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the Old Chuck Wagon meals on wheels

green papaya

One Too Many
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California, usa
2015-07-12_184838.jpg
here's an interesting old photo dating from sometime around the late 1880's - 1900's era, a cook prepares pies out on the range

back when everything was still made the old fashioned way, no instant or artificial or frozen ingredients, everything was fresh or made from scratch.
 
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Renault

One Too Many
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1,688
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Wilbarger creek bottom
My grandmother starting selling pies in about 1926. They lived in a tent town of road and bridge building crews out close to the Devils River. Grand dad brought her a small wood cook stove and set it up for her outside the tent. She would sell pies to road hands. She was still selling pies to small mom and pop type cafes in south San Antonio into the early 1990's. Before her arthritis got to her.
 

Oldsarge

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1,440
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On the banks of the Wilamette
My mother, sisters, wife, son, and grandmother could/can all make dynamite pie crusts. Alas, the talent passed me by and I must rely on the best frozen kind I can find. Fortunately Sprouts Markets has come to my rescue with whole grain frozen pie crusts so whipping out a fresh fruit or vegetable and cheese galette is no trouble. But I do wish i could make a good crust on my own.[huh]
 

Renault

One Too Many
Messages
1,688
Location
Wilbarger creek bottom
My mother, sisters, wife, son, and grandmother could/can all make dynamite pie crusts. Alas, the talent passed me by and I must rely on the best frozen kind I can find. Fortunately Sprouts Markets has come to my rescue with whole grain frozen pie crusts so whipping out a fresh fruit or vegetable and cheese galette is no trouble. But I do wish i could make a good crust on my own.[huh]

Sarge,
The secret to good pie crust is use real lard!!! ;)
 

Oldsarge

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1,440
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On the banks of the Wilamette
I may have to give it a try. The rest of my family does very well with vegetable shortening but I just can't get them to hold together. Maybe when I buy a bigger food processor . . . The wife insisted on my having a smaller one because the big ones take up so much space. But if I ditch a few things like the drip coffee maker that hasn't been used in years?
 

Oldsarge

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1,440
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On the banks of the Wilamette
I've always kept it in the refrigerator but have never tried putting it in the freezer for a while before cutting it in. That's a thought. Measure the shortening and put it in the freezer for . . . what? 20 minutes? I always use ice water when I assemble the crust but chilled shortening . . . hmmm . . .
 

greatestescaper

One of the Regulars
Messages
293
Location
Fort Davis, Tx
Great photos here. It'll be some time before I'm able to have a proper chuck wagon of my own, however, here is a rig I've cobbled together for cooking at the local Farmer's Market. Mostly it's biscuits and gravy, or peach cobbler, or both. And those all fixed with a sourdough starter I keep and feed every day. That with a cup of Cowboy Coffee. The folks seem to enjoy it, which makes it all worth while to me.




 

Haversack

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1,194
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Clipperton Island
Camp biscuits. Either the gods' own food or like to kill you. Late in the 19th C. the camp cook for the survey party involved in mapping a part of the state of Oregon made a particularly bad batch of biscuits. The surveyors commemorated them by naming two recently surveyed features Deathball Mountain and Deathball Rock.
 

greatestescaper

One of the Regulars
Messages
293
Location
Fort Davis, Tx
Renault, that is some good looking pie! Oldsarge, if you ever find yourself near Alpine, Tx, let me know. i'm usually found cooking at t he Farmer's Market there on Saturdays.
 

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