Raise your Glass to the New Year......... High Noon Saloon

This evening if you are planning on having an alcoholic beverage besides champagne. I suggest a brew from High Noon Saloon.  I'm not much of the drinker, but this Kansas Made product gets my approval, for what its worth.  High Noon Saloon donated Annie's Ale to the American Agri-Women convention. The cans were super cute.

ANNIE’S AMBER ALE2011 (Twice) & 2009 SILVER Medal,
2004 BRONZE Medal,
World Beer Championship, Chicago, IL.
The first beer produced here, and it’s still a favorite! A smooth, malty amber taste highlighted with caramel notes and just the right amount of hops. Alcohol by volume: 5.5% Now available in 12oz cans on premises and in KS liquor stores: Kansas City metro, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Lansing, Topeka.    

Why I like it: They are a micro-brewery, Historical, it's Kansas made. It has a western feel to it, with names such as Rough Rider Pale Ale, Stampede Stout,and Lewis & Clark Lager. Check out their complete listing here.

History:  Leavenworth KS was the site of 10 German breweries
and 69 saloons at the turn of the 20th century

Another plus is they have a restaurant. I ate there this past summer and recommend it. The food was good, but the atmosphere in the old historic building was great!

Salvaged Barn Board Boxes

I wanted to share this wonderful gift that my granparents recieved as a Christmas gift and my mom recieved as a houswarming gift.The boards used in these boxes were off my great-great granparents barn built in the 1800s.The bows are from one of our walnut trees.

ENJOY!

I love that he kept the old nails in the board.

Words of Wisdom

Merry Christmas

I hope each and everyone of you have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. Family and friends are the best gift of all.I ran onto this poem over at Red.Neck Chic and wanted to pass it on. I have enjoyed the past few months of blogging and the "friends" I have made.

The Christmas Gift of Knowing You

By Joanna Fuchs

The Christmas season fills our hearts with joy;

Bright, happy days bring special kinds of pleasure.

We’re wrapped in the excitement of it all,

The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes we treasure.

Yet when we have some quiet time to think

About our finest blessings all year through,

We focus on our family and our friends,

And appreciate the gift of knowing you!

 

 

 

Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

PTs Coffee

Thanks to PTs for providing the coffee for the hospitality room at the American Agri-Women Convention! They have a roasting co location and a retail location. I can't wait to stop in and get an iced coffee.

Location: Topeka, KS.

History:PT's Coffee Roasting Co. began in 1993 as a single coffee shop in Topeka, Kansas. An intense passion for coffee led us to start roasting coffee in 1997. We now roast over 100 tons of premium specialty coffee annually for wholesale clients and operate 1 retail location in Topeka.


Farm Girl- How can this blend not be my favorite?!   I'm not a professional taster of coffee so I don't really know what to say. I just like it plain and simple. Its Kansas Made and has a great blend called Farm Girl...Just go buy some :)  No really, it smelled great and wasn't over powering in flavor.

Direct from PTs; "Here's our offer of sunshine and warm, Midwestern hospitality: a serene morning coffee that's sweet and soft, clean, refreshingly mild with a juicy sweetness. The cup features a light vanilla and caramel note, rounding out with a syrupy finish."

Great way to start your morning! Check out the other Kansas named coffees too.

Repurposed Pot Holders-Tutorial

We had some pot holders laying around that had stains, tears, and major signs of wear so I decided to jazz them up a bit.
Here are the new and improved pot holders:

First I decided what design I wanted on the front.
I free-handed that on the wrong side of the denim (old pair of Wranglers)

Cut out design and pin to the fabric of your choice for the top

I chose to stitch them in turquoise. Some of the others were in pink, I love brown with those colors.

I stiched around the edge on some and then in a star pattern on others.

Then I layed the old pot holder onto the wrong side of the top and stiched along the edges leaving a 1/4 in or so.

Finally, I layded the finished top onto the wrong side of the backing( I used denim again) and sewed around the entire holder.The first round served as a guide to put the back on. The second round closed the old worn out pot holder in so it can't be seen.

Last thing to do, is throw it through the washer & dryer so they fray, trim them up and they are good to go!

Swedish Proverb

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Great Holiday Appetizer!

makes 12

12 egg roll wrappers (roughly 4 square inches)

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken (6 ounces)

1/2- 2/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1 cup crumbled blue cheese (4 ounces)

1 cup broccoli slaw or cole slaw (dry)

Small bowl of water

Nonstick cooking spray

Blue cheese dressing, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay egg roll wrappers on a clean work surface. In a small bowl, stir chicken* (see note below) and hot sauce until well coated, using more or less sauce depending on your spice preference. The meat should be moist with sauce.

Begin by placing one tablespoon of the broccoli slaw on the diagonal of the bottom right corner of one of the wrappers. Next, place 2 tablespoons of shredded spicy chicken evenly on top of the slaw. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the blue cheese crumbles over the chicken. Do not overfill.

To fold: Fold the bottom right corner over the stuffing mixture so that it covers it completely, with the tip of the corner now pointing to the center of the egg roll wrapper. Fold in the bottom left corner, followed by the right, so that you now have formed an envelope. Roll the wrap upward one time, leaving the top left corner open. Wet your index finger in the small bowl of water and press to moisten the top left corner. Now fold that down on top of the filled roll, sealing it like you would an envelope.

Repeat with remaining rolls.

Place the rolls on a wire rack set on top of a cookie sheet (or just on a greased cookie sheet) coated with nonstick cooking spray. Spritz each roll evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the rolls crisp and turn a light golden brown.

Saucy Diane-Free Shipping Offer

I met Diane of Saucy Diane at the AAW convention. She was set up as a vendor and this is where I fell in love with her PB Party. It is a delicious peanuty, creamy, sweet, yummy spread.

Location: Baldwin City

History:"Saucy Diane produces gourmet sauces in small batches. All the sauces are delicious on ice cream but are also good to eat with other foods."

Mission:"Offering an elegant yet affordable splurge for the main food shopper in each household. Educating the public about the many culinary uses for these three sauces. Being a "green" company by reusing the glass jars the product comes in."

Why I like it: It's Peanut Butter...HeLlo!!! But  seriously,I really like that she is "going green" I love old jars and think they shouldn't be tossed aside.

Contact Info: dianemyer@juno.com

Here is the great part..........Order from Saucy Diane-mention Home on the Range and get FREE SHIPPING! Did you hear that?! FREE SHIPPING.

Guide to life

Avalanche Bars

SUPER YUMMY!

12 oz bag of White Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups Rice Krispies, or “Puffed Rice” if you’re buying generic

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips + 2 Tbsp for garnish.

Lightly grease a 9×9 pan (or 8×8 if you prefer thicker bars)

1. In microwave-safe bowl dump in white chips and heat on med power for 1 minute. Stir and continue in 30 second increments until chips are melted.

2. Combine the peanut butter with the melted chips

3. Add the krispies.

4. Let cool approx 15 – 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so to help cool.

5. Add the marshmallows and the mini chocolate chips and stir to combine.

6. Dump mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly, pressing lightly with the back of your spoon, but do not compact too much, otherwise they will get hard.

7. Press the remaining chocolate chips into the top for garnish.

Original Juan & 25% off

Again, this Saturday I am focusing on another Kansas company that donated to the American Agri-Women convention. Original Juan. These people are great. I was in Kansas City a couple weeks ago driving along and saw the sign for Original Juan OUTLET STORE! I mean come on, how could I not stop?! They donated to AAW & it was an Outlet Store. My mom and I swung in and right away I would tell it was going to be great-you could smell the spices. They have a quality store with not only food products but adorable home decor. I finally got to meet Marissa that I had talked to about donations-she super sweet.

History- "Original Juan has been creating specialty sauces, salsas, snacks and dips for wholesale, retail and co-pack/private label customers since 1998.
About-"Original Juan Specialty Foods is housed in a 60,000 square foot facility on the historic Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas. The building is a delight to the senses with tantalizing aromas and festive colors. When visiting the Southwest-themed facility, you will find Original Juan’s Factory Outlet Store within the entrance of the building. Customers are encouraged to step up to the tasting table to try one of the company’s 150 products manufactured under 13 different brands. Some of the company’s most recognizable brands are Pain is Good, Da’Bomb, Fiesta Juan’s, Bilardo Brothers and Mama Capri. Original Juan also manufactures custom food products under co-packaging and private label arrangements for over 100 companies throughout the world."

I can't say enough good things about them. They are willing to work with me and Kansas Agri-Women in the future, so I'm pumped. Now....onto the products.Three of my favorites that I have tried.

Spicy Vodka Pasta Sauce-  I got this one at the outlet for 99cents-on special :)
It wasn't spicy to me, very cheesy with a typical marinara dipping sauce taste.  It says on the back, " Sweet tomatoes and aged Romano cheese simmer until infused with vodka to intensify the sharp flavor of the cheese. Each bite of this smooth velvety sauce leaves your mouth begging for more" This sums it up!

Chipolte Raspberry Sauce- Wonderful. Sweet with a little kick. Perfect topping to cream cheese for a quick and tasty appetizer.







Harvest Apple BBQ- Great addition to pork. The apple isn't over powering but adds something different to the BBQ flavor.



They have recipes for their items as well-how handy!

Next I want to try CHEESECAKE IN A JAR!

For the month of December everything on their website is 25% off!

Please go to their website for a complete listing of items. If you are in KC make sure and stop, they will treat you great and the prices are hard to beat.

Gratitude

Use the "correct" stamp for mailing.....

I want to thank my friend over at Ag On The Forefront for this post. Please go check out her blog about the new postage stamps coming out.

As Kelsey mentioned, the new stamps will have famous vegetarians faces on them. Why did PETA beat us Ag Advocates to the punch. I think it is important that we in the Ag Industry are willing to stand up and stand out to promote agriculture. Other organizations and people are doing the same against us.

Think about what stamp you are using next time you go to the post office.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

This recipe is a great Holiday snack. I found this at www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com  and then made some changes due to items on hand and to speed up the process.
Enjoy!

1 can whole cranberries
1/4 C green onion, chopped
1/4 C cilantro, chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper
1/4 t cumin
dash salt
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

 
1. Chop up your green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Throw on a pair of rubber gloves or something, please. The seeds are the hot part of the pepper. If you don't like a lot of heat on the old pallet, just leave the jalapeno out.
2.Add all ingredients (but the cream cheese and the wheat thins) into a bowl. Mix them all together, cover and store in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
3. When you are ready to serve, place your cream cheese bricks on a plate.
5. Spread the cream cheese out as evenly as you can.
6. Pour your cranberry mixture over the cream cheese.
7. Spread it all around.
8. Serve immediately with Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers or Tortilla Chips.

Sampling Saturday-Monty's Jerky

I'm starting a new "series" on my blog. Each Saturday I will be featuring a Kansas Made Product! I'm hoping to get the word out about these products, since I think it is important to buy AMERICAN and especially support locals. I will give you my honest opinion, I won't just say its great because it's from KANSAS.

MONTY'S JERKY

I was contacted by Robyn at Monty's in October. She was gracious enough to donate jerky sticks for the American Agri-Women convention. They were a HIT!  I was impressed by how wonderful they were to work with. I think that Robyn and I ended up talking for about 30min on a variety of topics other than jerky. The second thing that really got me was the packaging. This is when it hit me, " I need to so a series on my blog about Kansas Made Products!" So here it goes.

 Check out how nice it looks and how well its packed.

About Monty's:
"The quest to fill a niche for exceptional jerky began in the mid 90's when Monty was smoking jerky in the garage for family and friends. Reception was amazing, and those lucky enough to taste the incredible creations persuaded Monty to craft the jerky so there would be a constant supply. Monty's Smoked Jerky was born and is now being crafted in Bird City, Kansas. Wade, Tim, and Robyn carry on the tradition of smoking tender, melt in your mouth delicious jerky."

What I think is great:
1. Most of their beef is raised locally
2. They are ag producers themselves.
3. It is produced in a small town (Bird City) = economic development!

Flavor:
They have a variety of flavors. I think the the Red Hot Sweetie is the way to go, sweet & spicy!

They will ship their jerky & apparel (yep that's right they have cute shirt too) right to your house. OR they can be found in a variety of stores in Colorado, Kansas and Texas.

For more info visit: http://www.montysjerky.com/

If you try their items please let me know!

Thrifty Shopping-Online

Ok, I'm not sure I can totally justify this as Thrifty, but it's my blog and I can do what I want....right?

I ran onto a blog called Pretty Things. Lori over there is hosting a Virtual Craft Fair.....GENIUS! Not only is she promoting artists, but they are having give-aways. So hop on over there and do a little browsing or even shopping.

Confidence

Hawaiian Sweet Roll Ham Sammies

I found this recipe over at Beyer Beware. I made it the night after Thanksgiving when we still had company around. I used leftover ham and not as much butter. I try to be healthy when I can :)

Support Small Business Saturday

Yes, I  know its Sunday, however I think that Support Small Business Saturday might be one of those made up Holidays worth partaking in.

 I wanted to share a  couple pictures of 2Chick Couture's booth at a local craft fair yesterday. In the near future, I am hoping to take this booth and make it into a store. I will keep ya'll posted on that process.

Being raised in the country my family has always supported local small towns near us. We think it is important to support local small business.Many times the owner of these businesses are family members, neighbors, and friends.This is what keeps small towns alive. Those towns are what makes the USA what it is, the values of small rural America are important and should be supported and encouraged.

  Just because Saturday is over, don't stop.....everyday should be "Support Small Business Day."

Country Wedding Ideas

I wanted to share a few cute ideas for a country wedding.  This was at my good friend Casie's.

 I think that this arrangement would be great for any event or home decor. The pheasant feathers are a unique and beautiful touch.

                                                                              Raffia!

Thrifty Chicken

I love this little bucket I got at that auction months ago. I bought it in a $1 pile, so I'm sure its portion was about 5cents worth!!!

I decided to do a little research on this item. I found an ad in a Farm Journal from 1900 for this product! Maybe this is a start to an  educational poultry post?!

Greatness

Ruby Slippers Reception

At the American Agri-Women Conference there was a presidents reception for our outgoing president that is from Kansas. My mom and all her genius event planning wisdom, executed beautiful and fun decorations to, "Welcome Chris Home"

Hopefully, you gather some inspiration.

AAW uses Rosie the Riveter for many promos. So we were super excited when we ran onto this at a thrift store!

We had been gathering red shoes for a year. Oh, the ones you can find at thrift stores!

Floating sunflower candle(KS state flower)

Post Cowboy Gathering

I'm a little slow at getting this up, but better late than never.
Here is a glimpse of my booth.

This was hosted at the Wabanusee HS. It was a great place with plenty of break-out rooms, large auditorium, and cafeteria.

Other artists or participants included:
Please check out links to their websites.

Harry Whitney-Photography Art

Don Dane-Artist

Sue Krehbiel-Artist

Lady Luck Iron Works-vendor

Ron Wilson-Cowboy Poet  Lariat

Cowboy Way Ranch & Vacations- Vendor & Sponsor

3 Trails West- Saturday's concert

Holiday Bazaar

Come Shop

1st Annual Flint Hills Holiday Bazaar

Today, Nov 19 9am-2pm

1440 Pearl, Junction City, KS

Santa will be there noon-2pm

Game Day Kicks

I spotted a pair of OSU cowboy boots in Stillwater 2 years ago. They were awesome, great tops, nice detailing, and the perfect toe, yes it seems the south is always ahead of the game. Then I started seeing posts on Pinterest, websites, and finally saw a post on Cowboys & Indians. I'm not sure why they can't make some awesome K-State ones, but in my opinion they are failing. I would like a nice square toe,(not needle point) with some flashy purple and silver tops.....is this too much to ask?! I think not.

K-State by Nocona

Gameday  Boots is one company that makes boots for certain schools. However, they don't have K-State they have that other school down the road, ugh. Not sure why they don't have the school in Kansas that actually has a rodeo team and is a land grant university?!? (Not that my ranting and raving will make them start producing K-State ones)
Here is the only decent pair they have:

I might have to resort to buying men's boots, check these out:

Getting closer........................

Wedding Present Tutorial

I wanted to share a wedding present I made for a friend. (Casie, realize the cost of this gift is in no way a reflection of how much you mean to me!)

I'm not to good at slowing down and taking step by step pictures AND I think most of you are smart enough to follow.

I first started with an old picture I got in a $1 pile at an auction. So... the cost of this was probably 2cents.

I painted over the picture in tan. Paint cost= free.


Then I took an old certificate frame that had the glass broken out. I believe this was $1 at the Dollar Tree.

I took the cardboard back out as well as the staples to hold the glass in place.

Next I bought a paper mache "N" for their last name- Cost $2.50 at Hobby Lobby.
Painted it Chrome-Paint=free

Then rubbed brown craft paint on the "N" to look worn. Paint= 25cents

Finally, I stacked it all, glued with hot glue and painted their name and date.

Ta-Da!

Normal?!

I was featured..........

I just got back from Wichita for the American Agri-Women National Convention. It was great seeing old friends, making new ones, and finally putting a face with some of my social media friends. I meet up with Crystal Cattle and Celsete at Couture Cowgirl Communications , she did a post about my booth at convention.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! 
I really appreciate the support from Celeste and can't wait till the next AAW event.

Oven-Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato “Chips”

These remind me of the "Buffalo Chips" at Buffalo Wild Wings. Quick & Simple

A hit with everyone the evening I made these!

• 3 russet potatoes
• 2-3 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, freshly grated
• garlic salt
• fresh ground pepper
• chopped Italian parsley (for garnish)
Clean the potatoes. Roughly peel strips of the skin from each potato, leaving a few strips of the skin intact. Using a crimped knife (or a regular will work just brilliantly, as well), slice the potatoes into 1/4″ pieces.
Place all of the sliced potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes, then stir to evenly coat. Add the panko, parmesan, garlic salt, and pepper. Stir again, making sure each of the potato slices has a kiss of oil, panko, and parmesan. Spread the potatoes onto a large parchment covered baking sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 450 degrees for 18-25 minutes, or until the cheese and panko is golden brown and your desired crispiness is achieved.
Sprinkle with a pinch of fresh parmesan and chopped parsely. Serve immediately alongside your favorite burgers, steak, or barbecued chicken. Enjoy the indulgence!

Perfect for us Aggies