cook, and her shoes were hard to fill.

 

Sherri Meikle came to the 7D during the summer of 2002 to work as assistant cook, which was my first year as head cook.  Sherri and her husband, Jeff, were married at the 7D Ranch in October of 2002, and both continued to work on the ranch for the next two summers.  They now spend the whole year on their ranch in Spiritwood, North Dakota with their dogs, raising cattle, horses and sheep.  Sherri has a real passion for the arts, especially creating beautiful works of art on large goose eggs.  

 

                Diane DeStefano was introduced to the 7D Ranch as a guest in the summer of 2004. During her stay, she relayed her desire to possibly work at the ranch the following season.  She didn’t have to wait a year; she was promptly hired on to help me for a few weeks at the end of the 2004 season and  2005 summer season.  She is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and  graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University.  

 

Vicki Johnson has visited the 7D more as a staff member than guest.  A friend of the 7D Ranch managers, she filled in for a few weeks at the end of the 2004 season.  Her thoughtfulness in sending me great recipes, making me try new things (by the end of a season that is hard to do), and her high energy level in the kitchen made her help invaluable.  She lives with her husband and kids in Casper, Wyoming, and she continues to teach water aerobic classes.  

                             


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Katie in the 7D Kitchen

Katie Krasselt ~~When I was the age of three, my Dad bought what he calls the  “local greasy spoon,” a café in Potlatch, Idaho called Ireland‘s Inn Café.  The café, which he owned and operated for the 31 years, was a breakfast, lunch and dinner café with a full scale bakery.   The café was very well known for its fresh bread, pies,  jumbo sized maple bars, butter horns and cinnamon rolls.  You will see many great recipes in the book from Ireland's Inn Cafe!  (Special note: In April of 2008, Dad decided to pass on the privilage of restaurant ownership to a local couple and Ireland's Inn Cafe was sold.  The cafe is now called Dad's Diner.)

     The impact of growing up at the café has shaped and inspired my career in the food service industry.  I first found out about the dude ranch industry while attending a Culinary Arts Program at North Idaho Community College.  After working the summer of 1993 as an assistant cook at an Idaho dude ranch, I was hooked, roped and hog-tied to the lifestyle of dude ranching.  Wanting to continue developing my career within the dude ranch industry, I used the winter months to earn a degree in Hotel Restaurant Administration from Washington State University.  In my spare time, I gallivanted around the west working 13 summer seasons and two winter season for eight different dude ranches, and I still love it!     I was lucky enough to call my little cabin on the Sunlight River at the 7D Ranch home for five summers.  As you will hopefully see, the recipes in this collection stem mostly from the 7D kitchen.  Some recipes also come from the many ranches I was fortunate enough to work on, staff members I have worked with, guests that I have met, and from growing up at Ireland’s Inn Café.  You will also find a lot of Krasselt family recipes among the collection--it helps to have great cooks in the family.  This cookbook would not be complete without the great recipes from the creative cooks that I have shared the 7D kitchen with, the 7D’s Dominick family, guests, my family and my friends.  Without each and every one of them, this collection would not be as diverse or as tasty.        My many years cooking on dude ranches and in backcountry camps, lead me to publish this collection of recipes. The book starting selling in August 2005 and now the second printing is selling out. Only 70 copies left!   Being the author of the book continues to be a fun but challenging project.