Seek God's face. Seriously. This isn't a cliche to make you feel butter. It is a program for ridding yourself and the world of fear. Set yourself the task of looking for God at work within us. So look. Look for God's face in the face of a stranger serving you lunch, working on your car, asking for a handout. Look for God's face in the gestures of kindness in this terrible world, in the opportunities to laugh and sing, the moments of grace with loved ones, in the passion of body and soul. Seek God's face in the beauty of music, in the wonder of the world around you. You're on a mission. If you fill up your life with the search for God, you won't have time to fear.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Look for God's Face
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Backyard Glamour Shots
We sat in the backyard. Silently. Hardly moving. (That was after I told Randy to quit making noises to attract the cats.)
So ... if you think bird watching is a good time, are you officially old? Asking for a friend.
From looking at a Kansas bird book, we think this might be a Nashville warbler. But we are willing to be educated by someone who knows more than we do. |
OK, really, I'm asking for us.
Randy's bird house addiction is creating a new diversion. In recent years, he has added different birdhouses to the windmill tower in our back yard. Just this winter, he added two more. He selected a birdhouse and bird seed for his contribution to the men's Moore family grab bag gift at Christmas. And then he proceeded to select his own gift. Since no one stole the gift from him, he came home with the gift he arrived with. It was all part of his plan. (That's the red feeder below.) I carried it into the house. It was heavy. I made him carry it back out to the car.
Then, he bought another bird feeder that had been designed by a high school classmate. It's amazing what you learn about at your 50th class reunion. (That's the green spiral-shaped one in the photos.)
We think this is a house finch. |
That feeder was particularly popular on the day of our silent bird watch. Of course, it was the furthest away from our chairs. And ... I'm sure it was the superior design conjured up by Randy's classmate, Jim, and his wife, Rena.
It's hard to see, but there are three birds on the feeder in this shot. |
During the frigid, snowy weather, I'd watch out our back door. I loved the flashes of red against the white snow as the cardinals zipped here and there. But every time I opened the back door to see if I could get a photo, they'd fly quickly away. And, let's face it: I wasn't putting a lawn chair in the yard and sitting out in that weather.
But, on these spring-like days, it's a regular bird banquet in our back yard. I was convinced that we wouldn't be able to set up our lawn chairs close enough that I could get good shots with my camera. But I was wrong. It took awhile, but I guess we eventually became "part of the woodwork" (so to speak), and the birds started arriving for suppertime.
I got excited when I saw the photos on my computer screen. It's always a little hard to tell what you have captured when you're just looking through the camera view finder. (Yes ... old. I admitted that earlier.)
Female cardinal. We've had four pairs of cardinals in the backyard this winter. None of the bright red males flew in for their closeup. |
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Forget Taco Tuesday Today
It's Tuesday. Some clever marketing guru has made "Tuesday" and "Taco Tuesday" synonymous. But I've got another option for you today on Shrove Tuesday. It's International Pancake Day, so why not trade tacos for pancakes?
For Liberal, Kansas, Shrove Tuesday really is International Pancake Day. Pancake Day is a moveable feast with the date is determined by Easter. It's celebrated exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday (April 20 this year).
For 76 years, the women of 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.
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.
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.
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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, these Apple Pancakes with Apple Topping are good for breakfast ... or for a breakfast-themed lunch or supper. I combined recipes from two different websites to come up with the cinnamon-infused pancakes topped with a fresh-made apple topping.
I am not a maple syrup fan. I know that's practically sacrilege to say. But I'm always looking for different options to top pancakes or waffles. The apple topping echoes the cinnamon of the pancakes and teams it with sugar and butter, cooking down the chopped apples and offering a yummy alternative.
Around here, we are more likely to have pancakes for lunch or supper than we are for breakfast. (However, Randy was glad to gobble up these leftovers for breakfast the next day).
Tuesday doesn't always have to be Taco Tuesday. Today, why not make Shrove Tuesday a breakfast-for-supper kind of day? You can also use the search engine on the blog to find other tried-and-true pancake recipes from Kim's County Line.
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 medium apple, grated (1 cup)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. water
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Marry Me Chicken Soup
Maybe you haven't heard about the “Marry Me Chicken” trend. I hadn't. But, evidently,
Marry Me Chicken is a dish that's soooo irresistibly good that the person you make it for will
want to marry you.
Well, I can guarantee that my beef-loving husband would not board the "trend train" for that one. He will eat chicken dishes. But he much prefers beef-focused meals.
But, when Jill sent the recipe for Marry Me Chicken Soup and I had some leftover chicken from preparing a Core meal, it was like a sign that this would be one of those occasional times when I add chicken to the meal rotation. Brooke was her family's biggest fan of this soup. And if it's good enough for Brooke ... well, I guess it's good enough for Grandpa, too.
We had plenty of soup for leftovers. Bonus! As with any recipe that includes pasta, you'll have to add a little water, chicken stock, milk or cream to thin it out when reheating. As pasta sits and gets cold, it absorbs the liquid.
Ironically, after the soup leftovers were gone, I had a recipe for Marry Me Chicken from Taste of Home show up in the email inbox. The writers of that article and recipe claimed Tiktok was behind the recent spread of the Marry Me Chicken trend with its sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan cream sauce. Hmmmm - Tiktok. No wonder I didn't know anything about it.
1 medium yellow onion, small diced
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 ½ teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 quart chicken stock
2 cups water
1 teaspoon sugar
⅓ cup sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
2 cups small-shape pasta (uncooked) such as orecchiette, ditalini, farfalle (I used ditalini)
To Add at the End
½ cup heavy cream⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups baby spinach
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Heat a large heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the olive oil, onion, and ¼ teaspoon salt and black pepper. Cook until the onion begins to soften, about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle the onion with the garlic powder and thyme, then cook until fragrant, about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Oh Baby Face!
Back in our active farming/ranching days, we always spread out straw. The Millers do, too. But that doesn't mean the mamas or babies take advantage of it.
But some do!
Visiting the cattle also provides a ready genetics lesson. Some babies look an awful lot like their mothers.
Others must resemble their dads.
But they are all pretty darn cute.
Shoutout to all those producers who'll be braving the extreme cold during the next few days. Be careful out there!
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Winterscapes
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A panorama taken February 2, 2025 |
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February 3, 2025, south of Stafford |
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Rattlesnake Creek along 4th Street near Highway 281 north of St. John, looking north, February 4, 2025. I made Randy stop on the bridge on our way to the accountant in Great Bend. |
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Looking south from the same bridge on 4th Street near Highway 281 |
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The snow drift is still lingering along this tree line. We are supposed to add more to it in the next couple of days. |
With another winter storm set to move in, we'll see if there are any other winter calendar contenders in the days ahead.