Straight Answers
Is a paper book coming in the mail?
No, and I'd rather tell you twice than have you waiting by the mailbox. It's a digital book, a PDF and an EPUB. Nothing ships. About thirty seconds after you pay, it's on your phone. Print any recipe you want for the counter. Plenty of people print the ones they cook most and keep them in a binder.
I'm not much of a cook. Is this too hard for me?
It's written for a sixteen-year-old with one try and a hungry family. A beginner can cook from the recipe card alone. "Done when" tells you how it looks, sounds and smells when it's ready, because a clock is a guess. And Mateo's First Ten, at the back, is where I'd start you.
Do I need a Dutch oven or a campfire?
No. Every recipe is written for a kitchen stove and a regular oven first, with the temperature. The wagon way over coals is there if you want to try it outside. A cast-iron skillet helps. Most recipes work in the pots you already have.
Will I find the ingredients?
At a regular grocery store, yes. Dried chiles, masa harina and Mexican oregano are on most shelves now. The ranch pantry chapter tells you what each one is, and what to use when your store doesn't have it.
Are these the real old recipes, or dressed up?
The real ones. If the pot wants lard, it says lard. What changed: a handful became a measure, "a hot oven" became a temperature, and where the old way can make somebody sick, like jerky or keeping food without a fridge, the book gives the modern safety rule. I didn't make anything healthier and I won't pretend to.
It's just the two of us. Isn't this food for a crew?
That's the whole point of the book. I cooked for forty men, then I had to learn to cook for two. Every recipe has the amounts for 2, 4 or 6, and the crew column for when the whole family comes.
Is it in Spanish or English?
English, plain. With the Spanish kitchen words my mother never called anything else, olla, comal, masa. Every one is explained at the back in Wagon Words.
Money's tight. Is $37 a stretch?
It's meant to save you money, not cost it. One chicken fried steak supper for four out of this book is about $20. The drive-thru for four is about twice that. Two suppers a week at home and it's paid for.
I'm not good with computers.
Neither am I, and I managed it. You press one button and it opens. Nothing to sign up for, no password to remember. If it gives you trouble, write to me here and we'll sort it out or refund you.
Is this a subscription? Will you charge my card again?
No. One payment, one time. No membership, no monthly anything, no free trial that turns into a bill.
What if I lose the file?
The link lives in the receipt email Gumroad sends you, so that's the thing to keep. If you lose that too, write to me and I'll get it back to you.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. At checkout, choose "Buy as a gift" and it goes to the cook in your family. The Family Pages at the back are for writing down your own people's recipes, so it makes a good one.
Why isn't all of this in your videos?
A video gives you one dish. You can't hold a video in one hand with flour on the other. The book has all of it, in order, with the amounts, the sizes and the cost.
What if it isn't for me?
Cook from it first. If one pot of beans doesn't come out better, one message inside 30 days and you get every dollar back. You keep the book.
