Bow Tie Canapés

Bow Tie Canapés were served by Tweet Kimball at her Cherokee Ranch every time I remember having been there.  Her recipe is recounted by her “Butler” John Lake and “Chef” Meg Anderson, now owners of Castle Entertaining (my titles, not theirs nor Tweet’s for them, but I feel the most accurate of how they functioned, which was over the top charming in both of their roles in the castle, however you wish to title their roles.)

Mildred Montigue Genevieve Kimball, who would have chastised you if you called her anything other than ‘Tweet’ Kimball, lived at Cherokee Ranch from 1954 to 1999. An avid equestrian, she purchased the Flower Homestead and the adjacent Blunt Ranch around 1954.  She renamed both pieces of land Cherokee Ranch and their combined total acreage remains over 3,100 acres.  Tweet renamed everything, which she was famous for including a Scottish terrier she named Bitchy Witchy, as she renamed the Flower Homestead which became Chickamauga, Charlford Castle that became Cherokee Castle, the Johnson Farm which become Wauhatchie and the Blunt Homestead that became Amnicola.

Tweet brought Santa Gertrudis cattle from Texas to Colorado, a breed know to thrive on the native grasses of the hot South Texas brush country. Tweet wanted to breed them in the colder high-altitude climate of Castle Rock, when many first said that couldn’t be done.  Tweet loved to be told things couldn’t be done, as she proved them wrong once again.

In 1996, Tweet Kimball sold Cherokee Ranch to a land trust held in a perpetual a conservation easement. The Cherokee Ranch and Castle Foundation holds the land as open space, an event center, a breeding ground for Santa Gertrudis cattle, and an ocassional fixture for The Arapahoe Hunt, to which Tweet was a long-time member.

INGREDIENTS:

• Club crackers
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Bacon

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees F.  Lay crackers out on a jelly roll pan or other pan with sides.  Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.  Wrap each cracker with a 1/3 slice of bacon.  Bake for 1 hour or until light brown.  Can be frozen and reheated before serving.  Serve warm.

For the full article featured in Horse Connection Magazine, see A Nibble of History, Horse Connection Magazine.