OUR FAVORITE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP

Nancy took the Colorado kids to our neighbourhood coffee shop, Mojo's (i had to be at work), where they enjoyed latte's and cappicino's. My personal fave is a half cafe, 1 shot, breve' with caramel & toasted marshmallow syrup...yummmmmmmm!

RECIPE CORRECTION

On the recipe of Honaker style Clam Cakes recipe of last week, the eggs were omitted from the list of ingredients. Add 2 eggs to that recipe and things should come out "much more betta"...sorry! Also, drain on paper towels and blot with another paper towel...otherwise they will be quite "greasy"!

SUNDAY'S RECIPE

EASY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

3 large boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat to 1/2" thick *** thin sliced smoked ham *** brick of swiss cheese *** flour *** butter and/or oil *** 1 tsp chicken bouillon *** small can of mushrooms, drained or 4 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed *** 1/2 cup white wine *** toasted sliced almonds

After pounding the breasts flat, cut each in half. On each half at wide end, layer several slices of ham and a 1/2" x 1/2" x 4" stick of cheese. Roll up carefully and secure with several toothpicks. After all are rolled up, melt butter in large skillet on medium heat. Roll breast rolls in flour, season with salt & pepper, and brown lightly, removing and placing into sprayed 9" x 13" pan. Add oil to pan bits to make about 1 TBSP, then add 1-1/2 TBSP flour to make roux. Stir and cook slightly, then add chicken base, wine, mushrooms with liquid(or 1/2 cup water if using fresh 'rooms). Add toasted almonds and stir till slightly thicken sauce is achieved. Pour over chicken breasts, cover and bake in 350 degree for 1 hour...serve with a rice side dish.

SEASONS EATINGS!!!

THEY'RE HERE! the kids arrived from ft. collins wed. nite...sara watching me cook!
michael sharing a moment with his 5-15/16th month old nephew. what's up with that beard!?
sutton watching us eat...always happy, even with a bad cold. notice the retro toys he's playing with...toys that Michael & Gina, and maybe even Nancy played with as a child!
us all (minus Adam) around the table the first nite sharing a feast of chicken cordon bleu, baked sweet potato, and fresh garden salad...a little something i just whipped up after work on Wed.

SUNDAY'S RECIPE- a day late

Honaker Style Clam Cakes

1 c. flour *** 1 tsp. baking soda *** 2 tsp. baking powder *** 2 eggs *** 1 TBSP lemon juice *** 1/3 c. clam juice(reserved from clams) *** 1/4 c. milk *** 1 TBSP melted butter *** pinch cayenne pepper *** 2 TBSP fresh parsley, finely chopped *** 2 - 10 to 12 oz cans clams, drained (or 4 dozen cherrystone clams, shucked, drained, minced) *** salt & pepper *** oil for frying

Stir together flour, soda, powder - whisk in eggs, lemon juice, clam juice, milk, butter & cayenne just till batter is smooth. Stir in parsley & clams, season with salt & pepper. Bring 1/8" of oil in skillet to 325-350 degrees, spoon 2 TBSP batter at a time into hot oil. Fry till golden brown on bottom side, flip and fry approx 2 minutes more on 2nd side. Drain on paper towels. Serve as appetizer or main dish.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Just got back from a scooter ride on my 'Ferguson, and did some thinking while i was rumbling around town...decided to relay some of the Christmas memories I have experienced over the last 50+ years of my life...

-singing in the little kids choir in the old Goessel Church with the big wooden stage, forgeting my "piece" that i had memorized, and pounding my head with my fist to dislodge the words!

-playing Walter Cronkite in our school Christmas program (i was the main character), and at the end saying his famous line..."and thats' the way it is, December 25, 1968...goodnite!"

-my older brother Rod & I getting this HUGE 2 train set for Christmas (we crapped our pants!) complete with a layout board that Dad built in the basement completely without us knowing!

-getting a brand new Schwinn StingRay bike with ape hangers and a rear slick tire one year (an old man had won the bike at the local credit union Christmas meeting...Dad went and bought the bike from him)

-opening up a box under the tree and finding inside a beautiful green SK Wayne toolbox with my name printed on the top, and inside finding a couple of SK Wayne screwdrivers

-always going out the week or 2 after Thanksgiving and picking out a real Christmas tree(no one had artificial trees) and the tedious job of putting on the tinsel( and taking it off afterward)

-going to all the obscure Christmas gatherings of people i had no idea of who they were(Funk, Reimer, Duerksen sides of the family), eating fabulous carry-in food, and making the best of the aftenoon trying to play with kids i didn't know!

-going Christmas caroling with all the 3 local church youth groups (Goessel, Alexanderwohl, and Tabor) just because it was the thing to do (and you got to cuddle up real close to the girl you'd asked to go along...i had several, one of which ended up being my wife!)

-finishing up my freshman finals at K-State, then driving home in the snow for a wonderfully long Christmas break (of which i spent most of the time with my sexy, delicious girlfriend-Nancy)

-the hassle of making 3 gatherings on Nancy's side and 3 on my side while trying to keep our sanity intact while dragging along 2 little kids

-the fun we had shopping for toys for our kids...always had a hard time figuring out what to buy a girl, especially as Gina got older!!!

-the wonderfully LARGE bonuses that we gave us/our employees at Mid Kansas Propane...I always made sure to buy something very nice with the $$$ and not pay bills/buy food with it

-learning to wrap Christmas presents expertly when I worked at Grabers (there we days that i'll bet i wrapped 20-25 presents, some of very weird shapes).

-the time that I was unemployed for a year and received a Christmas box from the Salvation Army...what a humbling experience. This year I resolved to NEVER pass a Salvation Army bucket without dropping in a buck, or at least some change...and have rang the bell for several years.

which brings me to this year...I am the happiest that I have been in many years this Christmas. Maybe because for the first time in many years I have a job I enjoy, maybe 'cause I have had the $ and the inspiration to buy gifts this year, maybe 'cause I have been so blessed this year...don't know exactly why. I do know we are going to make some new memories this year...the first year with a grandchild. So...Merry Christmas!

Thanks, Mom & Dad

Thanks, Mom & Dad, for the early Christmas present...a new stainless steel sink & garbage disposal. After suffering for 20+ years with an ugly white cast iron sink, we finally took the plunge and got a stainless steel sink...way better than the old p.o.s.! and the disposal hadn't been working correctly for a long time, so it went too.

We spent the day vacuuming, dusting, washing floors, etc getting ready for the Colorado kids to come home...man are we bushed! Cocktail time!

JOINED THE CLUB...

well, its official...i have joined the club. which club you say...the club of people that have had kidney stones, that's which club. The pain started this morning at 3a...just thought i had the usual back pain, so i got up and took some pills. but by 7a this morning, i knew i wouldn't be going to work and nancy took me to the ER. they didn't find an actual kidney stone on the CT, but they found evidence that i had "had" one and had passed it. so i stayed home today with some nice big pain medication...and caught up on a little of the sleep i missed.

i was in charge of Taco soup day at work today...guess we'll do that tommorow. and i'm glad that if this had to happen, it happened today instead of late next week...gotta lot of plans for then!

Which brings me to my point, and i'm not going to preach. all my life, literally, i've wondered why we (the public) can't be/act as nice to one another as we do these couple of weeks before Christmas. we're Christians (well, some of us) all year, not just from Thanksgiving till dec. 25, so why can't that happen all year?

I'm having a great Christmas season and wished it went longer. the music, the food, the kids coming home from Colorado, the present God gave us of a grandchild (and the nicest one that you could ask for), the visiting, going to a K-State basketball game, our health, and much more. i know "the reason for the season" and celebrate all the gifts God has given me...all i have to do is look around to see them.

HOT COCOA MIX

Hot Cocoa Mix

1- 8 quart box dried milk *** 1-6 oz. jar non dairy creamer *** 1 cup powdered sugar *** 1- 1 lb box instant chocolate drink mix *** 1- 3 oz box instant chocolate pudding mix ***

Combine all very well in large bowl, store in airtight container. Put 1/3 cup mix into favorite mug (8 oz) and fill with hot water, stir in marshmallows if desired.

Mmmmm! you all probably have this recipe already, but its such a cold blustery day here in Newton that I thought it appropriate to post this recipe.

Adult Recipe - add a shot of Bailey's Irish Creme

Its An Elf!!!

We went Christmas shopping to Wichita yesterday...something we haven't done in a long, long time. And we were successful!!! We got there about 10 am, and were home at 3 pm, and that even included a WONDERFUL hour long lunch at one of my favorite restaurants...Red Lobster. The crab legs, scallops, clams, shrimp, chowder, and ceasar salad were INCREDIBLY good! not to mention those cheddar bay bisquits!
Anyway, we only made stops at less than6 stores...we had a plan and a list of ideas. Its amazing how smooth things can go when great minds think alike and agree easily(who they talking about....me, agreeable?!)

Anyway, on our travels we saw the cutest elf! I
think there's a family resemblance. He helped us
with our list, and told us all had been nice, so no problem there (i noticed there's no presents under the tree with my name...maybe not quite everybodys' been nice). Gina gave us an early Christmas present...a $10 coupon to Red Lobster, which we used of course (I could eat seafood 5 days a week!...should'a lived on the coast).

Thought of the Day

"I'm too old to worry about dying young".

SUTTON COMES TO VISIT...GINA TOO!

Look everyone, I can sit up by myself...for a few minutes before I fall over!
Look at the "old school" baby toys my grandma found for me to play with...they are all made by some company called Fisher-Price?!
We all get a lap...me on Grandma's and Annie on mommy's!

SUNDAY'S RECIPE

CAJUN PRETZELS

1/2 cup oil, 1-1 oz pkg Hidden Valley dry salad dressing mix, 1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1-12 to 16 oz bag pretzels

Mix the oil and the seasonings till dissolved, pour over pretzels and mix well(either in large bowl OR ziplock bag. Store airtight...that's it! (recipe i got from co-worker-delish!)

GRANDPA'S WORKSHOP

Grandpa's Workshop
-established 1990, serving the greater metro North Newton area, handcrafting the finest in solid wood gifts & furniture utilizing predominately Kansas hardwoods (oak & walnut)as well as lyptus, mahogany, and pine, all items finished with a durable satin sealer or poly urethane finish (paint finish also available)


*items pictured here starting from bottom left in clockwise order...coat tree from scraps of library ladder, 1930's Model T tanker, semi flatbed trailer with culverts and box of freight, Freightliner semi-tractor with propane tanker, intarsia of owl in hollow of tree, Harley Davidson child's rocker, North 81 Chili Co. sign, 1929 Pontiac coupe, small racer, engraved sign. Chevrolet bowtie dash plaque sign, end table (part of twin endtable & headboard set)

All work is custom made to order as per customers specs. Delivery available. Hours are some weekday evenings if in the mood and some weekends as needed. Call Grandpa Bruce for an appointment to create your next family heirloom.

North 81 Chili Company

Grandpa's Woodshop was recently contracted by
the proprietors of North 81 Chili Company to make a new sign for their establishment. It was requested to be of a natural oak & walnut construction, with appropriate antique lettering and to be finished with a hand-rubbed patina. The initial coat of finish has been applied in these pictures, with touch sanding and 2 more layers of sealer to be applied. Presentation of the handmade piece to the founder of this well-known & highly sought-after purveyor of the finest Texas-style chili is anticipated in the next week to 10 days for final approval.