For over 20 years, Meg Anderson and John Lake catered all manner of shindigs at her Cherokee Ranch and Castle, which is now an open-space foundation, for then-owner Mildred Montague Genevieve “Tweet” Kimball. They recently published a book, which contains not only recipes, but reminiscences of the horse people, the cattle woman herself, and the charmed life she lived at the Colorado landmark.
I knew Tweet fairly well, which is as much as anyone can probably say, as she was a character unto herself. I particularly enjoyed attending political dinners and being invited to sit next to her, as it was better than sitting at the Governor’s table, as literally everyone who was anyone, and then some, would stop by her table to say hello.
John Lake doubled as Tweet’s butler and upon making the faux paux at one of our closing hunts of calling one of her traditional Bow Tie servings at the castle a “hors d’oeuvres,” he pleasantly went on to tell me, “Actually, this would be called a canapés. Most of us use the words hors d’oeuvres and canapés interchangeably. Tweet was very clear on the different meanings of these items. For sit-down dinners and buffet style, she served canapés. These were bite-sized items passed before dinner on silver trays, usually on crackers or toast points. Hors d’oeuvres are dips or items that require a toothpick. Appetizers would be served as a first course at a sit down dinner.”
