Texas politics and business have long been reputed to operate within a good ol' boy network. There isn't a chance of that in this small Panhandle town where six women now rule.
Peggy Baer was elected mayor in May 2007 and leads a five-woman board of aldermen - yes, aldermen - in this town of about 830 residents.
The city secretary, justice of the peace and postmaster also are women, and women manage the bank, feed store, grocery store and nursing home. The school district's superintendent is male but a female principal oversees the two schools.
Postmaster Diane Manuel's somewhat tongue-in-cheek rationale: "We have people skills, and we're a lot better to look at than most guys."
She added, "You know why else women run this town? They're not as cocky."
For years, women across the country have held various elected positions at local, state and federal levels. But in this one-stoplight town about 75 miles east of Amarillo it's a first that all the elected officials are women.
"I don't know that we do a better job," Alderman Lynn Reeves said. "If we see anything needs to be done, we do it."
And that's what the women did after discovering that things had been neglected in recent years. Inspections had lapsed on some of the town's vehicles, employee evaluations hadn't been done and weeds were growing out of control.
McLean, which bills itself as the heart of Old Route 66, was established around 1900 as a cattle-loading area. It withered after Interstate 40 was built and bypassed the town in the early 1980s. Farming, ranching and oil production help sustain its economy now.
The mayor said the men around town "seem to be very supportive, for the most part.
"There've been a few soreheads who think women can't do this but they didn't run," said Baer, 65. "And we ran and we're doing it. We're conducting the business of the city and we're doing a good job."
Chet Boler, who's worked for the town for six years, most recently as its public works director, is sold on McLean's female leadership.
"The women do a lot more investigating than the men did in making an educated decision," he said. "They want to do everything by the book, which is the way it needs to be."
Not all city employees are as enthusiastic about their bosses.
"I can't give you my opinion because they'd fire me if I answered your questions," said Allen Mixon, who oversees the town's garbage collection.
The mayor and aldermen are all grandmothers, and Baer said their experience has made them "good multitaskers."
"Women can change a diaper, stir a pot of stew, take a phone call and use a leg to drag a toddler out from under the counter," she said. "We don't mind asking questions and saying we don't understand something."
Alderman Reeves, 75, said she is not bothered by the gender-specific name for the office to which she and other board members were elected. Texas statutes governing municipalities such as McLean were last updated in 1911, seemingly never anticipating a need for titles such as alderwoman or alderperson.
Reeves' husband at first had doubts about women filling all the positions, but now his only complaint is he sees his wife less. There's a reason some don't like having the women lead, Bill Reeves said.
"I call it the 'p-h' factor - petty hate," he said. "They're not thinking about the city in their criticism. They like to whisper around an open palm."
Texas may have the good ol' boy reputation but it has also led the way for women holding elected office, said Ann Lewis, senior adviser for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"We've known that since the days of Ann Richards," she said of the former Texas governor who died in 2006. "She set an example to women across the country."
The work of town leaders has Bill Reeves thinking about the presidential race. He said he's no fan of Clinton, but might change his opinion if she named her Cabinet now and followed McLean's example.
"If they were all female, I'd vote for her," he said. "They'd do no worse, and there's a chance of it being much better."
If you had to, could you lay your hands on a piece of cheesecloth right now?
For me, cheesecloth is one of those your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine kitchen items. When I need it, I pull open drawer after drawer, hoping I'll see the gauzy cotton fabric tucked in there with other objects of occasional use.
Sure enough, it was there the other day, right next to the bamboo skewers, the meat cleaver and the canning jar lifter. And the cheesecloth served its purpose well, straining the particles out of the milk paint I mixed for a refinishing project.
I must admit, though, that I winced as I unwound a significant portion of the cloth. Cheesecloth might be handy, but it can also be expensive, particularly if you're forced to run to the local supermarket at the last minute.
A number of Plates readers have the answer for the reader who was looking for a less expensive source. There's no reason not to keep an ample supply of cheesecloth on hand if you shop creatively.
Jean Zeitman of Los Altos spotted two square yards of cheesecloth for $2.99 at the True Value Hardware store in Mountain View. I did a little research online, and there doesn't seem to be a reason not to use this cheesecloth for food preparation. But you'll want to read the package to make sure. And you'll probably find it more economical to buy it by the yard elsewhere.
A couple of readers suggest checking eBay, the online auction site at www.ebay.com
. Or Google cheesecloth and you'll find multiple online sources, as did
Annalee Elman. Betsy Recordon says she can pick up 10 yards of cheesecloth for about $12 at a fabric store. "I use it to make cold-filtered coffee and to drain yogurt," says Recordon.
Longtime Plates regular Ann Begun has scratched cheesecloth off her shopping list. "It's expensive and messy. Instead, I have a variety of hand-held strainers with differing degrees of mesh fineness. I use these for straining stuff."
The strainers are readily available, and a sturdy stainless steel version can be had for $15 or so, says Begun. When a recipe calls for a bouquet of herbs wrapped in cheesecloth, Begun relies on a tea infuser. "I use an all-stainless steel one and just throw the entire thing in the pot."
GREAT FOR COFFEE BREAK: Gerri Osborne's beloved coffee cake sounds a lot like the recipe Caroline Lynch of Seal Beach misses. Osborne, who rates her recipe "A + +," says the coffee cake, with its cinnamony sweet nut topping, is better the second day. Or at least that's what she remembers. "Usually, I can't wait to have a slice."
Her recipe calls for a tube pan, but it also works in the springform pan Lynch remembers using.
Request line • Barbara Frazier of Tahoe City misses salt-rising bread, and she's willing to travel to find it. She's asking Plates readers for a Northern California source.
Send your recipes, food tips and queries to Home Plates, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95190. Or e-mail homepl8s@aol.com. Contributions must include name, address and phone number. Recipes are not tested by the Mercury News.
