Sullivan
Home Care RN Cooks Up A Lot Of Fun
By Sumitted by By Margie Schaffer
Aug 13, 2008, 18:28:00

During the work week, Rosebud resident, Bev Turner, RN, field nurse, BJC Home Health Care–Sullivan, is busy dishing out excellent home nursing care. On the weekends, Turner has fun dishing out cobblers, biscuits and cowboy beans made using supplies from her own 1919 chuckwagon. She has also found it a great way to donate to worthy causes.
Turner travels to local events, private outdoor parties, trail rides and small farm gatherings to prepare entire meals, including her popular homemade cobblers, all in Dutch ovens heated by charcoal briquettes, laid under and on top of the pot itself.
“Counting out the right number of briquettes for each size pot and remembering to turn the lid that supports the upper briquettes are both techniques to keep in mind if you want foods to cook evenly when using Dutch ovens outside,” said Turner.
She has visited scout troop meetings to teach the technique to young hopefuls.
“We got started with outdoor cooking by no choice of our own,” said Turner. “About 13 years ago, all of the utilities at our house were out for an extended period and cooking outside was a necessity. We enjoyed some great meals that way and decided to start a business of it as a result.”
Originally, Turner’s family and two others traveled to small farm gatherings making molasses. Visitors and participants would buy their kettle-cooked molasses inbetween traditional demonstrations of farm skills such as plowing, shucking corn and grinding grits.
Now Turner still visits these gatherings, but with her own chuckwagon staffed with up to nine workers that include her husband, her daughter, her son-in law and his mother, two sons and her daughter-in-law.
This year, her staff donated their labor and travel costs to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Weeks before the race, Turner and her staff cooked to support the Henson Tax Services’ team sponsorship at the Henson farm. The Hensons offered a trail ride, shirt and chuckwagon meal to donators. This year over $3,000 was raised by the Henson team.
The Turners also cooked at the Relay for Life Walk in Cuba, baking their ever-popular biscuits on site at no service expense to the American Cancer Society. They sold 43 biscuits in the first four minutes alone. Their team earned over $400 as contribution to the event.
They cook again as a Relay for Life team on Oct. 25—an event that holds some surprises. The event is a Dutch oven cookoff. Each team is given a box of unidentified foods. Cooks must prepare the contents into a meat, a side vegetable, a bread and a dessert within the next four hours.
The public donates $5 to sample everyone’s creations. Foods are judged by the public and a panel of judges for best taste.
“My crew members compete against me on this event, so it makes for interesting bragging rights for the next year,” Turner said. “I won ‘Best Bread’ and my daughter won ‘Best Dessert’ last year. It’s a great event for a great cause and fun to do.”
The Turners will be at the Mid-Missouri Horse, Mule and Ox Farming Days—Missouri Heritage Event, Oct. 4 and 5 in Gerald, MO. Animal-powered plowing, buggies, spinners, basket makers and Turner’s popular biscuits and cobblers are planned for the event.
Further information can be found at www.wegoplaces.com/Event_144593.aspx.

© Copyright 2001 by sullivannews.com