PLOTS AND PANS shows us that riding side-saddle is part of becoming a lady, but Jessie rides in split skirts when unobserved. Meanwhile at home, her father dies quietly from a long illness. He leaves a portion of the ranch to a young man who has worked there for years, Tucker, as well as to Jessie and her brother Ed. A secret emerges... Desta, the housekeeper, is related to the family through a previous generation's relationship on a plantation. This dignified lady has grown above her slave heritage, but she can't cook well, apart from shoo-fly pies. Now nineteen, Jessie books herself, and her mare, passage to Texas. She's coming home.

I liked the portrayal of various attitudes. Dressing as a cowhand or wearing a ball-gown, Jessie moves easily in two worlds but she's convinced that her place is on the ranch and she's come all the way without a chaperone. I admired her spirit and doggedness. The men naturally resent nursemaiding a young lady. With drifters coming and going, the ranch is not a safe place for a woman. The pace is a little slow at this point; then the fall roundup takes place and the action picks up. Cookie is too elderly to work the chuck wagon on this year's cattle drive, and the only other cook they can find has a scornful attitude to former slaves, which I suppose was common enough at the time, but Jessie won't stand for it. She could do a better job as trail cook herself!

Fire pit baking, dutch ovens and skillet cornbread make for a mouth-watering read. Trail cooks have to be up three hours before sunrise, gather wood as they drive and due to shift working, there are always cowhands needing food. No doubt about it, this was exceedingly hard work. I admire the depiction of this busy life by Kelly Marie Hake who really makes us feel we are in the thick of the action. While this is an inspirational tale we are shown that selling a Stetson on the Sabbath could save a life. PLOTS AND PANS is a great read and a sweet understated romance.

Book Summary