By New Year's. Quiet on the ranch. Sober. The streak is the streak. Meg made black-eyed peas because she is from a wheat farm and they did the same. We ate. We watched the snow.
Patrick on the porch in the afternoon. Coffee in the good cup. The cottonwoods.
Shepherd's pie. Ground beef from the boxes. Mashed potatoes on top. Brown crust.
Cattle were good. Horses were good. The week was the week.
The wood pile is half what it was at Thanksgiving. I will split another cord on Saturday. The cord will be ready by next winter. The wood always is.
A neighbor's heifer was choking on a corn cob. I drove over with my emergency kit. Cleared the cob with a length of garden hose. The heifer recovered. The neighbor brought a pie the next day.
Hank, the dog, herded the chickens by accident. He apologized in the way dogs apologize — eyes down, tail low. The chickens were unimpressed.
Truck started cold Tuesday. Twelve below. Battery is the original. I will replace it before next winter. I always say I will replace it before next winter. I never have.
The Tuesday Roundup AA meeting was eleven this week — three new guys from a referral. The room was full. The coffee was strong.
Mr. Whelan from down the road came over Saturday with a story about a horse he sold in 1979. The story took an hour. I listened. He needed someone to tell it to.
Hauled three bull calves to the auction yard Wednesday. Got a fair price. Came home. Counted the cash. Put it in the ranch account.
The Musselshell was clear Sunday. Could see trout in the deeper pools. Did not fish. Just watched.
A reader emailed about the elk chili recipe. Asked what beer to use if non-alcoholic was not available. I wrote back: any beer is wrong if you don't drink. Use stock.
Drove the back fence line Saturday. Two posts down from elk. Replaced them in the morning. The fence held the rest of the week.
The barn cats are doing their job. Down to one mouse this week, in the feed shed. The cats brought it to the porch as proof. They are professionals.
Mended the chute hinge Wednesday. Welder was finicky. Got it on the third try. Patrick used to do this. I do it now.
Took a walk to the river before supper Tuesday. The cottonwoods were silver. The water was running. I did not think much. I just walked.
Worked on the truck Saturday afternoon. Plugs and wires. Two hours. Hands black with grease. Came in. Showered. Ate.
Drove to Billings for parts Friday. Stopped at the cemetery on the way home. Stood for ten minutes. Came home.
Wrote a blog post Friday night. The first one in two months. About making chili in a snowstorm. Short. Practical. Posted it. Forgot about it.
Listened to the cattle market report on AM radio while I worked the shop. Beef is up. Feed is up. The math is the math.
Storm came through Friday night. Thunder. The dog hid under the bed. The kids slept through it. The cattle bunched up by the windbreak. Standard.
Three days of horses this week. The work is meditative. The horses know. The owners pay. The cycle holds.
When the neighbor brought that pie the day after the heifer, I thought about how that’s the whole of it — you show up, you help, someone shows up back. This Cherry Nut Bread is that same idea in loaf form: simple ingredients, no fuss, the kind of thing you can leave on a counter and slice through all week. Meg made it once after a hard stretch and it held up. It still does.
Cherry Nut Bread
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 60 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup maraschino cherries, drained well and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly mixed.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg lightly, then stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
- Bring it together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined — do not overmix. A few lumps are fine.
- Fold in cherries and nuts. Gently fold in the chopped cherries and nuts until evenly distributed through the batter.
- Bake. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly. Bake 55–65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
- Cool before slicing. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 205 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 175mg