The 7-Up Ranch Cookbook

For more than five decades, award-winning journalist and photographer Kathy McCraine has been documenting ranch life in the American West. For the past 25 years she has made her home at the sprawling 7 Up Ranch in the mountains of northern Arizona. In The 7 Up Ranch Cookbook she combines her love of cooking with her love for ranching in a tribute to the traditional cowboy way of life.

The 7 Up Ranch Cookbook is equal parts cookbook, history lesson and photographic essay. The collection contains over 100 recipes from the many families and friends who have been associated with the ranch over the years, blending sophisticated techniques and ingredients with plain old, hearty, down-home ranch cooking. All seasoned throughout with anecdotes and tales from life on the range and rich photography that captures the breathtaking beauty of the ranch and the day-to-day work of its cowboys and families.

The 7 Up Ranch is a traditional working cattle ranch, its roots tracing back to the 1880s, when Arizona’s ranching industry was in its infancy. The history of the 7 Up will introduce you to such fascinating characters as John Lovelace, a notorious cattle rustler who lived deep in Burro Creek Canyon; Harry Knight, who performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and turned part of the ranch into Arizona’s first dude ranch; and Bertha Schell, a lady miner who prospected for gemstones in the rugged canyons of the 7 Up and shared a tumbledown shack with her herd of goats.

A sampling of recipes that have been cooked on the ranch include Pot Roast with Port, The Fastest Pot of Beans in the West, Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos, Stewed Pork Chops with Butterbeans, Cowboy Hot Cakes, and Jack Daniel’s Pecan Pie. A few recipes even date back to the early 1900s on the ranch.

The 7 Up Ranch Cookbook has something for everyone: ranch history, cowboy tales, beautiful photography and mouthwatering recipes.