From Bread of Our Forefathers to coon cake ("Take what flour you have, mix with water, shorten with con oil and fry in coon fat") the diary excerpts and historical narrative of Home on the Range give America's culinary history a delectable tweak. When heritage and necessity collided, the American West prepared for a round of intense eating, as shown by pioneer palates during the great overland migration of the 19th century. Home on the Range, far more than a cookbook, discusses American folkways and foodways, often through the words of the seamen, gold-rush cooks, cowboys, ranchers, farmers and housewives who prepared them. "I am scaring the hogs out of my kitchen and driving the mules out of my dining room," wrote Mary Ballou. Food evoked warmth, shelter - ideally, a woman's touch. But on. the frontier, men, too, could proudly point to their own food discoveries. Cowboy cooks turned grub into a roughhewn art form with Son of a Gun Stew, Boot Leather soup and lick (canned tomato and syrup.) Women at times found themselves outcooked by grizzled old bachelors who enjoyed a life of social isolation, without a woman to "look after" them. Just as men were free to cook when necessary, women discovered the pleasure of restaurants. In Home on the Range, food is shown as a powerful symbol of regional culture, contributing to a kind of culinary pluralism in the Old west. Recipes reflect a wide range of pioneer recipes, including barbecue squirrel, boiled flour ball, Gooseberry Fool --even Cooked Puppy, a Native American delicacy. Illustrated with over 150 humorous and poignant photographs.