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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Clay County Meadowlark Hospice Tree of Light

The Tree of Light ceremony is a treasured event in Meadowlark Hospice history. This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first Tree of Light ceremony. Thanksgiving weekend in 1990 was the beginning of this memorial tradition in the Clay Center Courthouse square. The names of those being honored were read and the lights on the tree were lit for the holiday season. The ceremony included music and the reading of a litany. Through the years, the Tree of Light ceremony has changed to better meet the needs of our communities, but the heart of the ceremony remains.

From that one ceremony, the Tree of light has now grown to six ceremonies throughout our service area. Meadowlark Hospice volunteers have become the coordinators behind each of the ceremonies. The ceremonies are now traditionally held indoors and include music, litany, and the reading of names of honored individuals. As the individuals' names are read, a symbolic votive candle is lit. The ceremony also includes memorial recognition of the Meadowlark Hospice patients that have passed away during the past year.

The tree of light ceremony is a blessed tradition of Meadowlark Hospice. It is an honor to have families remember their loved one at one of the Tree of Light ceremonies. Providing hospice care to the communities of North Central Kansas is a privilege. Our staff are members of all of these communities and are honored to provide end of life care to their friends and neighbors. We are humbled to see the amount of support the community provides to Meadowlark Hospice.

Gifts to Meadowlark Hospice are made in memory of a hospice patient, someone who has passed away, or in honor of an individual still living. Meadowlark Hospice continues to use the gifts to help provide care to any person in need of hospice care regardless of their ability to pay and to cover costs not covered by Medicare. It is a comforting reminder that our loved ones are still remembered and gives families a moment to treasure their memories.

There will be a Tree of Light Remembrance on Thursday November 19th on the Court House Square. We will be leading the community in singing Christmas Carols. This will be in remembrance of the 1st Tree of Light Ceremony in 1990. On Sunday December 6th at 2:00 PM, the 25th Annual Tree of Light Ceremony will be held at the Family Life Center at the United Methodist Church

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Community Orchestra WINS Award

The Community Chamber Orchestra LLC of Morganville, KS was recently awarded a 2015 Award of Merit from the Kansas Department of Commerce (admin@kansascommerce.com; KansasCommerce.com; 785-296-3481). The Award was made in the category of Professional Service by the Office of Minority & Women Business Development, Directed by Rhonda Harris. The Orchestra has been directed and performing continuously since 1997 by Dr. Anne Clark of Morganville . It employs youth and adults to perform live chamber orchestra and trains musicians in rural, economically depressed areas of North Central Kansas where the public school orchestra programs have been eliminated

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Hot Fudge Sauce - A Traditional Farm Life

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

Hot Fudge Sauce on Deb Sanders Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! Blustering winds and dropping temperatures are a cool reminder that winter is indeed on its way.

We’re hoping to see walls and a roof up on Enterprise’s new Grist Mill before cold weather truly sets in. Concrete was poured, and walls are in the process of being built to be put in place on Saturday’s “Barn Raising.” By the time you read this, the barn raising will be history, but the historical nature of the project will continue.

Joe Minick has spearheaded this nod to Enterprise’s long history connected to the Hoffman Mill. We appreciate his desire to see a flour mill back in Enterprise. It is located on Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad property immediately after you cross the bridge across from Great Plains Manufacturing—and within eyesight of the location of the old Hoffman Mill.

Flour has been flying lately here in the Test Kitchen, but for an altogether different reason. I’ve been busy putting together bakery and spice mixes for sale at our restaurant and specialty shops here in the area.

Currently we have Buttermilk Pancake, Maple Cornbread, Wholegrain Maple Cornbread, Quick Cream Biscuits and Country-Style Milk Gravy mixes to make your meal preparation a little less hectic this time of year.

We are also offering four spice blends our Buggy Stop customers will find familiar. You can now make Buggy Stop Chili anytime in your own kitchen with our Chili Seasoning blend. Don’t forget the Maple Cornbread!

We use our “House Seasoning” on our ribs and chicken, add it to ground beef we’re browning, to simmering soups and gravies, and even stir it into sour cream for a quick chip or veggie dip.

We’re even multiplying the many ways you can eat Buggy Stop Bread. With the help of our Garlic Bread Seasoning, you can now make garlic butter at home just like we use for our Custom Grilled Sandwiches. In addition, we are even offering our own Cinnamon Sugar blend to sweeten up you next slice of toast!

I’m currently developing a line of gourmet pancake mixes here in the Test Kitchen to add some welcome variation to our Buttermilk Pancake Mix. Our children have been willing taste testers as I’ve served up Gingerbread Pancakes, Double Chocolate Chip Pancakes, and even Sunflower State Multigrain Pancakes--taking hint from our popular Sunflower Multigrain Bread.

Next up in the Test Kitchen are Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, Banana Nut, Pumpkin Spice, and just for fun—Cranberry pancakes. And to think our children used to think breakfast was boring!

While it is true that a chocolate pancake with chocolate chips topped with whipped topping and hot fudge sauce for breakfast will rival—and perhaps exceed--my childhood favorite, “Cocoa Pebbles,” for an early morning sugar rush, at least your blood sugar will be on an “all-natural with no artificial ingredients” high! (Parents with young children, a note of caution--maybe you better save this one for the weekend!)

Surprisingly, it turns out the pancake the children all flipped for was my Brown Sugar Oatmeal version. With chocolate chips it was superb—no topping needed--but I couldn’t resist trying the Hot Fudge Sauce recipe I’d been wanting to try on top. Since our goal is usually to restrict sugar at breakfast, none of our children passed up the chance at putting what they would usually only see on ice cream on top of a pancake!

And so, friends, the choice is yours: Sweeten the family up at breakfast, or wait for until later for a Hot Fudge Sundae. Either way, this simply rich homemade fudge topping is sure to bring a smile to their faces.

Hot Fudge Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

dash salt

1/4 cup butter, cut in 4 equal pieces

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In medium saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa, and salt.

2. Add butter and milk; bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, but maintain the full rapid boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly; remove from heat.

3. Stir in vanilla extract. Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving. Sauce will thicken considerably as it cools. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 1 cup.

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children. You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.

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Great Plains Theatre Presents On Golden Pond

Fifth Show of GPT's 21st Season On Golden Pond begins Nov. 13th

L-R Front : Lindsay Odegaard, Marcia Sattleberg, Herman Johansen
L-R Back: Paul Evans, Ted Kitterman, Nick Wright

Great Plains Theatre continues its 21st Season with Ernest Thompson's heartwarming comedy On Golden Pond. The fifth show in the 2015 season opens Friday, November 13th and runs through November 22nd. Directed by Mark Robinson, the production will feature Herman Johansen as Norman, the curmudgeonly retired English professor and Marcia Sattelberg plays his feisty wife, Ethel. Together, the retired couple spend their summers on Gold Pond in Maine. This particular summer, their estranged daughter Chelsea (Lindsay Odegaard) comes home for a visit, and the family learns to heal through humor and forgiveness. The cast also features Nick Wright, Ted Kitterman, and Paul Evans. Scenery is designed by William Snyder and costumes are by Peggy Riley. Mark Warner stage manages and serves at the Technical Director. "This will be our second production at our new location at 401 Cottage Ave, the home of Thunder Struck Bumpers, Inc.," states Elizabeth Weese, executive director of GPT. "Those patrons that had the opportunity to attend our last production were very impressed with what we had accomplished inside the building." "The theatre, once again, has a very intimate feel which is what our patrons like," stated Weese. With limited seating, Weese advises to get your tickets early.

Tickets for On Golden Pond may be purchased at the box office, 401 Cottage Ave., or by phone at 785.263.4574 or online at www.greatplainstheatre.com.

Great Plains Theatre's entire 2015 Season is graciously underwritten by ASTRA Bank, with Corporate Sponsorship provided by Brierton Engineering, Inc., First Bank Kansas, Holm Automotive Inc., and Pinnacle Bank.

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After Dark at the Den

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Sunday, November 8, 2015

A Traditional Farm life - Toasted Zwieback

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends. How novel it is to have the calendar page change to November and still be comfortable in shirtsleeves! That little voice of reality in the back of our minds tells us it’s too good to be true, but we might as well enjoy it while it lasts, right?

Yet even knowing that “all good things must come to an end” somehow fails to motivate me this year to accept and prepare for the reality of winter.

In these modern times, of course, there is less to prepare for than for our pioneer ancestors. It is very easy for us to forget how the seasonal cycle dictated the activities for farm and city folks alike for hundreds if not thousands of years.

While we may still be motivated to lay in a certain amount of supplies for emergency situations, we are often lulled into a false sense of security these days, I’m afraid. When the supermarket has everything we could possibly want to eat—and more--ready for us to purchase at our whim to supply the day’s need, it’s easy to forget how our ancestors spent three seasons of four preparing for the cold, dark days of winter when fresh food would be scarce.

Those among us blessed with the wisdom of white hair remember the large gardens and the stifling heat of canning winter’s supply of vegetables in the height of a Kansas summer. Other methods were—and still can be—employed to preserve the harvest.

Before the advent of water bath canning, pickling was done by lactic fermentation in those large heavy crocks now often used for nostalgic decoration around our homes. Root cellars not only housed the pickles but potatoes, carrots, onions, apples and other fruits and vegetables that were “good keepers” into the winter.

Summer sun and heat also provided the means to preserve food for later use by drying. Sliced apples and apricots first come to mind, but some vegetables were also prepared in this manner. Dried corn can be prepared in a myriad of ways, and indeed was a pioneer staple. Perhaps you’ll be surprised to know that green beans were suspended in hot attics by needle and butcher’s string, dried, and these “leather breeches” were later rehydrated, cooked, and served.

Let’s not forget about salting, smoking and curing. Family, friends, and neighbors used to gather for hog butchering bees when temperatures remained cold enough in the late fall to safely process the meat. Our pioneer ancestors “used everything but the oink” to frugally prepare for the weeks and months to come. Salt pork, bacon, smoked sausage and ham, pickled pig’s feet, and head cheese were just a few examples of delicacies prepared from the humble hog. Butchering day often included spare ribs fried in the newly rendered lard—what a treat after a day of hard work and fellowship!

Preservation methods could also be employed to “extend the shelf life” of some baked goods. My Mennonite ancestors regularly “toasted” zwieback, as this homemade bread stales quickly. The top “double bun” was pulled off and cut in half vertically to create two half-moon-shaped pieces. The larger bottom was also cut vertically into three equal pieces. In days gone by, the zwieback was toasted after regular baking was completed, as the brick ovens held heat well and slowly cooled down over a period of several hours—perfect for slowly dehydrating the soft bread into a crisp cracker-like treat.

Before emigrating in 1874, my ancestors baked and toasted bushels upon bushels of zwieback to sustain them on the long trip from the Ukraine to central Kansas. How comforting this taste of home must have been in the dark, dingy confines of a steamer slowly chugging across the Atlantic toward an uncertain destination of unbroken prairie!

Making zwieback for our family gathering last weekend inspired me to carry on the tradition of simple food, simply prepared for our own family. A table simply set in the tradition of our humble forefathers with zwieback, sliced bologna, wedges of cheddar, and sheet cake shared among family can draw us together just as well as the finest fare a king could offer—and perhaps even better.

Toasted Zwieback

zwieback, as many as desired

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Pull zwieback apart; cut smaller upper bun in vertically in half and bottom bun vertically into three equal pieces. Place in a single layer on baking sheet.

3. Bake for about 90 minutes or until zwieback have dried out completely all the way through and have browned slightly. Remove from oven to cool. Delicious served warm with butter. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

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