Nell Learns How To Cook

Ethel had watched and listened to Nell during their time together on the trail. She had found out several things about her. She was traveling to Iowa to marry a man that she had never met. She was going to have four children to care for, cook for, sew for. She was going to live on a farm which she had never done. She also had to store food to eat during the winter months. After hearing Nell's story she found that Nell didn't know how to cook! She was an only child so she didn't have any knowledge of caring for children, and she certainly didn't know how to preserve food from the garden nor how to cure meat. So she decided that she would do as much teaching as she could along the trail, which was very limited. The first thing that she was going to do is teach her how to make bread on a bonfire in her Dutch Oven.

The pioneers did not have yeast that makes bread rise or get bigger like we are used to. They had something called saleratus. It was a bit like our baking soda. They mixed some of that with cream of tartar and water. It was very precious to them because bread was the most important staple food they could make. Then they added enough flour to make a stiff dough. Their flour wasn't white either. They had only very coarse flour on the trail. The dough was put in a Dutch Oven on hot coals in the fire. Then the ladies covered the complete Dutch Oven with more red hot coals. The heat was very hot so they had to watch it carefully so it didn't burn. Sometimes if they were camping for a long time they would hang the Dutch Oven over a fire. That would take longer, but wasn't as quick to burn the bread dough.

The folks on the wagon train were very inventive. Sometimes they dug a big hole and put rocks in the fire. Then they could actually cook on the rocks. The thing was, Nell didn't like to cook or bake. She was all thumbs. She was getting dirty, breaking fingernails, and her attempts at cooking was dismal. Ethel continued to encourage her, but thought to herself, "Oh dear. What is her new husband going to think." So she did the only thing she could do. She got together with other ladies and younger women more like Nell's age. They all decided that they would "teach" her by doing. They would all get together when they could and pick a dish to cook. They laughed at each other's mistakes and eventually everyone learned from the older ladies. So Nell learned how to poke a sharp stick through a deer steak and cook it good enough to eat. She learned how to pick berries along the trail. mix a tiny bit of sugar with them and cook them on the fire for jam. She was feeling good about herself. She could serve her new husband, bread and jam and a piece of meat. He wouldn't starve.
"They had traveled several days and had reached the place where they needed to cross the Missouri River. The river was not quiet. It had very high places called bluffs on each side. It was way too dangerous to cross in Nell's opinion. She was very nervous when the trail boss came riding back and told them they had no other place to cross. They were going to cross the river that day or days however long it took to reach the other side. If they did not do it they may not make it to Iowa before the harsh winter was upon them. They needed to be brave and hope for the best.
Grandma Lu had a book that she had found with some pictures of the covered wagons crossing the river.

All of a sudden hands went up and there was lots of talking! Marlee said, "I wouldn't be afraid. I go swimming all the time with my sister, and mama and daddy. I even had my birthday party at a swimming pool. It was lots of fun." Kaysyn said, "I love swimming too. Sometimes I get dirty." Everyone laughed with her.  Charlie said, "My nana has a house on the lake. I get to go swimming there all the time. I have lots of fun. Bella, Adrian, and Jax all laughed and said, "We have a big pond and a swimming pool. We aren't afraid of water because we all know how to swim and we never swim alone."

Grandma Lu grinned at all of their stories and said, "Well, the most important thing is that you never go swimming alone, always have a buddy and if you don't know how to swim stay safely away from the water or wear life jackets or water wings. The thing is Nell didn't have any of those things did she? Hopefully her wagon will stay safe. Let's see what happens."