the 5:30 Local.....

The 5:30am Local...every weekday morning since the 2nd
week of June, this early "freighter" makes his rounds thru
the streets of North Newton. Out for about a half hour, only lightning deters me from my appointed rounds.

Its nice and quiet, and the coolest part of the day...usually next to no one is out at that hour. Did it from mid-August till November of last year too...until the cold and my knees kept me from continuing(doc says as soon as i'm ready he will install new ones). So for now I keep pedaling to keep the flexibility up!

So for now I leave you with the immortal parting words..."who knows what evil lurks in men's hearts...the Shadow* knows".

*my moniker as I drive along in the dark every morning

SUNDAY'S RECIPE

These 2 recipes go so well together that I had to post them at the same time...kinda like peas & carrots!

HONEY-BAKED CHICKEN

3 lb chicken, cut up OR any combination of legs/thighs/breasts/wings totalling 3-4 lbs *** 2 TBSP butter melted *** 1/3 cup honey *** 2 TBSP prepared mustard *** 1 tsp salt *** 1/2 tsp curry powder

Place chicken skin side up in a 9 x 13 pan. Combine rest of ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake for 1-1/4 hours in 350 degree oven, basting every 15 minutes. Skin will get dark, but don't worry...it'll taste wonderful!

As soon as chicken is in oven, prepare...

RICE CASSEROLE

1/4 cup butter *** 1 cup chopped onion *** 1 clove garlic, minced *** 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, quatered *** 1/8 tsp thyme *** 1 cup raw white or brown rice *** 1 cup peeled, thin sliced carrots *** 2 cups chicken broth *** 1 tsp salt *** 1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese *** 2 cups zucchini, coarsed chopped

Saute onions & garlic in butter till tender, then add mushrooms & thyme...cook 2 minutes. Add rice, carrots, broth, salt and bring to a boil, then pout into casserole dish & cover. Bake in same 350 oven as chick for 30 minutes, then remove & stir in cheese & zucchini. Cover and return to oven for another 30 minutes.

**I love to take some of the pan juices from the chicken and drizzle them on the rice...OUTSTANDING!!!

P.S. - i didn't have any pictures of the dishes, so i posted a pic of my scooter...NICE!!!

GOD'S GIFT TO US

We didn't plant it, we didn't allow for it, at first
we didn't know what it was....













...we didn't plan on it, we wondered how it got
there,



.












...but we watered it, and cared for it, didn't
mow over the ends of it, and waited...till last nite, when we picked it. God gave us a 25" round, 5-7 lb. cantelope that is gorgeous, sweet, & tasty.

p.s. - Thanks, God!

DISCONNECTED!!!!!

Well, we've finally joined our kids and the millions of others that don't have home phone service...we got rid of our hard line phone at home. We'd been thinking about it for a while, and this last months AT & T bill pushed us over the edge. We got a bill for $50...$3 of which was for long distance charges, the other $47 was for the privledge of having a phone and service fees!!!!

So we went out Wednesday and bought Nanc her own cell phone and shut off the home phone. But before you get too excited, I do need to tell you that we are not completely "in the '00's" with our new situation. I still did not set up my voicemail, so if i don't answer the phone you can't leave a message...you'll have to try back later (back to the old days before answering machines!). Nancy set her's up though, so you can leave her a message...I'm just too "old school".

SUNDAY'S RECIPE- GREAT BUNS!!

GREAT HOMEMADE BUNS


Add to your bread machine in this order (makes it so easy a 10 year old can do it!...)
1/2 c. boiling water *** 2 TBSP cracked wheat

Let this set for 5 minutes while you gather the rest of your ingredients...then add :

1/2 c. milk *** 1 TBSP oil *** 1 TBSP brown sugar *** 1-1/2 tsp salt *** 2 TBSP sesame seeds *** 1/4 c. wheat gluten (makes for nice tight consistency of buns)*** 2 TBSP wheat bran *** 3/4 c. whole wheat flour *** 2 c. white flour *** 2-1/4 tsp dry active yeast (1 pkg)

Start bread machine on dough only setting, checking after 3-5 minutes. If dry ingedients still on bottom of machine, add 1 or 2 TBSP warm water...If sticking real much to sides of machine, add 1-2 TBSP flour. Let machine go thru mixing/kneading cycle and let rise in machine OR take whole bowl out and rise on counter. When doubled, turn out dough and form into circle and cut into 8 equal pieces. Gather each piece and form into ball, bringing sides to middle underneath. Place on greased cookie sheet and press down (i forgot to today...you can see how tall my buns got!) Let rise till double and bake 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. All natural ingredients and sooo tasty, plus so easy! **If you don't have a bread machine, it works just fine to make recipe by hand

BONUS FEATURE-SUNDAY EVENING RECIPE!!!

for those of you that have dogs, and if they've been especially good.....

LIVER DOGGIE TREATS
1 lb. beef liver *** 1 cup rye flour or combination rye flour/oatmeal *** 1 cup cornmeal *** 1/2 cup wheat germ *** 1 tsp garlic powder

Put raw liver in food processor and puree. In large bowl combine dry ingredients, then add liver and mix well. Grease several cookie sheets and drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto pan, then flatten with bottom of glass that has been wettened. Bake in 350 degree oven 20-25 minutes, then cool. Store in fridge OR we stick in baggie in freezer and just take out what we need for a week.

DO NOT FEED MORE THAN 1 OF THESE A DAY...dogs love em but you can give them too much of a good thing with these. I think one of our corgis has an allergy to wheat gluten and we feed gluten free dog food... and couldn't find a good biscuit to go with it, till we found these. They're easy to make the a good treat for a good dog!

SUNDAY'S RECIPE-ADAM'S GEL

ADAM'S GEL
1 - 24 oz carton plain yogurt *** 1-regular size can frozen juice concentrate(not size pictured)

My son-in-law said he grew up with this stuff and is now a tri-athelete and makes this a lot.
Simply thaw out a regular size(8-10 oz?) can of your favorite frozen juice concentrate (grape, orange, mixed berry, etc.) and stir the yogurt in. We put ours into tupperware popsicle deals and stick in freezer to set. Take one out whenever you need a boost/something cool & refreshing.