Kingman Historic Theatre is showing Gone Girl at 7:30 Fri ( Oct 31), 7:30 Sat (Nov 1) and 7:30 Sun (Nov 2) This movie is rated R and stars Ben Affleck,Rosamund Pike and Neil Patrick Harris.
Kingman Historic Theatre will be showing Gone Girl
The Covered Dish: Pear Honey
I can’t recall a more perfect day. I slept in, drank my coffee and relaxed with a good book on the screened porch. Amongst the covered chapters I got in a roast beef dinner and a couple loads of laundry. Like many of you I’ve been embracing the beautiful fall days over the past week. At work it’s time to greet the holiday season. If that doesn’t put a person into gear to get things done for winter I don’t know what does!
This week I’m doing a bit of canning. My good friend, Tammy, delivered enough organic pears to my front door that I can make a batch of pear honey. Then my friends, Willis & Irene, from Minnesota, brought us Macintosh Apples so I can make some of Irene’s apple pie jam. I can hardly wait to get started in the kitchen tomorrow.
My mother called a couple of weeks ago to find out if I had ever found any pears. I told her I had not so she said she thought she had it covered. Someone at her church had given her pears so she was going to make me a batch. Have I got a surprise for her, now I get to make my own! The pear honey will be utterly delicious this fall and winter over ice cream and on biscuits and toast. Of all the dishes my grandmother, Lucy Richardson, made this was always my favorite.
In the early days I used to make this without the addition of the lemon zest. Now I always include it in the honey because it just ‘lifts’ the flavor to higher zone. As I always tell my students: ‘Look for the ingredient that is going to make your dish set up and ‘sing’.” Well, the lemon zest definitely does it for us here.
You’ll just love my measurement system with the ground pears. For some the idea of 3 dinner plates of ground pears may sound a bit unusual. But take my word for it this is truly the amount of ground pears. As usual I will grind my pears in the antique grinder my parents gave me so many years ago. Sure, I have a food processor, but the honey comes out just right when I grind it like Grandma did back in her day. Though I lost my grandmother when I was only 9 years of age her influence in my life has continued. Seems like the older we get the more we can see the impact our grandparents and parents have had in our lives. I told a class just last week that I wish I could have given my son, Phillip, the upbringing on my grandparents farm that I had.
As our culture pushes forward it is so vital that we collect recipes and cherish the memories that connect the strands of our lives. The time is ‘now’ to go over grandmother’s recipes. Just this week I had a recipe given to me by a young lady from England. She was born in Iowa and married a European and lived abroad for many years. The recipe shared was a Christmas pudding. She told me it took her 10 years to get her mother in law to divulge the recipe! Wow, and now I get to try this treasured dish.
Start the organizing friends, though its warm, winter is very near. Get the pantry stocked and ready for the cold weather. Simply yours, The Covered Dish.
Grandma Lucy’s Pear Honey
Pears; cored, peeled and ground using a grinder or food processor
3 dinner plates of the ground pears
3 cans (20 oz. each), crushed pineapple, drained
4 pound bag of sugar plus 3 additional cups
(There are approx. 2 1/2 cups of sugar per pound of sugar)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
Dash or two of salt
9 tablespoons lemon juice
Lemon Zest to taste
Put everything into a large stockpot and stir over medium heat until it boils gently for 20 minutes. Allow the mixture to boil down and get rid of any unwanted juice. You will find it thickens a bit more as it cools down. Pack into sterilized jars and seal with a boiling water bath. Yields approximately 12 pints.
Kansas hunting rises again
Friday morning Joyce and I joined dignitaries from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism
(KDWPT) and representatives from numerous Kansas tourism related groups at Horse Thief Reservoir
in Hodgeman Co. for the 2014 Kansas Hunting Showcase. Shining like a jewel in the otherwise empty
western Kansas landscape, the 400 acre lake sort of sneaks up on you, suddenly appearing from out
of nowhere as you top a hill about 10 miles west of Jetmore. Horse Thief Reservoir is a recreation and
water management project of the Pawnee Watershed Joint District #81, which by the way is the largest
watershed district in the United States, encompassing over 1.5 million acres in 9 southwest Kansas
counties. Besides pleasure boating and water skiing, Horse Thief has 42 campsites with full hookups
and many primitive campsites, plus 2 cabins and a yurt that can be rented. There are also hiking and
bicycling trails and an archery range that’s open 24-7 for the public to use. The fishing at Horse Thief is
coming into its own, with good catches of largemouth bass being reported. Walleye were stocked this
past spring and crappie and channel cat numbers are growing steadily with time. The hunting showcase
was held in a very nice, large heated/air conditioned multi-purpose building which is available to rent
along with the rest of the facilities for church functions, concealed carry classes, etc.
The 2014 Kansas Hunting Showcase promoted the quality of our state’s hunting (and fishing) and
highlighted the importance of hunting (and fishing) to the Kansas economy. Here are some astounding
figures shared with us by Assistant Secretary for Parks and Tourism, Linda Craghead;
• Hunting brings in over $401 million to the Kansas economy each year.
• Fishing brings in over $211 million.
• Non-resident hunting and fishing license sales bring in $10.7 million each year; while accounting
for less than 16% of total license numbers, this is 60% of the total license revenue.
• Resident hunting and fishing license sales bring in $7.8 million.
• Hunters and anglers coming to Kansas spend on average 32% more during their stay than
traditional leisure travelers.
We also heard the forecast for this year’s pheasant, quail and waterfowl seasons.
• Pheasant – Conditions throughout the spring and summer have reflected a statewide increase in
summer brood counts by 70%. Remember the past 2 or 3 years pheasant populations have been
paltry at best, mainly because of the drought, so numbers are just now rising again to where
they had been prior to the drought years.
• Quail – Roadside surveys reflect a statewide increase of 50% compared to 2013. The drought
years affected quail numbers also, but 50% is a nice increase.
• Ducks – American fall flight estimates show breeding duck populations up 8% since standard
surveys began in 1955. Kansas is situated smack in the heart of the Central Flyway where
breeding ducks surveyed this spring showed numbers up 68% above the long-term average.
• Geese – While I wasn’t able to find specific percentages or numbers, everything I read placed
goose populations as a whole above objective numbers.
Isn’t it amazing how rainfall or the lack thereof affects wildlife? Many parts of the state have gotten
good rainfall amounts this year and wildlife in those areas has responded. Our trail cameras are
recording many nice young deer this year, pheasant and quail numbers are up dramatically, there is
water in most of the waterfowl “honey-holes” again and even though wild turkey populations state wide
are just considered “stable,” turkey populations around us are booming; all good reasons to Explore
Kansas Outdoors. And while you’re at it, check out Horse Thief Reservoir in Hodgeman County just west
of Jetmore and on their website www.horsethiefres.com.
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected]
Long Live The Cow
Some market reports show bred heifers selling for $2,700 and young pairs fetching $3,300. And these are commercial cattle! I remember when a whole Gooseneck load of them wouldn’t bring that! These prices are giving cattlemen problems they’ve never had before, like having to hire an accountant and paying income tax. Next thing you know the wife will want to quit one of her jobs in town!
It certainly makes one pause when preg checking. Say an old crippled cow limps into the squeeze chute, is safe in calf but looks like she could die any minute. Do you keep her and take your chances, or do you pay three grand to replace her? I know what I’d do.
I’m aware that slaughter cows are selling well and may fetch $1,500 but you’ll have to double that to replace one. And older cows are experienced, know the ranch, calve easily and have built up immunity to any pathogens on your place. Most cows are done by the time they are eight but what if you could extend that life expectancy by three or four more years? I read about a purebred Angus cow that is still in production at 17 years of age and she looks like a million dollars.
You really don’t want to lose a cow like that and should want to keep her alive. Now you can.
A cow’s ovaries will outlast her teeth and since cows spend 15 hours a day chewing, teeth become a cow’s limiting factor. You may have read stories about false teeth being implanted into Argentinean range cows with good results. But it‘s nothing new. As a kid we used to watch a television show called What’s My Line? In the show a panel of four pompous washed up Hollywood stars would try to guess the occupation of a person. In August of 1959 a fellow from Colorado appeared on the show and the panelists were not able to guess his occupation: he sold false teeth to cows!
A bridge of eight stainless steel teeth cost just $15 and extended a cow’s life about three years. The guy must have been a poor salesman though because for some reason the idea never caught fire. I think it would now days.
The Argentinean cow teeth take 30 seconds to insert with a simple pair of pliers. Besides the stainless steel teeth there is also a plastic variety and you can go on something called the Internet and see them being made and inserted.
I think this will be the first of a plethora of new geriatric products and devices for bovine senior citizens. Old cows will consume Ensure from troughs with lick wheels and with the combination of dentures and Ensure I’m sure your cows will give you three extra calves and delay the time you have to buy replacements which, if we mess up this market like we always do, will probably be much cheaper.
Just think of the bran extensions, excuse me, I meant brand extensions, for the bovine gray market including Metamucow, bread pudding, Pavarotti CD’s, Ben Gay for cows, support hose, prune juice, oxygen, hair tint, Fig Newtons, Old Spice, antacids, heavy woolen sweaters, and those cheap glasses you can buy off the rack at the drugstore for nearsighted old cows. Of course, you’ll have to start feeding the cows earlier than usual so they can take advantage of the
early bird dinners.
Geriatric care veterinarians will burn skin cancers off bovine faces, perform cow hip replacement operations, flip off cow cataracts, implant hearings aids and write prescriptions for Lipitor for cows. I’ve seen paraplegic dogs get around thanks to two wheels strapped to their butt so why not cows? It won’t be long before insurance salesmen start selling your old cows annuities and life insurance.
Of course, it makes just as much sense to keep over-the-hill bulls in service longer too and vets will write Viagra prescriptions for older bulls. But don’t worry, anything you buy at the feedstore for senior bovines will get AARC discounts. Better yet, you’ll always have the option of buying it cheaper in Canada.
