Let them eat cake
From the first time we went to Shawville (the town closest to the Ranch and with a population of 1 641), I was fascinated by how much it is the centre of this farming community. The town has 90 thriving businesses - no empty or abandoned premises to be seen - ranging from the typical ones such as hairdressers, clothes shops, general hardware and groceries to the more unexpected ones like the commercial printer or mystical boutique & psychic services. The latter is located next door to Hursty’s Bar & Grill... well, what a discovery that was!
As the ranch has no internet, Manuel makes the trip to town several times a week to use the WiFi at some of his favourite haunts. Now while internet access is a draw indeed, what really has me going back time and again to Hursty’s is the delicious slice of community life which comes free of charge along with my pot of steaming tea. All around you stories are being swapped - who had just given birth, who had an illness, who had bought a new tractor, whose joints were aching with stiffness. People enter the dim interior and are greeted by name and directed to whom they have come to join. Breakfasts, burgers, poutine and cakes are ordered and the business bustles all day long.
We too ordered a slice of cake - in the name of research, naturally. ‘We only have Butterscotch Pie left, hun,’ the waitress told us, ‘is that ok?’ ‘Oh yes, more than ok,’ I replied. The pie was pure delicious - crispy pastry, a thick creamy butterscotch filling and sweet whipping cream on top. We scraped our plates and immediately l was looking forward to the next occasion.
A few days later, I was back in town and was outside Hursty’s about to make a phone call when a lady pulled up in her car and started unloading cake boxes from the boot and carrying them inside. ‘Excuse me,’ I said boldly as she passed me by, ‘are you the person making the wonderful cakes?’ ‘Oh, yes, I bake four or five every day. Have been for twenty years now.’ Well, that was just too interesting for me to drop so I followed her inside...
Each day, Phyllis gets up and bakes whatever cakes she is in the mood to make and brings them to the restaurant which is owned and run by her daughter, Joanne. That day she was delivering Lemon Meringue Pie, Cherry Vanilla Cake, Butterscotch Pie and Lemon & Coconut Shortcake. I told her that I love baking too and I live in Italy. ‘My ancestors were Scottish’, said Phyllis, ‘from the Isle of Skye, but I’ll never get to visit it’. ‘Don’t you like to travel, are you afraid of flying?’ I asked. ‘Well, it’s not that,’ she answered, ‘but I am a cattle farmer so I can’t leave the animals. And I drive the school bus too - have been doing that for 43 years.’
What an incredible woman! What a lifetime of loyal community service and grá. And what yummy cakes.
Le grá,
Gill