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WORLD AT WAR

By
Roger Ringer
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Roger Ringer
Roger Ringer

“IN PEACE, SONS BURY THEIR FATHERS.

IN WAR, FATHERS BURY THEIR SONS.”

Herodotus

 

At what point will the American people acknowledge that we are engaged in a war? What does it take to face the truth? We are burying thousands of our people and it is a deliberate attack on our nation and all the free nations of the world. The problem is that we are being betrayed by people in power and those who grasp for power. Since the process of dumbing down the people started over one hundred years ago the skills of critical thinking and comprehension have dropped to the point that when told that bad is good and good is bad, people just go along with it.

Part of the problem is that the language has been slowly changed and what is horrendous seems to just be ordinary. I do not like nor participate in polls. However, the latest poll has shed almost undeniable results about what the average American feels. When the latest catch phrase is used it seems that all the guilty parties get named. The latest Demoncrat talking point is that you, I, anyone that they dislike are DANGERS TO DEMOCRACY. Well the same poll and catch phrase that is used also backfired on the news organizations that are running with the phrase. 85% of all Americans think that the News Media is ‘the danger to Democracy.’

Let’s stop here and straighten out the language. Democracy is not what we THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is and have ever been. I keep screaming to the sky that we are a REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC! You cannot even get conservatives and patriots to stop using the Demoncrat label! Democracy is mob rule.

We have a President who has been implicated along with his family, in milking their positions for their own benefit. We have elected officials who spend way more than their salaries to be elected and retire millionaires. The last real Democrat, Harry Truman, said, “show me a rich politician and I will show you a crook.” Yet the media and party support the obvious law breaking and are tearing down our republic.

China is shipping Fentanyl not as a prescription drug but as a dangerous substance to drug cartels in Mexico. Our officials are allowing millions of people and drugs to come over our border on a daily basis. Drugs disguised as candy are blatant attempts to murder our people. Are cartels declared the label ‘Terrorist Organizations’? No. Does Homeland Security do anything to make the Homeland safe? No!

Here is another point about changing the language. Using the term OVERDOSE is simply stupid. No one is taking a poison to get a high and just goes ‘whoops’ I got too much. The poison is being disguised and most people are not overdosing, they are being poisoned. Saying OVERDOSE gives the implication that it was just a doper that got what they deserved. Dagnabbit they were poisoned. A kid killed when his Halloween candy is tainted is not taking and overdose, HE IS BEING MURDERED!

When will you stand up to school boards, and unions,that are trying to propagandise? When will you not tolerate politicians that look down their nose at you and send the bums home to their ice cream? When will you not take what a talking head tells you as truth? When will you start raising a prayer to heaven and not do what you just darn well want to do? When will you stop cancelling people who insist on thinking for themselves? When will you hold to account those who are destroying our nation and corrupting our lives?

China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia know how to enslave people. Will you put the chains on yourselves?

French Onion Soup

By
Debbie Dance Uhrig
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We just returned from a 3 day trip to Indianapolis. My husband, Ervin, and son, Phillip, played in the monopoly tournament, in this racecar city. The city was lovely, the shopping was grand, especially at Trader Joe’s!!! I got to enjoy a lunch at the infamous ‘Dawson’s, just down the street from the track. You’ll never believe what their signature soup was? You guessed it French Onion, it was so smooth and the chunk of bruschetta was down in the middle, just like I enjoy it.
I couldn’t decide what my entrée was going to be so I allowed the wait staff to guide me to the Indianapolis tenderloin. Needless to say there was no disappoint there either. After enjoying our girls luncheon out we returned to pick up the guys at the Racetrack Museum. (The boys got to enjoy the tenderloin too!)

I wanted to stay at least 2 more days but everyone thought we should come home. On the journey back we got to shop at a ‘Rural King’ store in Illinois. If you get a chance to shop in one of these awesome farm stores don’t miss the opportunity. There were awesome sales on pecans and walnuts, not to mention they sold the vanilla peaches I’ve come to appreciate.

In my first cookbook, ‘Simply Yours’, I have a very very simple recipe for French Onion. This one sort of’ blows my first one out of the water!
Probably the best thing about this recipe is how nicely it freezes. It also makes a great statement as an opener or main entrée. If it were being used as a main entree I might prepare a nice beef bruschetta to accompany. In fact, I’m going to attach two recipes this week because I think it would be a great pairing.

Let’s make note that in testing commercial beef stock was used. In the event you want this soup to taste even more decadent make your stock from scratch. You could prepare the beef, for the bruschetta, and have au jus for the soup!

Every time I’ve written a French Onion Soup column I have told the story you are about to hear: When I was growing up we went to St. Louis, Missouri to do our more serious shopping. We went to Northwest Plaza, (The Famous Barr store had a roof that looked like a toothpaste lid.) and enjoyed a full day of shopping. For this excursion we dressed nice, no heels, but not in a shabby style like we do in this era. When we first started going to this location we would grab lunch at the Walgreens café and enjoy French Dip sandwiches. Then as we got a bit older we started having a nice sit down meal at the Famous Barr restaurant. They had real napkins and the wait staff was dressed crisply in black and white. Everyone, it seemed, was eating the French onion soup. So, we joined right in and enjoyed the restaurants signature dish. The stringy cheese and au just would be dripping from our chins. As I recall, our mom, Betty, did not care for this soup near as much as my dad, Jerry, and I did. As you can see this soup has remained one of my favorites over the years.

The best onions for French Onion soup are sweets. Which means you can make the soup any time of the year. However, the sweet Vidalia onions in the spring are probably my favorite choice. If you had ‘candy’ onions growing in your gardens they would also be outstanding.

I’m seriously thinking of making a batch of this soup for the freezer so I can serve it during Thanksgiving week. Since I’m including two recipes this week I’d better close out this column and save space for the recipes. Simply yours, The Covered Dish. www.thecovereddish.com.

French Onion Soup
6 tablespoons salted butter
6 medium/large sweet onions or 3 lbs.
1/2 teaspoon salt*
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chardonnay wine
2 heaping tablespoons flour
48 ounces beef stock
3 bay leaves
Swiss & Gouda Cheese
Baguette bread, cut into 1 – 2 inch chunks

*If you are using commercial stock it is very likely this additional salt will not be needed.

Slice onions horizontally into thin slices. In a large skillet or stockpot
Melt the butter and begin cooking the onion. Stir in the salt, sugar, pepper, thyme and Worcestershire sauce allowing the onions to caramelize. This take about 20-25 minutes. Now add 1 cup of dry white wine and totally reduce down until the onions are dry. Work the flour into the dry onions taking 10-12 minutes to work the flour taste out. Add beef stock and bay leaves stirring to smooth and lightly thicken. Allow to boil then reduce for a 20-30 minute simmer. Remove the bay leaves and stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon extra hot grated horseradish.

For serving place a chunk of the bread in the bottom of the bowl and pour in the soup. Using Swiss only, Gouda or both cheeses, layer slices across the top of the bowl. Place on a jelly roll pan and allow to melt in a 350 degree oven.

Serves 5-6 main course servings.

An easier approach is to place the bread of choice under a broiler with the cheese arranged on top. Cook until the cheese is melted and then float on top of the soup. This avoids cheese baking onto the soup tureens while it is melting.

Tip: The horseradish does not make the soup ‘hot’. If you are concerned put in 1 teaspoon, sample, and then add the remainder.

This soup freezes well!

Beef Tenderloin Bruschetta

1 loaf of fresh bruschetta or French bread
1/2 pound thinly sliced beef tenderloin or shaved roast beef
3-4 ounces Gruyere Cheese, shaved/shredded
Roasted Red Pepper, chopped fine
Butter flavored vegetable spray
Filling
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1//8 cup horseradish, ground
1/8 cup finely minced onion

Slice bruschetta into 12 nice slices. Place on a lined cookie sheet and spray lightly with vegetable spray. Place in the oven under the broiler 3-5 minutes and remove. Mix together the filling ingredients and spread a small amount on each slice. If the filling has been refrigerated and is not at room temperature consider warming it slightly before the meat is placed on top. Layer on thin pieces of cooked tenderloin or roast beef. Shred the cheese and sprinkle over the meat with a light dash of roasted red pepper. Return to the broiler and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted. Times will vary depending upon how close the oven shelf is to the broiler, etc. Monitor the bread it should be around 5-7 minutes.

When my husband, Ervin, and I were first married we enjoyed bruschetta as the main entrée on hot summer nights.

 

What’s In Your Chimney?

By
Steve Gilliland
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Every fall, when we start seeing the starlings and blackbirds gathering in big groups that swirl and dance across the sky, I think about this adventure Joyce and I had one hot, steamy summer evening years ago.

It was dusk as we settled in on the bench in front of what was then Jerry’s Café on main street here in Inman, Kansas, and the mosquitoes promptly settled in on the same bench. Passing storm clouds spawned a beautiful multi-colored sunset, making it tough to concentrate on the chimney across the street. Let me explain.

Just days before, a co-worker had told me about a large flock of Chimney Swifts that, for as long as anyone could remember, had roosted each season in a big, unused chimney on top of Jim’s Appliances, across the street from where we sat. I’d heard how each night around dusk, scores of these twittering aerialists could be seen going into that chimney for the night, and there we were for the evening show.

Soon a small group of five or six appeared as if from nowhere, and began circling the chimney. Their holding pattern started as low, erratic circles. Soon there were ten, then fifteen, and then too many to keep track of and count as they filled the air over the building like a chirping twittering swarm. I had read how they would amass into a large, dark funnel over the chimney, and then appear to “pour” into it several at a time. Tonight, though, was different. As they swarmed around the chimney’s mouth, two or three birds would suddenly go into a sort of fluttering stall, then just kind of tumble inside. More would follow but pull out of their stall at the last second and rejoin the swarm, as if guided by some mystic air traffic controller. Seconds later, a few more would complete the docking maneuver and disappear into the chasm. For awhile, the more that dropped down the chimney, the more there appeared to be in the air. Finally, however, all were literally “in for the night,” leaving us to wish we could see inside that chimney.

“This bloomin’ ladder’s heavy,” I complained, as I clambered up one ladder carrying another (surely you saw this coming!) Yes, after getting permission from the owner, and forewarning the cops, there we were, on our way up onto the roof to look down the chimney. The stepladder I had carried up was just the right height to easily see inside. The chimney was about eighteen inches square. The mortar joints had never been filled, or had eroded with time, leaving hundreds of narrow ledges for tiny Chimney Swift feet to cling to, and cling they did! The flashlight beam revealed dozens of dark little forms, each affixed to its own ledge, heads up, and held flat against the chimney wall as if by some mysterious force. That explained why just a few entered the chimney at a time. Evidently the ones inside were given time to find their space and get settled before more poured in. As we watched, some jostled around inside, finding new ledges lower in the chimney, away from the light. The floor was covered with what must have been several inches of “swift-do.”

My co-worker said that these guys did not perch from the time they took flight in the morning, until they roosted at night, and everything I found on the “all-knowing world-wide web” agreed with that. Chimney Swifts do not perch from sunup until sundown! They do everything on the fly, and I do mean everything! They eat, drink, bathe, gather nesting materials, and yes, even make new baby swifts, all on the wing! The exception is nesting, when obviously the parents must set for a spell.

Chimney Swifts migrate south and become winter residents of Peru. Although easily mistaken for swallows, they are actually closer related to hummingbirds. In flight, some major differences can be seen, once you know what to look for. Swifts are designed and built for high altitude and high-speed flight, and have wings that are more tapered and saber-like than swallows. They are the birds we often see soaring on the breezes high above town. They are less maneuverable and less graceful than swallows in low, slow flight. They are also a very verbal and chattering bunch. Someone has compared the twittering sounds they make to the clicking together of knitting needles. One source I found, speculated that each swift consumes up to 25,000 flying insects per day. (Whoever did that research had entirely too much time on their hands!) I scratch just thinking how many more mosquitoes might have found us on that bench that night had there been no swifts in town!

As I consider the number of flying vermin eaten each day by Chimney Swifts and by all the Purple Martins, and swallows I see around town, I shudder to think how miserable a walk around town would be without these winged exterminators! Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Spiders for Halloween? Not likely, says K-State entomologist

By
tammiehoeme
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Pat Melgares
K-State Research and Extension news

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky. And all together ooky…
But unlike the Addams Family of 1960s television fame, spiders are likely to be gone by Halloween.
Kansas State University entomologist Jeff Whitworth says four spider species common to Kansas are likely to be in hiding within the next few weeks.
Two species commonly found in the home that are of most concern to humans because of their venom – the brown recluse and black widow – are ready to go into winter hibernation. Whitworth said those two species are rarely seen from mid-October to mid-March.
The brown recluse is identified by a signature black line that resembles a violin on its back, with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider. The bite of a brown recluse releases a hemotoxin that affects a person’s blood cells. A bite from a brown recluse may require medical attention.
The adult black widow is more elegant looking, typically black with a colorful, hourglass shaped mark on their abdomen. The bite of a black widow releases a neurotoxin that affects the nervous systems of humans and animals.
Two less-venomous spiders more common in farm fields or open areas include the orb spider and the garden spider.
The orb spider is typically a big, brown, round spider that weaves intricate webs.
“You will often see webbing, but not the spider,” Whitworth said. “The webbing catches insects, and then the spider comes out in the evening to feed on what they’ve caught” and repair the web, if needed.
Another common field spider, the garden spider, also is very large, and typically dark green or black and yellow with long legs. Farmers often run into garden spiders when walking between fields because they’ll use corn or sorghum or large weeds to build their webs.
But like the brown recluse and black widow, orb spiders and garden spiders are likely to be out of sight by the time the scariest holiday of the year rolls around.
“We are just about to run out of being scared by spiders, and just before Halloween,” Whitworth said, “because the adult field spiders are going to lay their eggs and then go away. The brown recluse and black widow are going into hibernation and won’t be back until March or April.”
Whitworth said that even though the brown recluse and black widow are better known to be dangerous, “all spiders are venomous.”
“Most spiders don’t affect humans, but you just never know,” he said. “I always caution people not to play with spiders.”

Michael W. Jones

By
tammiehoeme
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Michael W. Jones, 70, of McPherson, KS, passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 23, 2022, surrounded by family at Brookdale, McPherson. Funeral arrangements are with Stockham Family Funeral Home, McPherson. (website: www.stockhamfamily.com)

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