Cooking in the West

I will have been writing a weekly column for 27 years this June. The best part about being a columnist is reading my mail. Sometimes I get “fan mail” that I use to fan the fire in the wood stove, but usually I get really nice comments and fuel for my column instead of the fire. Two such pieces of mail arrived recently.

One sweet letter, which came from T.J. Cheetham of Cloverdale Ranch in Redstone, Montana, sorted itself to the top of the pile by explaining that he and his wife of 58 years totally relate to my stories. His wife once killed a badger with a fence stretcher, so I am not going to...