SUNDAY'S RECIPE

HOMEMADE NOODLES

This recipe isn't as much about ingredients as it is method...and wholesomeness. You need to start out with buying a noodle/pasta maker...I got mine probably 10 years ago for $20 at a kitchen gadget store(some of the best money I've spent for the kitchen). The other item you need will be a cheap kitchen scale to weigh the flour (not absolutely necessary, but they are cheap and it makes it a little easier).

VERY IMPORTANT! take 5 large eggs out of the fridge at least an hour before starting...the eggs need to be at room temperature, otherwise the dough will be VERY hard to work. Stir in a strong tsp. of salt and beat a little till mixed, then add in 1 pound of flour...today I used 1/4 whole wheat and 3/4 unbleached white flour. Stir until well blended, then add 1 TBSP olive oil, then add only 1 or 2 TBSP warm water to be able to make a dough that is homogenized but not sticky. Knead a bit like you would a bread dough, then cut into golf-ball sized pieces. Picture 2 shows the pasta machine I have that clamps onto the edge of a table (whoops, and my K-State cap and my ticket from last nights' huge win over Texas..it was a great time!)

You squeeze the dough a little flat and run it thru the rollers several times until you have a nice smooth slab of noodle dough, then cut it into 4" pieces, the run it thru the noodle cutter.(Picture 3 shows a clump of dough ready to roll out and a plate of just made noodles). You very lightly toss the noodles with flour to make sure they don't stick to each other, then I spread them out to dry on a tea towel (Picture 1) Let them dry for 3-6 hours, then bring 6 cups of broth(either chicken or beef) to a boil in a big pot, then dump in all the noodles. Next add your meat (either chunks of beef or chicken) and boil till noodles are done...10 minutes?( you just have to sample). The flour on the noodles will thicken up the broth.

We use a whole small chicken boiled and deboned, which we like the best. You can also use a couple of pounds of a beef roast or chunks of sirloin or some other steak. Another variation we like is using a thawed 10 oz. frozen box of chopped spinach, squeezing all the moisture out in a tea towel before adding it to the egg/flour mixture...makes great spinach noodles!

SUNDAY'S RECIPE - EAT OUT!

I'm pretty well tapped out, so take yourself out for lunch/dinner today! Had a great! weekend putting on Judgement House, but it was physically taxing. Friday was up at 5:30a to start my day, work till 5:15p, buzz home and eat a quick bowl of chili, shower, and head for church, which went till after 10p.

I got to sleep in Sat. till 8a, then up and made myself the Deluxe Funk breakfast (basted eggs, hash browns, bacon, toast & o.j), then ran over to the store and bought a new 32" flat screen HD LCD tv. At 9:45a it was off to Goessel to attend my Uncle Rudy Schmidt's funeral and have a light lunch afterward. Got home at 1:30p, piddle a bit on a wood project, showered and off to church again at 2:30p for JH, which i got home from at 11p Sat. nite. I'm bushed!!!!!

So, I slept in today, had my coffee, our Sunday morning discussions about the upcoming week and Nancy's surgery, and I made "real food" for lunch...smothered baked pork chops, scalloped potatoes, and a fresh tossed salad....mmmmm! I also made a batch of homemade noodles this morning (cooking is my release/relaxation mechanism if you haven't guessed!) that i will be making into chicken noodle here pretty soon.

What a weekend!!! I got to meet Debbie, the real life mother of Hannah, the girl who the story is told of. She died Nov. 9 4 years ago, and our JH was a snapshot glimpse of the last 9 months of her life. Debbie flew all the way here from North Carolina at our request to join us for the last day of our drama, and wow, what a woman! She talked to each group that went thru (totally on her own idea) about losing her daughter, and talk about a Spirit-filled woman! She will be at our follow-up celebration today at 3pm at church...can't wait. I got a picture taken of me and her (i introduced myself to her as her "husband", which is the character I portrayed in scene 5), and we hugged and she asked for a picture...the cast got a laugh out of my comment! I have been truly blessed thru this last 2 weeks...what an adventure it was (and always is every year). PTL!

Life just got a little more hectic...

-a couple of things...Nancy just scheduled her rotator cuff surgery for Nov. 17. I hope I can get that day off to be with her, and then we're going to have to lean on some family to help/be with her for a couple of days after that. She needed the surgery (everything else was tried) and needed to get it done yet this year so her insurance would pay for it. Hope she's pretty well healed up by Christmas when the kids come home from Colorado!

-just found out that this years Judgement House is so powerful, we've had to expand our hours. That translates into me working from 6p-11p on Friday interviewing exiting people for their thoughts. On Saturday, it means acting in the scene where Hannah dies from 3p-11pm. Lord, I/we will need your strength to make it thru...not our will but yours, to be a witness to the unsaved! Sunday will be crash & burn for me and a whole lot of other folks from church, I'm sure.

JUDGEMENT HOUSE-Hannah's Hope

well, here it is, sunday afternoon, and we're about halfway thru this years edition of Judgement House, the story we are portraying is called Hannah's Hope.

The true life story is of Hannah, a high school junior that discovers she has cancer, the treatments she goes thru, the witnessing she does, her death & her eternal reward. It again, like the stories we have done in the past, is very gripping and dramatic.

i have 2 roles this year, 1 as a substitute for Hannah's dad in the scene where she dies, and the other as an interviewer who talks to people on camera after they come thru the drama. Our scene is incredible...even after i've done the role several times, when i went thru the whole drama after i was done acting, my eyes well up with tears as Hannah dies in "my" scene. i can't tell you how many people i saw coming out of scene 5 with tears in their eyes. talk about powerful...whoa!

i'm looking forward to tonite, when i'll be able to concentrate on interviews from 6p-9:30p. i'd like to ask some real "prying" questions, but i need to be discreet too. so we'll find out how that turns out...should run across some people who have just accepted the Lord, will be way cool!

SUNDAY'S RECIPE

FISH TACOS

1 to 1-1/2 lbs tilapia, 3 TBSP butter, table salt & black pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, curry powder
Melt butter in microwave. Salt, pepper, Old Bay one side of fish, place seasoned side down in baking dish. Salt, pepper, Old Bay & curry powder season top side, drizzle butter on fillets. Bake 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until fish flakes.

Chop fresh tomatoes, fine shred lettuce, and shred some Swiss cheese. Microwave 4-6 tortilla for 30 seconds to soften (i place a damp paper towel on top to prevent drying out). Layer on tilapia, lettuce, tomato, cheese, minced jalapeno(if you like it hot) and top with a squirt of Ranch dressing.

Random Thoughts this Tuesday Morning...

-well, here it is, Oct. 19, and i'm still biking every weekday morning at 5:30am since i got inspired by my son on July 31...longest i've stuck with an excercise routine ever, and i still look forward to it every morning... its so quiet, still, and refreshing!

-very busy the next 10 days...don't know exactly why i volunteered for so much at church. We are giving an outreach drama as we have for the last 3 years...its called Judgement House. I've been in security 1 year, and actor in a scene 1 year, and a group starter the last year. This year i decided to wait and be a "fill in where needed" person, and sure enough, there was plenty of need. I play the dad for a couple of hours both of the next Saturdays in the scene where the high school daughter dies...its VERY dramatic. Then when i'm not doing that, they have me scheduled for 11 hours interviewing persons that have just come thru the drama, asking about their feelings. i'll certainly be ready to unlax by next Sunday. I guess this is my way of serving for the Lord...i hope my efforts are for his glory.

-did i mention that i have the most wonderful woman in the world as my wife of 32+ years? She is my joy and inspiration (and i have 2 of the best puppies too!)

-i still am very much enjoying my new job...its the slow season now, but it'll pick up here in a couple of months. hope i can handle the busy season w/o too much stress...i have a new theology about that...what will get done will get done, and "ineptitude on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part"...i can only do so much, i am only human, i'm getting older every day, and i do the best i can (sounds like Stuart from Saturday Nite Live?!?!)

-Gina, Adam & Sutton just posted several family pictures on her blog...OMG, they are the cutest family i have seen ever!

SUNDAY'S RECIPE

My Breakfast Fav- Biscuits 'N Gravy

Biscuits - Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Blend together 2 cups flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt & 1/3 cup canola oil. Stir in 2/3 cup milk and mix till dough forms, do not over-knead. Roll out 1/2" thick on board(not any thinner!) and cut 2" biscuits. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes (do not over-bake)

Gravy - Brown 1/2 lb or sleeve of breakfast sausage(i like Jimmy Dean sage flavor) in large saucepan(if you like spicy stuff, add a dash of cayenne to meat). When thoroughly browned. add 2 rounded TBSP flour and stir well till flour is well incorporated. Add 2 cups milk (i preheat mine in the microwave so it cooks/thickens quicker) and stir constantly until it bubbles and thickens. Serve over warm biscuits.

Adder - I like to scramble a couple eggs and put them on top of the biscuits before the gravy...that'll stoke your fire and carry you till lunch!