Dempsey's Big Event

An annual ranching event was branding and dehorning of new calves and castrating the male calves into steers to raise as beef cattle. Neighboring ranchers and their families came by to help out. All the men, who were young guys around 30 years old or so, were drinking beer and workin' calves. Lots of kids would be there, we would climb on the fences or sneak into the corral and watch, wide eyed at the ongoings: bellowing and bloody calves, sizzling, burning hide, buckets of testicles and the smell of beer. To me, it was a real life cowboy movie.

When all the calves had been worked over, the wives put out food that had been brought from home or prepared that afternoon, plus gobs of sweetbreads that had been rolled in flour and fried in skillets. They were round, soft and juicy. And delicious. No one seemed to think anything of actually eating testicles. I was beginning to get used to the idea of eating animal parts, as we were doing our own butchering at home, but of course had no idea what castrating was all about. The first, and only, time I ordered them in a restaurant I was horrified that they were smashed.** Somehow that was ten times worse than eating in them the first time.

Preparing food for ranch hands and family, as in this gathering, was a a challenge for the rancher's wife. Katherine Dempsey and most of the other wives, prepared food every day in kitchens that had a wood cook stove. Her stove had several cut out circles which she moved around like plates to maintain the proper cooking temperature. There was a metal handle that slipped into a little pocket, which she then would pry back on a bit and lift the circle to a hotter or cooler spot on the stove. Additional wood would sometimes need to be added to keep the temperature hot enough.

Whenever we were there she would fix supper for everyone. We frequently had fried chicken and boiled potatoes with milk gravy made from the chicken drippings and wonderful cut-from-the-cob sweet corn frozen the year before and always, her delicate and delicious angel food cake with strawberry icing. We would all slide into a very long table that fit into a narrow nook with benches along each side.  Once everyone got into their seat you stayed put until the meal was over, because no one could get out unless everyone along the bench got out too. 

Like I said before, going to the Dempsey's was the best. And, on occasion, the unexpected smell of beer, flashes me back to those early somewhat prurient days.



** There is also some debate on the name: sweetbreads sometimes refer to pancreas. (which would account for them being flat) and mountain oysters to testicles, however, I'm sure this family referred to the testicles as sweetbreads.


First Drafted Summer 2010. First Revision May 2020.