Then & Now: A Reality Check

Even before Kansas was a state, the sun has been rising and setting on the Kansas plains. Back in the 1880s, our ancestors  saw that same expansive sky stretching across the horizon as the new days dawned on a new state in the Union.

While the view may be similar, it's amazing to consider the changes in agriculture during my lifetime, and even more so during my parents' lifetimes.

Today is Kansas (and national) Ag Day.  It's a day set aside to celebrate agriculture's role in American life.  

Yesterday was the 21st of the month, and this year, that means a photo update as we march toward summer 2022 and our final wheat crop as active farmers. Just like those sunrises, farmers have been scouting fields to watch the condition of their crops since farmers first began tilling the soil.

The yellow tinge on the wheat is freeze damage on the ends of the leaves and lack of moisture. However, there is green growing underneath. And, as we took the photos yesterday morning, we were hoping the cloudy skies would yield some rain.

We are fortunate: Yesterday and overnight, we got 1.5 inches of rain. Earlier, in this time since my February wheat update, we'd gotten some moisture from a couple of snowfalls, probably totaling 0.75 inches of moisture. 

 

The rain is good news on this Kansas Ag Day 2022. For 12+ years, many of my blog posts have told about our efforts on The County Line to provide food, fuel and fiber for American families and consumers throughout the world. But we're also glad to talk about farming in person, and we got that opportunity a few weeks ago when we spoke with second graders at Stafford Elementary School. I've done this a few times before at the request of second grade teacher Kylie Meyer. But it was great to be back in person, rather than on Zoom, this year.

As with any quality teacher, Mrs. Meyer gave us an assignment. She wanted us to compare the "then and now" of farming. The second graders are learning about comparison and contrast. Mrs. Meyer helps to illustrate the concept by inviting community members with different backgrounds to talk about their professions or interests and compare them, then and now. 

We may not be as interesting as Elroy's Pizza, but we were glad to do it.

Several years ago, my mom compiled a family scrapbook for each of my kids, as well as her other grandchildren. Both my mom and dad wrote down memories, which were included in the books. In addition, she made copies of photographs. Some of those photos were of family. Others were of farm machinery.

She even included a photo of my dad as a 2-year-old in front of the family's Cletrac tractor.

My mom did a great job through the years of taking photos of equipment as they added it to their farm in Pratt County. 

She had photos of some of the first equipment they purchased after coming back to the farm together in 1956 after their college days at Kansas State University. My parents also kept meticulous records of how much some of that machinery cost. 

 

The photo below shows that first tractor compared the size of the equipment these days. In 2021, they experienced their 65th harvest of their farming career together. (Thanks to my brother for the photo.)

My family's farming legacy goes back even further.  My dad's great grandfather came to Kansas and started farming in 1877. In 1898, my mom's grandfather came to Kansas and began working for a farmer. After he and his wife married, they began farming on their own early in the 1900s.

During my lifetime, my parents added irrigation to their farm. I also showed the second graders photos related to rural electrification, a cause championed by my maternal grandfather, Shelby Neelly. We talked about the decrease in rural population and what that meant for our rural community.

I have thousands of photos I've taken during our nearly 41 years of marriage and farming. But those old photos and the accompanying history gave me a great head start in preparing the PowerPoint presentation for the second graders, using the "then and now" theme. 

 

I have a few historic photos of Randy's family farm, but nothing nearly as complete as my Mom compiled. (I know how fortunate I am.) The photo above was in photos from Randy's family, but there was no information about the date it was taken or the people. 

We also showed a video, showing a similar team threshing wheat. Even though it obviously wasn't filmed in Kansas, it still showed a much different picture of harvest then and now.  

Randy's family has a similar history of farming in Kansas. This pasture on the Rattlesnake Creek has been in his family since 1900. 

I did share a few photos from their farm history in the slide show.

Randy's Grandpa Melvin

Randy's family on a cattle sorting day

I also pointed out the differences in farm wives today, compared to yesteryear. 

 Of course, we believe agriculture is important. We wouldn't be the fifth generation of farmers in our respective families if we didn't believe in agriculture.

As our society moves away from its agrarian roots, fewer people seem to recognize the value. As organizers of Ag Day say:

We know that food and fiber doesn't just arrive at the grocery or clothing store or magically appear on the dinner table or in our closet. There's an entire industry dedicated to providing plentiful and safe food for consumption.

• Each American farmer feeds about 165 people. Agriculture is America's No. 1 export.
• New technology means farmers are more environmentally friendly than ever before. 

Even that tally for feeding has changed: In the 1950s, when my parents were beginning to farm on their own, the American farmer fed 27 people. That's increased 138 people in about 65 years. Pretty amazing, right?

So Happy Agriculture Day - today and every day!

More about the Moore family farming legacy can be found HERE:

 More about the Neelly farming journey can be found HERE.

More about the Fritzemeier farming tradition can be found HERE.

Top O' the Mornin'

 

Top o' the mornin' to you! This is your friendly reminder that today is St. Patrick's Day. A lot of elementary school students will avoid the inevitable pinch for forgetting their green today, since many are on spring break this week.

My childhood breakfast table was usually the site of my first pinch of the day, back in my elementary school days. Unless I searched my pajama wardrobe or underwear drawer for a hint of green among floral prints as I went to bed on March 16, I could usually count on one of my siblings to provide the first pinch of the day as we consumed our bowl of Lucky Charms. (It may have been Frosted Flakes or Sugar Smacks or Apple Jacks cereal, but those don't sound as leprechaun-inspired, do they?)

Today's recipe calls for a "pinch" of a different kind - or, more accurately - a measured amount of baking soda. Irish Bread is one of the hallmarks from the Emerald Isle. It's a quick bread that uses soda, rather than yeast, for leavening.

However, the website www.myrecipes.com says that the Irish bakers weren't the first cooks to use soda to leaven bread. American Indians first used pearl ash—a natural form of soda created from the ashes of wood—to leaven their breads without the presence of yeast. However, it wasn’t until this process was later discovered and replicated by the Irish that it earned a reputation worldwide. 

Irish Soda Bread was first created in the late 1830s, when the first iteration of baking soda—or bicarbonate soda—was introduced to the United Kingdom. The first versions were created out of necessity. Irish cooks were having trouble finding quality flour, since Ireland's climate raises a lower-gluten variety of wheat than we're known for here in the heart of Kansas. The soda was added to other basic ingredients, like the “soft” wheat flour,  salt, and soured milk.

At the time, many lower-class and farmhouse kitchens lacked ovens, so the bread was cooked in iron pots or on griddles over open hearths. This cooking method resulted in the signature dense texture, hard crust, and slight sourness that's characteristic for soda bread. The unique texture of this bread is the result of a reaction between acid and baking soda that results in the formation of small bubbles of carbon dioxide within the dough. Sour milk was most commonly used in the early days of the bread’s history, thanks to its high acidity levels, but now buttermilk is typically used in its place.

The bread traditionally has a cross cut into the top before baking. 

Other fun St. Patrick Day ideas, especially for kids:

• Take 2 refrigerated biscuits per child and tear each in half. Place three of the pieces together to form a shamrock and use the other one to roll into a stem. Sprinkle with green sugar and bake.
• Another easy green treat: Combine equal parts cream cheese and marshmallow cream. Tint green and serve as dip for green apples.
• Gold Cookies (for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!): Take two Ritz crackers. Put peanut butter between them. Dip them in melted butterscotch chips. Place on waxed paper until set up.
• Substitute Lucky Charms for some (or all) of the cereal in your Rice Krispie treats.

Here's hoping you find some St. Patrick's Day "Luck o' the Irish" at the end of your rainbow ... or in your kitchen. (There are some more ideas and links after the Irish Soda Bread recipe.)

 

I used a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction for this version of Irish Soda Bread. (Sally's is one of my and Jill's go-to baking blogs.) However, after perusing several other recipes, I made some adjustments. Her recipe said raisins were optional. Another recipe developer used whiskey-soaked raisins or craisins. A couple of them suggested orange zest. (I'm guessing that 1800s-era Irish cooks didn't have access to oranges or orange zest.) Did they have dried fruit? I don't know.

 

But soaking dried fruit in orange juice and adding orange zest do provide a nice bit of flavor. And, of course, you have to drain the fruit before using it in the bread. However, one recipe used the reserved liquid - whether whiskey or orange juice or a combination - to combine with softened butter for a spread for the bread. I also added that for an extra treat.

Grandma's Irish Soda Bread

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

 

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

5 tbsp. butter (cold and cubed)

1 cup raisins, currants or craisins (opt.)

2 tsp. orange zest (opt.) 

Butter Spread (optional)

1/2 cup room temperature butter

Liquid (whiskey, orange juice or combination) retained after plumping the dried fruit

 

IF DESIRED: Rehydrate dried fruit of your choice in 1/2 cup Irish whiskey, orange juice or a combination of the two. To do this quickly, you may add the fruit and liquid to a glass measuring cup. Microwave for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool and to rehydrate for an hour or so.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking pan. I used a 9-inch cake pan, lined with parchment paper. Other options are using a seasoned cast iron skillet or a 5-quart Dutch oven without the lid. Another option is to use only a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, though the bread spreads out a little more.

 

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. (If you don't have buttermilk available, you can make a substitution by putting 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a glass measuring cup and then adding milk to make 1 3/4 cups. Stir together, and let sit for 5 minutes before adding egg and using.)

 

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender. There's a lot of flour compared to the amount of butter, but keep working to break the butter down into pea-sized crumbs. Stir in orange zest, if desired.

Drain the fruit well, if you have chosen to plump the fruit in advance. Reserve the liquid if you plan to make the butter spread. 

Stir fruit into the flour mixture and stir to distribute. Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture. Gently fold together until the dough it too stiff to stir. Pour crumbly dough onto a lightly-floured work surface. With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as well as you can, then knead for about 30 seconds or until the flour is moistened. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. (You will likely have to do this if you've plumped your fruit in liquid.)

Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Using a very sharp knife, score an X into the top. Bake for 20 minutes, then put a piece of foil on top to prevent overbrowning. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until the bread is golden brown and center appears cooked through. 

Remove from oven and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm, at room temperature or toasted. Serve with whipped butter spread, if desired.

Butter Spread

Whip softened-to-room-temperature butter with a stand or hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add in about 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, whipping together until it's well blended. Add more, if desired. Serve with warm bread. (Because I used craisins, it gave the butter a slight pink tinge since some of the color leached out when the fruit was soaking.)

***

And, if you're looking for other lucky treats, here are some other St. Patty's Day foods I've shared here in the past:

Good As Gold Snack Mix

Kinley and Brooke helped me make these Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies when they were visiting a couple years ago:

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

For a main dish with an Irish twist, try Reuben Crescent Bake. (Well, at least, it's got corned beef and cabbage. I don't think it's very Irish.)

 Reuben Crescent Bake

For cabbage minus the corned beef, try this slaw recipe:

Slaw Salad 

May your troubles be less and your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness come through your door.

Salt of the Earth

If there's a salt shortage in Topeka, you can blame Jill and other mamas with fourth graders at Jay Shideler Elementary.

Randy & I made a stop in Topeka Friday evening before Susan's first bridal shower in Kansas City on Saturday. While Grandpa and Eric took Kinley to volleyball practice, Jill and I stayed behind in the "salt mines" ... so to speak.

The salt dough is being used to construct 4th grade volcanoes this week. 

Other parents had already signed up for the easier stuff - like detergent and other needed supplies. So Jill volunteered to make a a dozen recipes of salt dough for Kinley's fourth grade class project. 

By Friday night, no one else had signed up to bring the rest of the dough. Since Jill and I already had our system down, she texted Kinley's teacher and asked if she wanted her to make all the dough.

"Extremely grateful" was the gist of the return text. 

I measured out the salt and the flour. Jill added the water with the mixer. And we used teamwork to maneuver the completed dough into the quart-sized plastic bags. With the additional recipes, we had to wait on a salt delivery from Eric. Otherwise, we would have gotten it accomplished in an hour. 

As I was taking a photo of the supplies, Jill said that Hudson Cream Flour isn't available at her Hy-Vee Grocery Store, where she purchased everything. Hudson Cream Flour is made at Stafford County Flour Mill, our home county. We are both part of a Hudson Cream Flour baking group on Facebook, and if she needs it for her home baking projects, she gets it at Dillon's. 

I told her that Hudson Cream Flour was too valuable to use for an inedible recipe anyway.

After we got all 22 bags complete, we decided that Kinley was going to need help getting it to her classroom.

She was convinced she could do it ... until she about pulled her arm sockets out with the two grocery bags of dough. Jill dropped it off at the school with the teacher ahead of time.

I wish I was a fly on the wall so I could see the 4th graders using the dough for their volcanoes. Kinley says they built the volcanoes yesterday. She told Jill that she "did a good job" making the dough. Today, they are supposed to paint their masterpieces, and tomorrow is eruption day.

Hopefully, I'll get to see a photo of the finished product.

Salt Dough

2 cups all-purpose bleached flour

1 cup salt

1/2 cup to 1 cup warm water

In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, stir together flour and salt. Mix in water, 1/4 cup at a time. Add water until it forms a doughy consistency, similar to Playdough.

Do not overmix! Overmixing will make it too stringy and hard to form into shapes.

***

That was just first stop on a fun and activity-filled weekend. I shared photos from Susan's & Brent's first bridal shower on Facebook. But there are some blog readers who don't see my Facebook page, so I'm including some here, too.

Brent wasn't there for most of the shower, but he came at the end to help load and transport the gifts home. It was fun for me to get to meet some of their friends.

Jill, Brooke and Kinley also were there to take in the festivities.

 

 Susan's friend, Mallory, added lots of special touches for the brunch.

 

The moms were both glad to be there!

I can't wait to do it again in a few weeks! Shower No. 2 is coming up then!

But we weren't done with the fun. We also went to Dave & Buster's. 

And just in case we hadn't done enough for the day, we ended the day at Kinley's tennis tournament.

A good time was had by all. (That was the tagline on social news in weekly newspapers like The Stafford Courier back in the day.) 

The Wonder of Wordle

 

Wordle can be a humbling experience.

I've long denigrated my math abilities, while acknowledging a fair command of the English language and written word. I read 99 books last year. (My natural response was that I should have read just a little harder so that I could have reached the 100-book mark.) A lot of words go through my head, by the time you count the ones I read, along with the ones I write for my daily KFRM reports, my blog, a church newsletter, letters and other correspondence for both me and Randy. The list goes on and on.

But Wordle is doing its best to knock me down a peg or two.

Wordle is an online, five-letter, six-attempt mystery-word game that has taken the country by storm. The New York Times purchased it for a seven-figure sum at the end of January. (SEVEN is a big five-letter word when it's teamed with seven-figure!)

I've not been doing the daily word puzzle for long. I'd seen several Facebook friends post these mysterious combinations of yellow, green and black squares to their Facebook feeds. 

But I didn't know what it was until we celebrated Christmas a month late with our family. Brent gave me the low-down. And I was off and running. ... Or off and stumbling?  

So far, there was only one day I didn't get the word at all. My final guess that day was GROOM. I guess BRIDE and GROOM are on my mind with our family wedding coming up in May. (The word that day was AROMA. Yes, my result that day had the AROMA of defeat!)

Until then, I'd gotten them every day, which, I suppose, is a minor victory when you consider all the 5-letter words in this world. But, several days, the game has given me a "Phew!" when it took all six guesses. Before that, I guess I had a bit of beginner's luck. I'd even gotten it in 3 guesses a few times.  

On Tuesday this week, I was beginning to think I wasn't going to come up with the word. (RUPEE! Really?) But I got it really quickly yesterday. (NASTY: I sure hope that's not a commentary on me.)

You could say I'm "WEARY" of my uneven TRACK record, I suppose. 

Right  now, I'd say my level of success is VAGUE.

Sometimes, the words give me PAUSE. Some days, Wordle gives me an ULCER. It's the ULTRA challenge, all right! (Those were all recent words.)

Our fourth grade granddaughter, Kinley, is also playing Wordle. (And, by the way, how many 4th graders know the word ULCER? Kinley and Grandma Christy worked on Wordle together at the condo after skiing one day. That was the day for ULCER, which they did eventually figure out. Kinley then proceeded to exclaim, "I was "ulcering" when I got to the top of the lift and saw how high the mountain was." 

Photos by Jill

On second thought, I'm glad we are having to explain ULCER to a 10-year-old, rather than have her experience it herself!)

 According to Buzzfeed:

The success of Wordle, the game most easily characterized by the green-and-yellow square emojis that are saturating Twitter feeds worldwide, traces back to a small group of nerdy New Zealanders who were looking for a pandemic distraction.

“The close ties across the country means it isn't hard for things to spread — whether that be gossip, word games, or good public health measures to keep us safe during a pandemic,” said Asher Wilson-Goldman, a public sector communications professional who was one of the first people to start tweeting about the game.

For the record, I've never posted my results to Twitter or Facebook. Well, I hadn't posted to Facebook before writing this blog missive about Wordle.

Since November, its daily traffic on Wordle's website has skyrocketed from 90 users to 2 million.

Unlike most games, everybody has an equal chance. (Well, I'm not sure Randy would have an equal chance because he isn't a proficient speller.) But ... it's not like playing basketball ... thankfully. (I was a champion bench sitter.) 

Wordle's daily answer is the same for every player no matter the gender, age or zip code.

Another of Wordle’s subtle attractions is that, unlike so many competitive exercises in our culture, it is fair. The same rules apply to everyone. The letters fit or they don’t. The words are right or they’re wrong. In Wordle, you win or you lose, no debate, fair and square. You can't blame the refs (or Covid or anything else).

I am not a puzzle lover. Even though I love words, I don't do crossword puzzles or Sudoku. And I sure don't do jigsaw puzzles for fun.

But, I must admit, I have become somewhat committed to Wordle. (It took me awhile to figure out that I could use one letter twice in the same word. If you haven't already figured that out, you're welcome!)

Batman, I could use your superpowers right about now. How are my Facebook friends getting these in TWO or THREE tries?! Most often, it takes me four!

International Pancake Day: Flip for Pancakes!

 

It seems there is a "special" day for just about everything. There are days delighting in doughnuts. There are days for savoring sandwiches and hallowing hamburgers. Pie even gets more than one day.

It's always a good day to flip for pancakes. But if you need an excuse, International Pancake Day is today - Tuesday, March 1. Pancake Day is a moveable feast whose date is determined by Easter. It's celebrated exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday (April 17 this year).

Down the road in Liberal, Kansas, the 73rd International Pancake Day is back after a hiatus last year due to Covid.  

For 73 years, the women of the two communities - Liberal, Kansas, and Olney, England - have raced down the streets of their respective communities, flipping pancakes and running against the clock and each other. The race is always on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. It's the only race of its kind in the world.

"Shrove" is not a thing, but a verb. "Shrive" (shrove, shriven) comes from the Old English verb scrfan, "to decree, decree after judgment, impose a penance upon, hear the confession of," according to the dictionary. Shrove Tuesday is a day to reflect, to seek penance and get ready for Lent.

In Olney, the Pancake Race tradition dates back to 1445. Legend has it that a woman was busy making pancakes and using up cooking fats, which were forbidden during Lent at that time. Hearing the church bells ring to announce the Shrove Tuesday service, she grabbed her head scarf and ran to the church, with pancake-filled skillet in hand. In following years, neighbors joined the race to the church. The first to arrive collected a Kiss of Peace from the bell ringer.

Photo from the International Pancake Day Facebook page: Liberal's Billie Warden crosses the finish line in 1950. Billie won the local race with a time of 1:18 but lost to Olney's Florence Callow, who finished in 1:10.4.

 

 

The international race with Liberal began in 1950, when Liberal Jaycee President R.J. Leete saw a photo of the English race in Time magazine and then contacted Olney, challenging their women to race against the women of Liberal.

Racers must still wear a head scarf and apron. Each runner flips her pancake at the starting signal and again as she crosses the finish line to prove she still has her pancake after running the 415-yard course.

Photo from the International Pancake Day Race Facebook page

According to the book, America Celebrates! A Patchwork of Weird & Wonderful Holiday Lore, some superstitions have evolved among Liberal racers:

• It is considered good luck to carry a past winner's skillet in the race or wear a past winner's apron.
• One year, the stack of concrete pancakes marking the starting point of the race was stolen. This was considered a bad omen, but the stack was later returned.
• Although the women practice running 415 yards, it is considered bad luck to run the official race course during the practice sessions.

If you're looking for your own International Pancake Day treat, Country Crunch Pancakes are good for breakfast ... or for a breakfast-themed lunch or supper. The topping mixture offers another layer of flavor and subtle crunch. And Randy is always a fan of added blueberries. I used frozen blueberries, since there weren't fresh ones at my local grocery store. 

Kinley & Brooke are fans of breakfast, too - at any meal of the day! 

Photo from 2020 - I need an updated pancake picture! 

Whether you make pancakes or not, I'll leave you with the traditional blessing bestowed upon the pancake race winner - whether in Liberal or Olney:

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

These days, we can take all the PEACE we can get.

 

 

Country Crunch Pancakes

From Taste of Home

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2-1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, optional

CRUNCHY TOPPING:
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Combine buttermilk, eggs and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Fold in blueberries if desired.
Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle about 1 teaspoon for each pancake onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Pour 1/4 cup of batter over topping; immediately sprinkle with another teaspoonful of topping. Turn when bubbles form on top of pancake; cook until second side is golden brown. Serve with your favorite syrup.

 

NOTE: I did use frozen blueberries, since fresh ones weren't available at my local store. I also made my "buttermilk" by combining vinegar and milk.