Ranch Foods Direct cooked up free burgers, and visitors lined up to sample a chuckwagon cooking smorgasbord, during the 2011 Pikes Peak or Bust rodeo in Colorado Springs in mid-July. It was the second chuckwagon cookoff in a month; in a repeat performance, the cowboy cooks whipped up hearty meals from donated Callicrate Beef. New this year at the Pikes Peak or Bust event, special ticket-holders had a chance to sample fare by each of the competing wagons. Then they got to mark their ballot for a people's choice winner. That option was a hit! The entrees ranged from standard chicken-fry to smothered steak to spicy beef tips to lightly seasoned shredded beef, all accompanied by beans, potatoes (mashed or roasted), gravies (white or brown) and desserts (bread pudding and cobbler.) Enough to last us all through to next year!
