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The Storm That Nearly Broke Me | Cooking Through a Texas Ranch Storm (Cowboy Coffee Hour)
Mar 8, 2026
I've cooked through tornadoes, blizzards, and baseball-sized hail, but nothing came close to three days in the Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. In this episode, Shannon and I share the storm that nearly broke me, and when you're cooking for cowboys, there are no days off. We'll also share how you can read nature better than any weatherman, and the cowboy coffee recipe so good it made a world-class coffee connoisseur furious.
Where to listen to our PODCAST: https://pionairepodcasting.com/cowboycoffeehour/
Check out our BEST SELLING cookbooks. Get your copy here: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop
Also available at bookstores nationwide, and Amazon www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins
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Kent Rollins
Cowboy Cooking, Cast Iron, Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Dutch Oven Cooking
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0:00
Now, Kent, there is I mean, you've been
0:02
through a lot of storms, but there is
0:04
one that maybe you would call like the
0:06
epic storm of your career. Is that
0:08
correct? The one that we're saying maybe
0:11
nearly even broke you.
0:13
>> [music]
0:17
>> Howdy, my name is Kent Rollins.
0:20
>> [music]
0:20
>> I've been a cowboy and a chuck wagon
0:22
cook for over 30 years cooking for
0:24
ranches all across America. You might
0:26
have seen me on the Food Network or
0:28
alongside my beautiful wife Shannon on
0:30
our YouTube show where we share cowboy
0:32
cooking [music] from the trail. But now
0:34
we're going to take you behind the
0:35
scenes to real campfire conversations.
0:37
[music]
0:38
Join us as we share humor, cowboy
0:40
wisdom, and stories full of history,
0:42
heart, faith, and of course, a little
0:45
fire. So, grab you a cup of coffee, pull
0:47
up a chair, and welcome to the podcast.
0:52
>> [music]
0:55
>> Hey, thank y'all for joining us here on
0:57
this podcast. My name is Kent Rollins.
0:59
This is my beautiful wife Shannon. Oh my
1:02
gosh. And there's a lot of stuff people
1:04
might not know what really goes on when
1:07
you're a chuck wagon cook. That is
1:09
absolutely true. And when we got to
1:10
thinking about all your crazy stories, I
1:14
think the thing that people don't
1:16
realize, the hardest thing about being a
1:19
chuck wagon cook is not what you would
1:21
think. It's not like, "Oh, we ran out of
1:24
groceries. Oh, I messed up this recipe.
1:26
I burned the biscuits."
1:28
What, Kent, would you say is the hardest
1:30
thing about being a chuck wagon cook?
1:32
Mother Nature's force, weather. You I
1:35
don't care how good a weatherman you
1:37
think you are or what's fitting to
1:39
happen. This is not a stand in stir in
1:41
the house place. This is outside in
1:43
Mother Nature's elements, and she's
1:45
wanting to kick your butt if she gets a
1:47
chance. You have cooked you have said
1:49
you have cooked in everything that
1:51
Mother Nature has created. Is that
1:53
correct? Tornado, hailstorms.
1:55
>> Yes.
1:55
>> Have you been in a hurricane? I've been
1:57
real close with a 70 mph wind and it was
1:59
raining straight down. And in Oklahoma
2:01
we used to have more earthquakes than
2:03
anybody, so I've had some of them, too.
2:05
Shake the dishes. When something is
2:06
thrown at you like that, and you said it
2:08
so many times, when you're a chuck wagon
2:10
cook, you don't have just plan ABC, you
2:13
have plan XYZ, and then you have to look
2:16
in the dictionary to see if there's any
2:17
more alphabet most of the time. But, you
2:20
never let it stop you. Right. You know
2:22
what?
2:22
>> because there's no there's nobody there
2:25
you can't call in sick. A chuck wagon
2:27
cook cannot have a sick day. You just
2:30
have to get through it. So, in fact, can
2:32
can you just paint a picture for those
2:34
of that don't don't know what our camp
2:36
setup looks like?
2:37
>> You know, we we pull in off this old
2:39
pasture road to a camp that's maybe 6, 7
2:41
miles off any major highway or
2:43
civilization. And uh trailer's on a
2:46
wagon, unload Old Bertha, which is a
2:48
wood stove, first. And and
2:50
Bertha's not just a wood stove. Bertha
2:52
is a big old gal.
2:53
>> She's 385 lbs of hunk of burning love,
2:56
she is. And uh get her set out there
2:58
first, roll the wagon off, and then we
3:00
have a 16 by 24 tarp that is pitched
3:04
just like a roof. Big canvas tarp.
3:07
>> which we call the fly of the wagon. The
3:09
fly is attached above the wagon by a
3:13
pole, shoots out over, and that's where
3:16
our cover is. We have our kitchen,
3:18
Bertha the wood stove's under that, and
3:20
then we have a little access for the
3:22
eating area or hanging out. Living room,
3:25
dining room, all accessories. Okay. And
3:27
then, of course, in camp we have our
3:29
teepee set up. Sometimes cowboys are set
3:32
up in camp with us, sometimes it's just
3:34
us, which is really nice. Yeah, on this
3:36
particular ranch, they were all staying
3:37
in a bunkhouse. We were out there by
3:39
ourselves.
3:40
>> That's right. So, it was just us in
3:41
camp. And we always set up the night
3:44
before. The works the work starts. So,
3:46
yeah, we we settle into camp,
3:49
um and I remember it was so peaceful. We
3:51
got the wagon set up, our teepee set up,
3:53
and it was just us in camp. It was a
3:55
pretty nice camp.
3:57
Um like you said, we were about
4:00
Were we about like 15, 20 miles from
4:02
town? Yeah, probably. Probably 5 miles
4:05
from the the road.
4:07
>> Yeah. So we were we were remote. It was
4:09
nice. But so here's where it gets a
4:11
little hairy. I remember the ranch
4:14
manager Rob or owner
4:17
called Kent on the cell phone, and it
4:18
was really nice cuz a lot of times we
4:20
don't have service in camp.
4:22
And he said, "Hey guys, there is a
4:24
tornado coming. You should head into
4:27
town."
4:28
And Kent's like, "Okay, whatever,
4:30
great." And I'm thinking,
4:32
"Oh, I need to get my stuff together. We
4:33
need to pack the truck and get out of
4:35
here."
4:36
Kent's not moving at all. And Rob calls
4:40
again. He's like, "Guys, it's getting
4:41
really bad." Where his house was
4:43
situated, he was right by the road where
4:45
he had already seen five storm chasers
4:49
like barreling through. He's like,
4:51
"Guys, it's going to get bad. You need
4:53
to get to town."
4:54
I'm freaking out. Kent again,
4:58
you have no care in the world. I knew
4:59
what was going to happen.
5:01
So the reason you knew and you were not
5:04
afraid is Kent said
5:06
the nature signs are are there's no
5:09
problem. No. So Kent is there. He's like
5:12
looking like, "Oh, the birds are not
5:14
moving in a southeast direction and the
5:16
cows are eating grass at like 3 seconds
5:21
a bite. So we're fine." I mean, he's got
5:23
all these like weird nature signs. And
5:25
I'm saying, "The Weather Channel said
5:28
get the heck out of there. We need to
5:30
go. I don't care what this cow is
5:32
saying."
5:33
So he's trying to like talk me off a
5:36
cliff. He is having no problem.
5:38
>> No problem at all. So then it starts
5:40
getting like you can see this storm
5:43
building.
5:44
And I remember looking up and you had
5:47
you had anchored down the TP and the
5:50
fly.
5:51
>> Yeah.
5:52
Just in case and I remember you could
5:54
see the storm building in the south, was
5:56
it? Yeah.
5:57
>> Southwest.
5:58
And sure enough this thing you can see
6:00
it just heading straight for it for us
6:03
and then all of a sudden for no reason
6:05
at all it turns and heads right for town
6:08
and hit town and I'm thinking you've got
6:11
to be kidding me. How did you know this?
6:13
Well,
6:14
you figured out all the old-timers told
6:16
me this when I was little anyway, but
6:19
you depend on Mother Nature,
6:21
you know, to give you signs too for
6:23
warning and that is all the critters
6:25
that's crawling on the ground or flying
6:27
or everything in the world. Now, there
6:29
was all kinds of doves in camp, all
6:32
kinds of sparrows in camp, meadowlarks,
6:35
you know, cows were grazing not too far
6:37
from us.
6:38
They know more than we know about
6:40
weather due to barometric pressure
6:43
mostly and they weren't leaving camp. So
6:45
I'm thinking this is probably the safest
6:47
place to be and it was cuz even Rob got
6:50
shingles blown off his house. We didn't
6:52
have nothing blowed away. No, it was
6:53
crazy and that just goes to show you
6:55
like some of the simplest things in life
6:57
Oh, yeah.
6:57
>> are still the best.
6:58
>> That's right. And like for us in camp,
7:00
we don't have running water, we don't
7:02
have electricity.
7:03
>> We do when it rains or it thunders and
7:05
lightnings. Well, there you go, but I
7:07
mean we get the job done just like you
7:08
would in a modern kitchen.
7:10
>> So, um It's easy. It it's easy when you
7:14
simplify I think.
7:15
>> Yeah. If you don't Oh, and that's one
7:17
something you've always said like
7:19
life is simple, it's people who
7:21
complicate it and the weather or
7:23
predicting the weather can can be the
7:25
same way. You know, and it works whether
7:27
it's a tornado or
7:29
you're fixing to have a blizzard
7:31
uh
7:31
and you can always sort of get a you
7:33
know, weathermen they have this day
7:34
called 10-day forecast, you know. Yeah.
7:37
We We had them at one time, you know,
7:40
you'd you'd just sort of take into
7:41
effect and when I was on ranches so I
7:43
used to keep a diary of what the weather
7:45
was, but I'd also write down in there
7:48
what I saw today to predict the weather.
7:50
Oh, really? You know, if you seen this
7:52
late in September, October in the fall
7:54
and all the geese and all the sandhill
7:56
cranes were flying south just as fast as
7:58
they can, north is coming.
8:01
But you always just like a sailor, red
8:03
sky at night, sailor's delight, you
8:05
know? And you have a trick with a cup of
8:08
coffee, right? On how to predict the
8:10
weather. What is that?
8:11
>> Well, you take cup of coffee that old
8:13
Bertha has boiled up so nicely.
8:15
And you pour it in a cup.
8:17
Now, if the bubbles stay in the middle,
8:21
a storm is coming.
8:23
If they go to the outside,
8:25
it's fair weather. It's just like a
8:27
barometer that the weather people use.
8:29
It's all due to pressure.
8:31
And it's never failed me. I've seen it
8:33
when we've done it and we even did a
8:34
video on it one time
8:36
where we said, "Hey, storm's coming." It
8:39
rained that evening.
8:40
>> Yep. So, it don't take a whole lot to
8:42
predict the weather, you know?
8:44
Uh I've been a meteorologist half my
8:46
life.
8:48
Now, we're calling this episode the
8:50
storm that nearly broke you, which was
8:52
an epic storm that you had in the Texas
8:55
Panhandle. But you have actually been in
8:57
a lot I mean, obviously cooking for over
9:00
what, 35 years in a wagon, you have come
9:04
across a lot of bad weather. So, like
9:07
what was one of like maybe the top five?
9:10
I don't know, it's probably who, 13, 14,
9:13
15 years ago.
9:15
Uh Randall Gates, good friend of ours.
9:16
And uh he called and said, "Hey, Kenny."
9:18
He said, "I'm going to need to cook for
9:19
about 3 weeks if you could help me out."
9:21
Just like every place I've ever been in
9:23
my life, the first day and evening was
9:25
so beautiful. And everybody was setting
9:27
up their teepees. It's probably like 17
9:30
cowboys is what I was feeding.
9:32
And uh we got all of all of the pigs
9:34
drove in good. Randall come over there
9:37
late that evening and he said, "I just
9:38
talked to Julie on the phone, Kent." And
9:40
he said uh
9:42
"There's a tornado about 5 mi west of
9:44
here with softball size hail."
9:47
He said, "Anything we need to do?"
9:50
And I said, "We'll pray a little that
9:52
goes around and we'll drive them tent
9:53
pegs in a little deeper and them fly
9:55
stakes down in the ground." See, and
9:57
that's the difference with me. I mean,
9:58
I'm out of there. And you guys just
10:00
hunker down. Well, I mean
10:02
that's that's the job. We've always
10:04
heard the expression "weather the
10:05
storm." Oh, yeah. You know, so
10:08
>> Literally. we
10:09
if they're out there in it I need to be
10:11
out there, too. Cuz you never know cuz
10:13
that that wagon may be theirs, but it's
10:16
my responsibility while I'm cooking on
10:17
that ranch. And that's my family to take
10:19
care of. So
10:21
we got her all ready there and drove all
10:23
the stakes a little deeper and Randall
10:25
went around told everybody, you know,
10:26
said, "Hey, it's a bad storm coming."
10:29
Well, it started hailing and they were
10:30
sort of like golf balls and I'm thinking
10:32
"Ain't nothing to this, you know, got
10:34
this made." I just laying on there in
10:35
the cot listening to that rain beating
10:37
on there. And then I got to noticing
10:39
that some of that hail was hitting them
10:41
teepee poles and sounded like baseballs
10:44
coming 60 70 mph. Just pinging as it hit
10:47
the ground. Then I heard them beating on
10:48
that pickup that I had parked out there.
10:51
I unzipped the door just a little and
10:53
looked out and it was probably I'd say
10:55
baseball in size. But they weren't all
10:58
just round.
10:59
Just old jagged pieces of ice. Yeah. The
11:02
next one hit ripped a hole in my teepee
11:04
so it ripped right up there at the top
11:06
where it hit cuz it just cut it.
11:08
And about that time the wind blew the
11:10
teepee over. Now, teepees just held with
11:12
two poles. It's not an Indian teepee.
11:14
>> Right. So, these teepees are not what
11:16
you think of. If you haven't seen If
11:18
you're watching on YouTube, we'll pop
11:20
pop up a picture of our teepees. So,
11:22
what they're called they're not
11:24
traditional as you would think Native
11:25
American teepees. They are what's called
11:27
a range teepee or a cowboy teepee. So,
11:30
it's still triangular,
11:32
But it typically has two poles on either
11:36
side that hold it up.
11:37
>> they do a good job. Okay, so it's blown
11:39
over but you're inside still.
11:41
>> and I can feel the hail hit me in the
11:42
back through the tarp. So I'm thinking,
11:45
I am not the sharpest knife in the
11:47
drawer but I know where to go when it's
11:49
getting like this and that's under the
11:50
cot.
11:51
So
11:51
>> Okay. I crawl under the cot and I mean
11:54
it's just beating you to death, you
11:56
know. I can feel it hitting me in the
11:57
butt, hitting me in the back.
11:59
And I'm thinking
12:01
it's time to abandon ship.
12:03
>> [laughter]
12:03
>> Now
12:04
I was born naked, you know what I mean?
12:06
Right. And I sleep naked. So I put on my
12:09
Crocs and I made me a mad dash to the
12:11
pickup and I mean that hail was hitting
12:13
me in the back of the head. They was
12:15
windows in pickups down there that got
12:17
cracked so bad from the hail.
12:20
When it finally quit, I snuck in there
12:22
and got my clothes, put them back on,
12:23
went around there to look at the fly of
12:25
that wagon and it there was probably
12:27
four big old holes in it that had just
12:29
beat in there from that hail. All the
12:31
firewood was wet, you know. But Randall
12:35
come around in a minute and he said
12:37
"You all right?" I said, "I got bruised
12:39
a little but I'm all right." I said,
12:40
"The fly is standing but it's got some
12:42
holes in it. But
12:43
everybody survived. Everybody knew what
12:47
was going to happen in a way and
12:49
everybody overcame. There was nobody
12:51
panicked and said, "Oh my god, I'm
12:53
leaving and going home." That's the
12:55
thing that's crazy to me. I have been in
12:56
a few storms and nobody panics. Like
12:59
you can tell when there's a little bit
13:01
of a stress or like oh we need to do
13:03
these things to get ready for the storm
13:05
but
13:06
in in cowboy camp nobody panics and you
13:09
just kind of take it the way it comes.
13:11
But there's
13:12
you know, so many storms that
13:15
really in a way you think you can't get
13:17
no worse than this. You know, there's no
13:19
man on the ranch told me one time he
13:20
said you can rest when you die.
13:23
You know, and that was sort of the
13:24
mentality that a lot of them old-timers
13:26
had.
13:27
You never let anything faze you.
13:30
Always weather the storm.
13:32
Now, can there is I mean, you've been
13:34
through a lot of storms.
13:35
>> Yes, ma'am. But, there is one that maybe
13:37
you would call like the epic storm of
13:39
your career. Is that correct? The one
13:42
that we're saying maybe nearly even
13:44
broke you.
13:45
I think of that every time we set up the
13:47
fly up on a ranch somewhere and people
13:49
say all the weather's going to get bad.
13:52
And I always say I don't think it can
13:53
get no worse than it was
13:55
uh
13:56
them two or three days in the Palo Duro
13:57
Canyon. Now, for those of y'all who
14:00
don't know where that might be,
14:02
you draw you a line from Amarillo to
14:04
Claude, Texas, and then you just go just
14:06
a little bit to the south.
14:08
Uh there's the Palo Duro Canyon, second
14:10
largest in the United States. Set up
14:12
camp first night, everybody got in their
14:14
teepees, you know, after supper we
14:16
always cook steak when we move camp. So,
14:18
everybody was fat, full, and happy.
14:20
And the next morning I got up 2:00 and
14:22
had the old wagon set up, you know, like
14:24
the fly, but it had canvas walls that uh
14:27
snapped in. Closed it all up cuz in the
14:29
winter when it's like that, I don't
14:31
sleep in a teepee, I sleep in there
14:34
where it's all closed up with Bertha and
14:35
got a good wood pile, and I can cook I
14:37
can keep it above freezing most of the
14:39
time.
14:40
>> cozy in there, yeah.
14:41
So, uh that night I thought, well,
14:44
it is a beautiful night, stars were
14:46
shining, wasn't no wind. Next morning to
14:48
get up 2:30, keep me a little transistor
14:51
radio in there to hear the weather uh or
14:53
maybe catch up on a little news on
14:55
occasion. Turned it on that morning at
14:57
2:30, sky said, "Oh, it's going to be a
14:59
beautiful day in the Texas Panhandle
15:01
today."
15:03
He said, "But, hang on to your stuff
15:05
tonight, put a rock in your pocket, and
15:07
wear two layers of long handles cuz it
15:09
is a three-dog cold night." And that's
15:11
when it takes three dogs to get in the
15:12
bed with you to keep you from freezing.
15:14
So, I heard him say
15:16
"Winds tomorrow, 65 mph with gusts to
15:21
80."
15:22
And I'm thinking, that there will tear
15:24
the top off a windmill. And all that
15:26
time where they were giving that weather
15:28
as I went through the day, I'm thinking,
15:29
what can I do to prepare for this? It's
15:33
not one of them deals to where we're
15:34
going to run from it. We're here.
15:36
We got camp.
15:38
Things are going to take place
15:39
regardless whether it's 90° or it's 20
15:42
below zero, it's going to happen.
15:45
So,
15:46
it happened.
15:48
And I mean, I have never seen wind like
15:50
that in my life.
15:52
And we didn't get any of There wasn't
15:52
any moisture with it. Uh there wasn't
15:54
even no clouds hardly. It's just that
15:56
old northwest wind that was howling.
15:59
And
16:00
just a rolling a cloud of dirt down
16:02
there cuz it'd been so dry during the uh
16:04
the summer and the fall anyway.
16:07
And it got so dark, I remember having to
16:09
light a lantern at 3:00 that evening.
16:11
And the wind just kept beating and
16:13
beating. And I'd go out there with that
16:15
old sledgehammer, boy, and I'd go back
16:17
and knock them stakes in the ground some
16:18
more cuz it just kept popping them out,
16:20
pulling them out. And I'd get it
16:22
re-tied.
16:23
And I remember when I was out there and
16:25
you'd walk around the corner of that fly
16:27
with that hammer and that old northwest
16:28
wind would catch you. And it was so
16:30
cold, it just felt like somebody was
16:32
cutting you in two. I'd take that hammer
16:34
and I'd drive them stakes in there and
16:35
I'd get a hold to that fly rope and try
16:37
to wrap it around them stakes and the
16:39
wind just jerking you back all the time.
16:41
Put me a half hitch in it. Run back in
16:43
there in the kitchen and try to get
16:44
things to going.
16:46
And there's a metal pole that sits by
16:48
old Bertha so it don't catch on fire.
16:50
But it broke that string on that top
16:52
pole up there where that metal pole is.
16:54
And it's got a long pin in it that goes
16:56
through that grommeted tarp.
16:59
And it was just like a butcher knife
17:00
when it come out.
17:02
Cut all the way down one side from the
17:04
peak to the bottom and then all the way
17:07
to the other end. So, we have a
17:09
an 8-ft rip here
17:12
and a 14-ft rip going that away.
17:15
The best thing I can do right now,
17:18
take it all down cuz it's just going to
17:19
shred it if I don't. So, I go to laying
17:22
poles down, pulling ropes, just letting
17:24
it blow up against the ski trees over
17:26
cuz I thinking
17:28
I just got two holes right now. I don't
17:29
want it ripped to shreds. So, pull it
17:32
all over there.
17:33
Lucky enough when them old cowboys come
17:36
in about 4:30, the wind had died a
17:38
little, but they all look at me and they
17:40
you could tell they were just
17:42
dumbfounded. And they said,
17:44
"Kent, what happened to the house?" I
17:46
said, "Y'all been out there any You know
17:48
what happened to that house."
17:49
I said, "I called old Chris Morton. He
17:51
going to bring me some three of them and
17:53
needle." And I said, "I'll get it sewed
17:55
up. Don't y'all worry." I said, "Cuz
17:56
they're calling for snow at the end of
17:58
the week." I said, "We'll get her back."
18:01
That night
18:02
after I cooked supper, everybody went to
18:04
the TP. My house was demolished.
18:08
The fly was gone.
18:09
>> It blew down your Oh, you have your TP
18:11
set up. See, you have no cover.
18:13
>> See, you have no cover. No. You're just
18:15
adjust your I was sleeping right up
18:16
beside old Bertha, loving her.
18:18
>> And what's the temperature at right now?
18:19
Probably three. 3°?
18:21
>> Yeah.
18:22
But Bertha's blocking the wind,
18:24
you know. So, I'm thinking electric
18:26
blanket's working really good tonight.
18:27
So,
18:28
after breakfast that morning
18:31
and uh you know when you got the tarp up
18:33
and you got two lanterns lit, it's
18:35
pretty light in there. But when it's
18:37
just wide open spaces and you got a
18:40
lantern, it ain't putting out near as
18:41
much light. It's a little harder to cook
18:43
breakfast that morning, but we got them
18:45
all fed.
18:46
And I told them I said, "To help me
18:48
out," I said, "I got up early and I
18:50
said,
18:51
I fixed
18:53
some burritos that y'all can carry with
18:55
you. I know y'all are going to the top
18:57
today," which was it was a set of pins
18:59
at the top up there and they were
19:01
branding cattle that they'd moved up
19:02
there the day before. And I said, "Y'all
19:04
can heat them over the branding fire.
19:05
This way, I can wash breakfast dishes
19:08
and commence to sewing cuz it's going to
19:11
take a long time." And I want to point
19:13
out too, this isn't just like you're
19:15
sewing a shirt like a button on a shirt.
19:17
This is a super heavy canvas. Yeah. Like
19:19
did you have a special Had a big old big
19:22
old leather needle, you know, and then
19:24
I have
19:26
some really good waxed nylon thread. Uh
19:29
that's pretty thick. You're going to
19:31
patch it with a piece of tarp. So I
19:33
always carry extra tarp. Cut me a piece
19:34
about this wide. Laid that fly out there
19:38
and laid that down to where it covers.
19:41
Now you do this for about 3 hours
19:43
sitting on a little wooden bench and
19:46
your fingers is numb and cold cuz I
19:47
can't hardly do this with gloves on. I
19:49
wasn't even halfway through when it was
19:51
time to cook supper.
19:53
Um I mean there's a lot to this that
19:55
goes on because still you got to think,
19:57
"Hey, I've got to cook cake for dessert
19:59
that night. I've got to make biscuits.
20:01
It ain't just like I'm just sewing and
20:02
that's all I've got." So
20:05
after supper that night everybody went
20:08
back to teepees. It was so calm and
20:10
peaceful.
20:12
I mean you could have heard a prairie
20:14
dog fart 3 miles away. I mean this is
20:17
some of the best sleeping weather that
20:19
you could have if you was warm. You
20:21
know. Yeah.
20:22
Well,
20:23
another night sleeping in that bedroll
20:25
laying by old Bertha. Get up the next
20:27
morning. I get up extra a little extra
20:30
early. Get up about 2:00 that morning.
20:32
Not only did I make breakfast, but I
20:33
made a pot of chili so everybody
20:35
commuted to the top in the pickup truck.
20:38
And I said, "Here, take this chili with
20:39
you, these bowls, these spoons, these
20:41
crackers and that cheese." I said,
20:42
"Y'all heat it up on that fire. I'm
20:44
going to sew today. I'm going to try to
20:46
finish and I'm going to try to get the
20:47
kitchen back in shape."
20:49
Well,
20:50
that day it was back to sewing
20:52
and uh
20:54
nearly got through. I didn't lack maybe
20:57
a good
20:58
I'd say maybe that far on one side.
21:00
>> Maybe 16 inches? Yeah, but I wouldn't I
21:02
didn't want to set it up
21:04
and think I have to take it back down to
21:05
finish the sewing.
21:06
>> Oh yeah, no.
21:07
>> But we did get some snow that night and
21:09
everybody sit around that fire and they
21:11
said,
21:12
"Your hands hurt?"
21:14
And I said, "Yeah,
21:16
from sewing.
21:17
You know, it's
21:18
it's something that I took on to look
21:21
thinking, "I can finish this." But there
21:22
would be times during the day when I sew
21:24
and I think,
21:27
"You know, what is it without it?" You
21:28
don't quit in the middle of something.
21:30
You know, a job never gets finished if
21:32
you don't ever start.
21:33
But if it's never complete, you look
21:35
back, it's your fault you didn't
21:37
complete it.
21:38
You didn't have the gumption, you didn't
21:39
have the try, the desire. And there's a
21:41
lot of people that's going through stuff
21:43
in life that they think, "I can't get
21:45
through it. I can't do that."
21:47
Hey, you're never alone in that
21:49
situation.
21:51
God is there with you.
21:52
And all you got to do is ask him, "Lord,
21:55
bless me right now. Give me the courage
21:57
and the strength I need to get through
21:58
this." The biggest thing is, they got to
22:01
have the faith to step out there and do
22:02
it. And uh
22:05
I'll never forget that. There was
22:07
of all the storms I've ever been in,
22:09
that was the one where I'm thinking,
22:12
"This will make you or this will break
22:14
you."
22:15
You know, one of my favorite quotes um
22:19
is how do you eat an elephant?
22:20
>> Yeah. One bite at a time. And I'm sure
22:23
when you were looking at that fly, which
22:25
is massive, and you're just doing one
22:27
little stitch at a time, but one little
22:30
stitch
22:31
and one more stitch, that'll get you to
22:33
the end.
22:34
>> Oh, yeah. And you just have to like
22:36
whatever you're going through,
22:38
it may seem insurmountable, but it's
22:41
just one bite at a time. It's one stitch
22:43
at a time and eventually you'll get to
22:45
the end.
22:46
>> Yeah, I mean, if it was easy,
22:47
everybody'd do it.
22:49
You know, my dad told me a long time
22:50
ago,
22:52
"Get a job you really like, do it better
22:54
than anybody else, you'll never have a
22:55
job." I've been on vacation for 40
22:57
years. Well, and I also want to say like
22:59
maybe for for those who who don't know
23:03
the fly and camp is so important to not
23:08
only the
23:10
the safety
23:11
but also the morale of camp because it's
23:13
your home away from home.
23:14
>> Yeah, it's the camaraderie that's there.
23:17
It is
23:18
you know, these people become family.
23:19
Yeah. You know, and we take care of
23:21
them. That night especially with I got
23:23
both lanterns going.
23:25
Bertha's full of good hard mesquite
23:27
wood.
23:29
You know, it's been a long day for
23:30
everybody. Everybody's feet's cold.
23:33
People got frostbit ears, you know.
23:36
And they sit around old Bertha and
23:38
they're like
23:39
thank you, Jesus. With every one of them
23:41
storms Sham that I've been in, you've
23:44
been in
23:46
all the places that we have went and
23:48
seen
23:49
there's always things we take away from
23:52
it.
23:52
And most of it is
23:54
still we had the best view out our
23:56
kitchen window that anybody's ever seen.
23:58
We met some of the best people in the
24:00
world
24:01
while we were there.
24:02
We all went through some hard times
24:04
together, but we all learned something
24:06
from it.
24:07
And we all sat down every morning
24:11
and we thank God for what we had. And we
24:13
had us a cup of cowboy coffee.
24:16
And a lot of y'all might not even know
24:17
what cowboy coffee is. And a lot of you
24:20
think if you've heard the word oh my
24:22
gosh, that stuff is stout enough to
24:23
float two horseshoes and a battleship.
24:26
If you make coffee right the way we make
24:29
it it is the best coffee you ever had in
24:31
your life. I have recommended this to
24:32
people who had acid reflux, acid
24:35
indigestion. Coffee made their stomach
24:37
hurt. Because
24:39
you take that old big coffee pot and I
24:41
I've got a big one that sits on the
24:42
wagon and I fill it to water right here
24:44
to the bottom of the spout.
24:46
Sit around old Bertha, which is that
24:48
wood stove. Let it get warm.
24:51
Now, when that water gets warm
24:53
open the top and for that big old pot
24:56
three handfuls of ground coffee. Big
24:59
handfuls, which is about 2 and 1/2 cups.
25:03
Shut the lid.
25:04
We're going to bring it to a rolling
25:05
boil. Don't leave the lid shut all the
25:07
time cuz it'll boil plum over.
25:10
Look at it, you can see it boil.
25:12
Don't just let it simmer.
25:14
Let it boil.
25:16
Now, so many years ago when somebody got
25:19
burned at McDonald's for drinking coffee
25:20
and then there was a lawsuit and
25:22
everybody wanted to turn the coffee
25:23
water temperature down for a long time.
25:26
When you boil coffee and boiling let me
25:28
see, go back to my physical mathematical
25:31
base 212°, right? When it's at a rolling
25:34
boil, it's probably about 230.
25:36
And it's
25:37
just rolling.
25:39
When it's doing that,
25:41
it's breaking down the tannin in the
25:43
coffee bean, which is going to release
25:46
acid. Let it boil 5 minutes, slide it
25:49
off there to the warm side.
25:51
Take you a cup of cold water, pour a
25:52
little down the spout towards the
25:54
grounds down
25:55
Pour the rest around the edge. What does
25:58
that do? Settles all the grounds to the
26:00
bottom of the pot.
26:03
People used to say, "I put it in a sock.
26:05
That's how I boil it. I don't get no
26:06
grounds in there." Who would thought for
26:08
you put it in there? I'm not going to
26:09
use a sock, I promise you. This has
26:11
worked for me forever and ever and I
26:13
watched old-timers make it in coffee
26:15
cans the same way at Brandon Fliers.
26:18
But when you make it like this, let it
26:19
set for just a minute and you pour you a
26:22
cup of coffee out of there,
26:24
it is the smoothest coffee in the world.
26:26
It is. And if you're making this at
26:28
home, it's 1 qt of water to 1/4 of cup
26:32
of grounds and you can make cowboy
26:34
coffee in any type of vessel. We've made
26:37
it in a sauce pan before.
26:39
>> it in a tin can. It's just the process
26:41
of boiling to break it down to make it
26:44
smooth and we've blown people away. Oh,
26:48
yeah. We were at Branson, cooking,
26:50
Missouri, cooking for this festival, 7
26:52
weeks long.
26:53
Coffee first thing on. Was doing a
26:55
sourdough biscuit demonstration and
26:57
before that you just We got four of them
26:59
big old coffee pots. We're just pouring
27:00
coffee, pouring coffee.
27:03
This guy raised his hand. There were
27:04
about 300 people out there watching. He
27:06
said, uh
27:07
"Got a question for you, cowboy." I
27:09
said, "What's that?" He said, "I am a
27:10
coffee connoisseur." I said, "I don't
27:12
know what that is, sir, but I like
27:14
coffee." He said, uh
27:16
"This might be the best cup of coffee
27:18
I've ever drank in my life."
27:20
I said, "Well, thank you." He said, "How
27:21
do you make it?"
27:22
I said, "Well, I'll give you a recipe."
27:24
I said, "It's water, coffee, and fire."
27:28
"No," he said, "I don't think you
27:29
understand." He said, "I have coffee
27:30
plantations all around the world."
27:33
He said, "I import coffee. I sell
27:35
coffee. I know coffee better than
27:38
anyone."
27:39
"So, tell me how you make it."
27:41
I said,
27:43
"I want to know what brand of coffee you
27:44
use."
27:45
I said, uh
27:47
"I get mine imported." He said, "Where's
27:49
it from?" I said, "Walmart."
27:52
I said, "It's Folgers." He said, "Oh, I
27:54
don't drink Folgers." I said, "You drank
27:56
three cups today, brother. You're
27:57
knocking it out." He said, "Well, give
27:59
me that recipe." So, I give it to him.
28:01
Water to the bottom of the spout, three
28:04
handfuls of coffee.
28:06
Let it come to a rolling boil 5 minutes.
28:08
Pull it off there and let it sit. Pour a
28:10
cup of cold water down the spout.
28:12
You got good cowboy coffee.
28:15
I didn't see him for about 3 and 1/2
28:17
weeks, wasn't it? And then he came back.
28:19
And he's mad as a wet hen. Come up there
28:21
wanting to fight, told me that I ruined
28:23
his life, made him look like a fool in
28:25
front of his friends. I said, "I wasn't
28:26
there. You done that by yourself."
28:29
He said,
28:30
"That coffee was so bad, and I had
28:32
coffee buyers that I were entertaining,
28:35
and
28:36
they said it was awful."
28:38
I said, "You made it, brother. I wasn't
28:40
there." I said,
28:42
"You followed the recipe." He said,
28:44
"Yeah."
28:45
"Water to the bottom of the spout. Three
28:48
handfuls of coffee.
28:49
Let it boil 5 minutes. I had a
28:51
stopwatch. Pulled it off, poured the
28:53
cold water, let it sit 3 minutes.
28:55
He said, "You couldn't drink it."
28:57
I said, "How big is your coffee pot?"
29:00
He said, "A four-cup."
29:03
And this is a true story. And I looked
29:05
at him and I said, "Sir, sometimes you
29:06
got to be smarter than what you're
29:07
messing with."
29:09
It ain't That's trying to complicate
29:11
things again.
29:11
>> That's complicated, and especially when
29:12
you're making it in what, a two-gallon
29:14
pot?
29:14
>> Yeah. Doesn't work with four cups. But
29:17
hey, Shan,
29:19
podcast. We didn't have to build a fire.
29:22
No. And um with all like all your
29:25
stories, that's why like you've got so
29:28
many stories from the campfire to
29:30
cooking to I mean
29:33
out on the trail. Um that's why we
29:36
wanted to do this. Uh it's uh
29:38
to me it's
29:40
it's great to share stories
29:42
because that's sharing history.
29:44
Absolutely. And if we don't share
29:46
history,
29:47
it's lost.
29:48
So,
29:49
that's what we're trying to do. Share
29:51
history, a little humor, a little cowboy
29:53
wisdom.
29:54
Um and we're going to be doing this
29:55
every week. So, we'd love for you all to
29:57
tune in. Share, subscribe, follow, and
30:01
please rate us on your favorite podcast.
30:04
Um five stars only, please. Anything
30:06
lower, go to a different one.
30:08
>> Yeah. First of all, before we get out of
30:10
here,
30:11
to all you servicemen and women and all
30:13
you veterans out there, we appreciate
30:15
and we salute you. We do.
30:17
Uh we thank you for what you've done
30:19
[music] for us to keep us all safe. We
30:21
commend you all.
30:23
My love,
30:24
it's always a pleasure to be with you.
30:26
[music] Y'all be sure and join us now uh
30:28
because
30:29
I'm liking this better than cooking. We
30:31
got a story every week and you never
30:33
know what's going to happen. God bless
30:34
you each and every one. We'll see you
30:36
down the podcast trail. [music]
30:46
>> [music]
30:47
>> Pioneer.
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