At Mesa’s Edge: Cooking and Ranching in Colorado’s North Fork Valley
by Eugenia Bone

Eugenia Bone, a New York City food writer, was lured by her husband, a transplanted westerner, to buy a forty-five-acre ranch in Crawford, Colorado (population 255). He had just returned from a fishing trip in the Rockies, and Eugenia had sensed his vague discontent with urban life. She reluctantly consented, and bravely jumped into Western Colorado life, packing her suitcase with her “necessities”–imported pasta, artichokes in oil, and cured Italian salami—before she and her 2 young children headed West to live part time in the North Fork Valley. At Mesa’s Edge is the witty, candid, often moving story of ranch restoration and of struggles with defiant skunks, barbed wire, marauding cows, and loneliness. And in the process of learning the way of the West, Eugenia discovers the bounty and blessings of the region. The author approaches life on the Plateau with humor and grace, making fun of herself as she acknowledges the difficulties of ranch life in the North Fork Valley. Partly a memoir, partly a cookbook with 150 appealing recipes, At Mesa’s Edge is a transporting tale of rejuvenation, a celebration of everything local, and a reminder that the best food is to be found in our own back yards.