Happy Birthday Kansas!

Today is Kansas's 151st Birthday. Entered the Union Jan 29, 1861

Get to know us a little more
State Symbols
flower:sunflower (1903)
tree:cottonwood (1937)
bird:western meadowlark (1937)
animal:buffalo (1955)
song:“Home on the Range” (1947)

Motto: Ad astra per aspera (To the stars through difficulties)

Name Origin: From a Sioux word meaning “people of the south wind”

A little History:
"Spanish explorer Francisco de Coronado, in 1541, is considered the first European to have traveled this region. Sieur de la Salle's extensive land claims for France (1682) included present-day Kansas. Ceded to Spain by France in 1763, the territory reverted to France in 1800 and was sold to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and Stephen H. Long explored the region between 1803 and 1819. The first permanent white settlements in Kansas were outposts—Fort Leavenworth (1827), Fort Scott (1842), and Fort Riley (1853)—established to protect travelers along the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails.
Just before the Civil War, the conflict between the pro- and anti-slavery forces earned the region the grim title of Bleeding Kansas."

Fun Facts: Here


*Happy Birthday to my best friend Abby too, thank goodness she shares her birthday with Kansas or I might never remember :)

K&M Bar-B-Q

K&M Bar-B-Q is wonderful. I first had it at the American Agri-Women convention where they donated bottles as part of the centerpieces that became doorprizes. They have other varieties, what I tried was the above, Original. This has now become a family favorite, that we have on hand at all times.

Why I like it: Its tangy, with the right amount of sweet & spicy.

Location: Spring Hill, KS

History: "Family-Owned and operated, K & M Bar-B-Q has been serving great BBQ for over 20 years. What started as a hobby for Ken & Michelle serving BBQ sandwiches at fairs and festivals in a four county area grew to become a full service BBQ restaurant and catering company that has been located in Spring Hill, Kansas for 18 years."

Future Sampling: I hope to try the White BBQ Sauce

Women In Blue Jeans-Part 2

I arrived in Mitchell around 3pm, stopped by the conference center to let the ladies know I had made it. They were all so welcoming. All I had to do, was say I was from Kansas and they knew who I was.
After we checked into the hotel, I changed clothes and went back to see where I could help. They put me right to work. This allowed me to learn then ins & outs of conference planning a little more. I worked the registration table with a great gal-Bobbi.

I was able to pick her brain about why she organized the names the way she did, how they have altered registration from years past, etc.

The evenings schedule they had a speaker and some acitve participation events. Here is a video of the ladies doing Zumba. The speaker talked about how to be active with at home excersices in case you live a ways in the country and the gym is not next door.

If a speaker wasn't what you wanted or durning breaks they had vendors set up with lot of shopping & door prizes. I even won, I never win!

Here are some great ladies I met who were vendors:

Stella & Dot-Dawn Williams

Princess House-Jo Ann Lagge

Oragano Gold-Dawn Williams

Homeotown deLights-Karen Johnson

D7 Ranch Supply & Jenni's Bling- Jenni Dvorak (on facebook)

Dakota Memories-Glenda Huggins

I'm excited because acouple of these ladies are planning on making the trip to Kansas for Dirt, Denim & Diamonds.

Be a......

Women In Blue Jeans-Part 1

*I don't like long posts so I am going to break this into multiple posts.
I just returned from one of the most amazing conventions I've been to....Women In Blue Jeans.
I traveled the 7 hours to Mitchell, South Dakota and it was well worth it. I honestly don't think I can truly convey in words how much I enjoyed myself.

Why is this better than any other convention related to agriculture you might ask, I'm here to tell you. It started over a year ago when I was wanting to plan and host a conference for women who were not only involved with agriculture but wanted to learn more about the industry. A conference to fit every woman's needs. That might be estate planning, new farm regulations, or caring for the family and its pets. This conference wasn't solely directed to women who work everyday in an agriculture industry, it was for EVERY woman!

I somehow heard about Women In Blue Jeans and contacted the number listed on their website. The lady(Carol) was so helpful and gave me tons of ideas and recommendations for planning my own conference. When we got off the phone, she emailed me even more info. I realized if I was going to host a similar event I needed to go to the conference that I am modeling it after. Last minute I contacted a few friends to make the trip with me, no luck. Finally, my Grandpa said he would go for a roadtrip. Grandma said she would take care of the small chores and a neighbor would take care of the livestock.  Off we went..................

Tropical Beverage-Lava Flow

Another recipe from my Survivor Party. This stuff is AMAZING!

46 oz pineapple juice
40 oz coco lopez-cream of coconut
1 pint half and half
ice
frozen strawberries in syrup
2 tablespoons water
clear cups
straws

It's one part pineapple juice to one part coco lopez (cream of coconut, it's in a can.) Usually it takes about three cans of coco lopez to one big can of pineapple juice. Then you add half and half until it turns white. So I'd say about 1 pint of half and half. In a separate bowl puree strawberries, sugar and water. Or you can puree frozen strawberries in syrup with a little water that seems to work a little better. You want it to be somewhat thick, almost like a syrup texture. Pour strawberries in the cup about an half an inch to an inch high. Put ice in your blender and pour the coconut mix in unitl it's at an even height with the ice. Blend, then pour in the cup with strawberry mix. The strawberries should come up the sides of the cup. If it doesn't, either thin out your strawberries a little bit, or before pouring the coconut take the cup and swish the strawberries around so they stick on the sides of the cup.

America's Heartland

The other day I gave a little plug for my uncle's photography and a magazine. Well, today I'm being self-centered. Check out the TV show, America's Heartland on RFD-TV this morning at 9am central and see a glimpse of my presentation I did back in October for the group of women from McPherson County. Remember, that was when we coined the term, "I feed the world, What's your superpower!"

The show features two amazing advocates for agriculture, Katie &  Kim who actually married cousins.

 Check out Kim's blog for more details at Alive & Well in Kansas.
 Katie's blog is New To The Farm.