Christmas 2012

 Our Sara-Bear making a new treat...white chocolate mint cookies, awesome!  might be a new Funk family fave!

 a pic of Sara testing the cookies while on her back......not!

 For the first time in her life, Sara tasting "puppy chow'!!!  she is allergic to peanuts, so we came up with the idea to make it with almond butter instead of peanut butter.  It was a smashing success!

 Let it never be said that the Funk Hotel does not offer 5 star accomadations...here one of our guests enjoying a fresh made (by the house chef) mushroom and swiss omlete!!!

 Coopa says.."can I help, huh, can i?"

 Gina & Adam cooking in our kitchen Christmas eve...well, Adam cooking and Gina ????

 Mikes contribution to the evening appetizers, on puff pastry a combo of avacodo, bacon, tomatoes, and cheese baked to agolden brown...they were DELICIOUS!

 While waiting for the feast to begin, Sutton decided to go for a spin in Grandpa's rocking Harley!!!

 only Great-Grandpa and Grandpa can do this...an old Low German saying of "dreah, dreha, rum-tuft. moya, chey da um-tuft"....

 Let the feast begin...more delectible delights than i can name...my contribution, lump crab cakes.

"Sutton, in order to make buffalo wings we have to get our hands dirty!"

AVACADO PIE

 If you really like avacodos, you've got to try this...avacado pie!!! 3 large avacados in a blender, added coconut milk, unflavored gelatin, sugar, lime juice....and blended till smooth. 

 Pour that mixture into a pre-baked graham cracker crust and chill for a couple of hours till set,....

then top it off with some whipped cream!  I don't know how to explain/describe the flavor, but it is good.  Nanc thought it tasted kinda like a cheesecake...the avacado flavor is very subtle, and its very light.  Plus, its a lot lower in bad fat than cheesecake and loaded with "good" fat with the avacados in it!!!

This is what happens....

This is what happens when you refill your hot tub after its been empty all summer and you.....
     -don't get the ph in your hot tub adjusted correctly
     -forget to add stain and scale remover every week
     -drain your hot tub for the summer and your ceramic filters degrade
     -all of the above or some of the above
...and you sit in front of the jets for only 20 minutes!!!  you get 2 perfectly circular chemical-type burns on your back, one of which was so bad that it broke the skin.  Along with this condition you get to have sleepless nights, get to go to the dr. and get a diagnosis and oinment/coverings that you must keep on for 5 days, and incredible itching as the burns heal.

I called the spa people...the chemical "expert" there of over 20 years tenure had never heard of such.(i will be sending her a picture of my back so she does not doubt my word)

Try this at home if you dare...its a blast!!!!!....not!

HIKING THE EAST LAKE TRAIL

 Some beautiful purple wildflowers greeted us at the start of our hike...K-State purple, no less!

 My faithful partner and urger-oner??? (who's tugging her leash...not me, I'm already wearing 2!)

 Our faithful puppies following me up/down the path...I think they really enjoyed it in spite of the panting!

"can we do it again next week dad, huh, can we dad, huh, can we??????"

Fall Recipe- Country Upside-down Pear Cake

 Peel 4 large or 6-8 small pears (or apples), core, and slice.  In cast iron skillet on stove, melt 1/2 stick butter, sprinkle over 3/4 cup sugar.  Layer pears on top of butter and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. An option would be to pour 1/4 molasses onto butter/sugar before pears (i'm not a big molasses fan, so I passed on this).

 Meanwhile, cream 1 stick butter and 2/3 cup sugar in bowl till fluffy, then add 2 eggs & 1 teaspoon vanilla. In separare bowl combine 1-1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt & 1/2 tsp cinammon.  Pour this into bowl with butter/sugar mix along with 1 cup buttermilk.  Spoon on top of fruit in skillet, then put into 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

 When top is nicely browned and fruit bubbling, remove from oven.  Let cool 5-10 minutes, then invert onto big platter.

This is a very "hearty" variation of upside down cake that I saw in this weeks "Relish" tabloid in the newpaper and decided to give it a try.  You will get many (12-16) servings out of this cake, it is great served warm with a scoop of ice cream on top!

Business Update: Funks Hibrids back into production

After 2 months of shutdown due to a titanium upgrade of 1 of the machines, Funks Hibrids is back up and running.  This picture was taken while the 1st shift was on coffee break, but as you can see raw material is stacked in the foreground and the machines are on line and rolling out the latest production order.  Thanks for your patience and don't forget to view our items for sale!

Engraved Scimitar with Walnut Mount

 The latest project hot off Funks Hibrids workbench...a foreign made, engraved scimitar on a fresh walnut mount.

 The handle and strap are leather, and the wood is the "first" official project from wood harvested from the dad-in-law's walnut tree from this spring.

 The one side of the blade has a scene with jungle and a tiger on it, the reverse has some Spanish wording.

It came out even better than I had expected...I don't know if I will sell it as I had originally intended.  However, if an offer of $100 comes in, I might be willing to part with it.  Another item for sale from the Funks Hibrid workshop is a giant, Shaker-style wall mirror that I'm asking $50 for...tell your friends!

"thought for the Day"

"If you care too much about what other people think (of you), you will always be...their prisoner!"

Thought for the Day (or decade!)

"Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it harder for all people to buy cars!"

This is...WHO I AM!

When I'm gone, you might remember things about me.  You might remember my love of Harley's, my woodworking knack, my humor...any one of a number of things.  But one thing you must never forget about me....is my culinary expertise.  Cooking is my life (as are many things, but its close to the top)

Today that expertise turned out the most incredible pork shoulder I can remember.  I started off the process last nite with rubbing an 8 pound shoulder with a mix of Bad Byron's Butt Rub and brown sugar.  I wrapped it in cling wrap and let it dry marinate overnite.  At 8:30 this morning I started the smoking process on my Weber grill with hickory chunks, and after 4 hours started to baste it with apple juice.  2 hours later I wrapped it in foil and left it on the grill for another couple hours, then removed it and let it rest for 1/2 hour on the counter.  You talk about the most tender and juicy, perfectly seasoned pork, with just the right amount of "bark" on the outside of the meat...OMG!  and of course it was accompanied by some great baked beans and my special potato salad.  I'd put a plate of this up against any BBQ i've had and with confidence know I had a winner.

So, this is who I am, for better or for worse...taking a second seat to none!

Our Morning Greeting

Our lilies, which refused to bloom last year 'cause of the heat, are making up for it this year!

They greet Nancy every morning when she goes out to water, as does the ribbongrass and parsley in the foreground.                                                             

...and our zucchini/butternut forest, monstrous!  Don't ever recall having zucchini plants grow this tall?!?

They are making squash for sure...here's four of them just in one spot!

 The Jetstar tomato plant in the back is providing us with very nice fruit, no bugs, nice big size, good flavor, and about 1 per day at this point.  In the far back right are the rest of our tomatoes...cherry & grape varieties.  They are just starting in now...on the ground amongst them, our cantelope plant has several melons on and the watermelon plant is just coming "in-stride".  Anyone know where I can buy a filet migon plant or maybe a ribeye plant?!?!                            

Thought for the Day

"Re-electing Obama for President would be like backing up the Titanic and trying to get thru the berg again!"

Funk's Hibrids-Latest Project

It has been established that the craftsman at Funk's Hibrids are accomplished at woodworking, but did you know that they are also trained in metal work?  The latest project to be built at FH is this little contraption...very handy and needed.  Can you tell what it is?

A grand total of $8.49 was spent on materials for this project...the majority of materials coming from the scrap pile at work, and $6.49 spent at the hardware store for a spray can of high-heat paint.  Figured it out yet?

Its a rain cap/deflector for our new chiminea!  It keeps the embers from flying out(expanded metal in the ring underneathe the disk) and the disk to keep rain from getting into the chiminea.  Saw one at the store where we bought the chiminea...they wanted $40 for it, figured I could build it myself for less than that.  So a junk disck blade, a 1-1/2" cross section of 6" pipe, some scrap pieces of strap iron, and a piece of expanded metal later, there you go.  One very important lesson was learned during construction I want to pass along...TURN ON??? YOUR WELDING HELMET BEFORE WELDING!!!  Who knew that a auto-darkening welding helmet needs to be "turned on" before use...NOT ME!  So, i got to deal with a slight case of welders eye yesterday and today, but not too bad.  SO if you're in the neighborhood and wish to see this latest marvel of engineering/construction, stop by, we'll be glad to show you it.

Arts in the Park, North Newton style

Just so you know that we're not completely devoid of fun things, we did go to the first of the summer 2012 Arts in the Park-North Newton this last Thursday nite.  They have a stage set up on the west side of MoJo's coffee house and have a new act scheduled for every Thursday thru the summer.  This evenings entertainment was Ana Loucks from Hesston playing her guitar and singing her own songs.

We took our 2 hounds along, and they behaved very well...until 2 other dogs showed up, at which point Cooper had to let them know in a loud voice that he was there first.  This lady's kids really like our puppies, and of course our dogs reciprocated.  It was a nice evening for it, untypically cool. The next fun thing on the schedule (after my knee replacement) is judging a bar-b-que contest here in Newton (2nd annual) in a couple of weeks...yummy!                                      

...so what do you do on Sunday?

...you mix 5 eggs, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 500 grams flour, and 1-1/2 tsp salt in your KitchenAid, add a little water, and make homemade noodles with your noodle-maker.  Let them dry for 3-4 hours, then boil them in lots of chicken stock, add fresh clipped chives from your garden, a little parsley, and the leftover chicken...

and viola', homemade chicken noodle that has no match.  It made 5 batches to eat for lunches and enough for our dinner tommorow night.                              

Another Saturday evening...

Here's yet another beer-can chicken awaiting roasting in the oven...see how festive he is with his rosemary sash!  Bought some light apple cider at the liquor store last week, didn't care for it...but it makes a great liquid for the beer-butt chicken!                                                   

You know you're getting old when you take more pictures of your dog than you do your kids/grandson...well it may have something to do with the fact we see the dogs more and they live with us!

Cooper eventually didn't like me getting up close and personal with the camera...he actually growled at me!

Hope it doesn't rain tommorow...wanna make a run to Cassoday on the scooter!

HERE'S HOW WE ROLL....

Memorial Weekend at the Funk house, and here's how we roll...

teryaki marinated chicken drummies, fresh zucchini from our garden grilled w/ olive oil & spices, and boiled new potatoes that the neighbor dug up yesterday that they shared with us (with melted butter & parsley)...this was Friday nite dinner.

Saturday nite brought baby back ribs marinated 8 hours in Guiness Stout & orange juice, then coated with Bad Byron's Butt Rub, along with Nancy's famous 'tater salad made with new potatoes, and some Grillin beans kicked up a notch!

Sunday nite we had hor's doeuvers on the deck for our annual Funk Deck party...many different brews were in attendance and were tasted, so no big meal was prepared.

But, to finish off the holiday weekend strong, Monday dinner was comprised of 24 hour marinated flat iron steak(one of the best i've done) with a fresh spinach salad, cucumbers & onions from our garden soaked in vinegar, some pickled okra, and a little recipe i found for cheddar bites that was outstanding!  we topped it all off later in the evening with the JP Stucky recipe of homeade ice cream that has brown sugar & flour in it...it was awesome!!!

Tommorow  reality sets back in...