Red River Ranch Cowboy Cooking Camp

It's spring on the Red River Ranch near Hollis, Oklahoma

On the banks of the Red River, the mesquite is greening up, things are beginning to bloom

The prairie wind is still a mite cool, but the coals and the cook stove are glowing fiery red

And some city slickers are learning to live and cook like cowboys. My wife says I wasn't born a cowboy, but I'm trying to get there as fast as I can

David Chapman from Gulf Shores, Alabama is actually on his second trip to the Chuck Wagon boot camp

This time he brought his brother-in-law, James Dupre, from Dallas, who's in charge of today's entree

We had a beef and put some onions in it and some baked beans and green chilies and seasoning

The instructor and host is a real cowboy and a real good cook, Kent Rollins

I run it the same way we do when I'm on a working ranch cooking for cowboys. Boys, folks come in on Wednesday, they stay in a teepee, they sleep in a bedrope

We have no facilities, no electricity, none of that. People are actually amazed to see the scenery, plus learn that they can't exist without cell phones

And without gas stoves. It's all Dutch ovens and wood stoves out here

Now, that means you control heat with a shovel. The chances of burning your lunch are pretty good

It might not be your idea of a vacation, but James DePray is thrilled

You know you go around vacation five hotels Europe and everything and this is a real experience And so is Peggy Hall from Rustin Louisiana My daddy was a cowboy and I wished I been around

when they were riding the range. This was Peggy's idea. She talked her husband, Russ, into it

People that come, we've had all types. We've had people that are chefs, and we've had people who are outdoors people

but people come away with a different aspect of life as to how people really actually cook, you know, back in the 1880s

and to learn to cook something in a Dutch oven that you can cook in a conventional oven

They think it's one of the greatest things in the world. And when it comes time to eat, nobody fails the class today

The cornbread is perfect. The desserts are delicious. And they're the hardest things to cook at the campfire

Kent says there's hardly anything that you can't cook in a Dutch oven, but there are some things he won't cook

We were doing schools on the coast of Alabama one time, and I tell them when we get through every day

somebody brings something tomorrow and we'll cook it. I don't care what it is. We'll cook it in a Dutch oven

And the lady brought something the next day in ice chest and she brought it up there

I said, man, what did you bring us to cook? She said, Calamari. And I said, what

She said, Kalamari. I said, ma'am, if I can't spell it, I ain't going to cook it, I promise you

And I didn't have a clue what it was. And she drug it out there and I said, no ma'am, we ain't putting that none of my cash dineering. I promise you