Thirty years!

Al and Newton Med CEO, Steve Kelly

This evening, the hospital had their employee recognition dinner at the Meridian Center. Al was honored for 30 years at the hospital. Thirty years ago Bethel Deaconess hired him as the director of pharmacy. For those of you who are local, do you remember this old building on Pine? Before Bethel and Axtell combined to make Newton Medical?

We would usually enter the back way as the pharmacy was closer to the back door.

Here was our family 30 years ago.

Our very first house.

The kids loved this driveway. They would ride their scooters and tricycles and go zooming down into the garage. Eventually, after we sold our home on Allison, the couple who bought it made the garage into a bedroom and filled in the drive with dirt and attached a garage to the other side of the house.

I was not excited to move to Newton. We had talked about going to Australia to work with the Navigators. But God had other plans for us and I have seen His hand at work in our lives, even though Australia sounded so grand to me. I am so proud of my husband. He is such a good man. A man who loves His heavenly Father. Who loves his family. And I am thankful for the work God has provided him with to provide for us.

Quiche

Here is what my husband wore to work today. I guess yesterday one of the pharmacists came to work with unmatched shoes on. They were both black, but definitely different shoes. So today everyone decided to wear obviously different shoes - flats and high heels, dress and tennies, etc. What a hoot!

Bible study was at my house today. We are studying Beth Moore's "David". It is so good! But before we dig into the Word, we eat!

I fixed 2 different kinds of quiche so here is the recipe for those who want it:

Pie crust:
2 c. flour
1 t. salt
2/3 c. lard (or 2/3 c. plus 1 T. vegetable shortening)
6 T cold water

Mix salt and flour. With pastry cutter, cut in the lard until crumbly. With fork, toss the ice cold water until all is well-blended.

Using hands, form dough into ball. Split ball in two (this makes 2 crusts; either a top and bottom or 2 different pies)

Put a small amount of flour on a pastry board (or on your counter) and spread it around so that the dough doesn't stick. You will need to lightly flour the rolling pin also. Roll one ball out rolling from the center out so dough is about 1/8 inch thick. I fold my dough in half and then half again to transfer to the pie plate. Crimp edges. Fill.

Bacon/egg quiche:
4 eggs
2 c. whipping cream
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. sugar
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 c. swiss cheese, shredded
Mix all together. Bake at 450 degrees 15 minutes. Then 30 minutes at 300 degrees.

Spinach quiche:
1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and well drained (or cook fresh spinach)
1/2 c. chopped green onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 T. butter
1 1/2 c. swiss cheese, shredded
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 c. milk
1 t. salt
1 t. basil
1/2 t. celery salt
In butter, saute onion and garlic. Add rest of ingredients and put in pie shell.
2 medium tomatoes, thinkly sliced
Arrange tomatoes around the edge.
Bake 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 and bake 10 more minutes.
1 T. grated Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle on top of quiche. Bake 10 more minutes.

I found I needed to add a few more minutes to the above recipe. And because I was doing both kinds, I adapted the temperature to fit both recipes. It works fine. And they are such delicious quiches!!

Our story today was about Mephibosheth and how David showed kindness to him. You can share kindness to others by making these wonderful recipes for someone!! How wonderful that God shows His kindness to us. We don't deserve it, but He does it anyway!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!" 1 John 3:1

Valentines

This week for our Japanese lessons, we talked about Valentines Day.

They copied the kanji, or character for "love", which is "ai" (pronounced ah-ee). I told them about Valentine's Day in Japan. In America, men give gifts such as chocolate or flowers to the woman he loves…and often he takes her to a restaurant for dinner. I know I enjoy that from my husband!
But in Japan Valentine’s Day is celebrated differently. There women give chocolate to men on Valentines Day. And not only to the men they love. They will make home-made chocolate or cookies for their husband or boyfriend. And then they will buy boxes of chocolate for their boss at work (provided their boss is male), male co-workers, brother-in-law, etc. (their father and brothers may get hand-made chocolate or store bought).

But don't feel left out women, because one month later on March 14, is the Japanese original holiday called “White Day“. On White Day, men must give chocolate or cookies to every woman who gave them a Valentines Day gift in February.

Korea and Taiwan also celebrate White Day. (March 14 is a special day in our family - it is Hannah's birthday!)

Did you know that in China the modern day Valentine's Day has been popular among young people in big cities for about 5 years (they have another day they consider their own Valentine's Day but it is called something different and it comes from folk-lore. You can google it). Usually, men give roses to women but the number of roses carries different meanings.

In India, Valentine's Day hasn't been generally accepted yet. Parents expect their sons and daughters to study instead of having dates. Apparently there are some groups that attack people who celebrate the holiday! But it is spreading among the young people little by little. Men send flowers to women.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Here is a project I made before for the children at church and I got it out for the girls.

You take an old Valentine's chocolate box...(or if you don't have a box, you could buy yourself some chocolate and treat yourself, then use the box for this purpose!)

and on the inside paste a picture of Christ and a child(ren).
Then you can sing this song (to the tune "Skip to my Lou")

I have a Valentine just for you,
I have a Valentine just for you,
I have a Valentine just for you,
I'll give you my heart Lord Jesus.
(or Hannah used the words "come into my heart, Lord Jesus" which works too!)

I sang it to them in Japanese too. And taught them to say "I love you" "Aishiteruyo!"

I found this book this year. It is just adorable! A twist on the story of the Good Samaritan.

"Love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22

Kansas Restaurant, February

Each month this year we are going to a restaurant we've never tried before. We had never been here before and I had a coupon, so this was our February choice.

It ended up being one of those places that has a bucket of peanuts on your table and where you just throw the shells on the floor. Kind of a red-neck kind of place.

We usually share a meal, but we decided to each order something and we would take 1/2 of it home for another meal. We had to try a taste of eachother's food too. I ordered sweet potato, onion fries and filet mignon.
Al ordered a steak (he said it was so juicy and tender!), some sweet potato fries (I was not too fond of the cinnamon flavor on it) and rice pilaf. It came with some pretty yummy warm rolls with whipped butter. The server was really on top of it; always helpful.

When it was time for the check, we gave her our coupon.

Ooops. We went to the wrong steak house. Logan's, not Longhorn. The waitress told us Longhorn's was just down the street so we drove by it and decided that it will need to be our March restaurant. The coupon expires March 4 so we will have to go the first weekend. If anyone wants to go with us, let us know!

The night was young so we decided to go to the movies. I told Al, "Let's see if they give senior discounts." We had been told that the theatre in Newton recognizes you as a senior at age 55! Maybe the Warren does too. We were prepared to show our ID to prove our age. Well, they did give us a discount, without any hesitation. And did not ask at all for proof of age.
Do we really look like seniors???

Rain

This past week we had almost 3 inches of rain. LOVE! We have been in such a drought that this was very welcome!

The creek out back was flooding.
The lake filled up. It was very low! You can see the dock and how far below the water level is. This photo was from December. And we didn't have much moisture through January either.

The temperatures are so nice this winter. Beautiful to play outside!
We have had a light dusting of snow so far this year. But watch out. Maybe in March we will get one like we had last year in January. Remember?!

Cattails

Behind our house is a little creek that empties into the lake. It is filled with cattails.
The girls began to pick them yesterday and they realized that they could strip the cattail off the stem.
And I learned something new! It turns to fluff!! Like cotton batting! I told the girls, "Just think! When God created plants He had this in mind! What a variety of plants we have!" Sophia said "And He just spoke it and it happened!" Yes! What a great Creator we have!
Thousands and thousands of seeds!! Better than a dandelion!
I love this photo. Look at Jill. She is appalled at all the seeds stuck to her black coat!
We may have cattails growing on our lawn in the spring! Of course we would need moisture for that to happen and we are in a drought right now.


I found out that you can EAT cattails!! If you peel the shoot, you can use the cane part to eat! I read that they're like a combination of tender zucchini and cucumbers, adding a refreshing texture and flavor to salads. Added to soup towards the end of cooking, they retain a refreshing crunchiness. They're superb in stir-fry dishes, more than suitable for sandwiches, and excellent in virtually any context. Sliced cattail hearts, sauteed in sesame oil with wild carrots and ginger are good I guess.

The Indians used cattails medicinally: They applied the jelly from between the young leaves to wounds, sores, boils, carbuncles, external inflammations, and boils, to soothe pain.

Besides its medicinal uses, the dried leaves were also twisted into dolls and toy animals for children, much like corn-husk dolls found today. Cattail leaves can be used to thatch roofs, weave beautiful baskets, as seating for the backs of chairs, and to make mats. Archaeologists have excavated cattail mats from Nevada caves.

No longer edible once the pollen is gone, the brown flower heads make good "punks," supporting a slowly-burning flame, with a smoke that drives insects away. The fluffy, white seeds were once used for stuffing blankets, pillows and toys. The Indians put them inside moccasins and around cradles, for additional warmth.

Very interesting. Perhaps I should harvest them to make pillows. But I read that if you do that, you must use thick batting material or you might break out in hives.

Actually, I think I am chicken. I can't see myself trying it in cooking anytime soon. Or making anything out of it. Hannah would probably enjoy doing that though. She loves cooking shows and she loves crafts. But I will probably just enjoy them for their prettiness.

"What's for dinner, Ma?" Kansas restaurants - January

Today is Kansas Day. It is Kansas' 151st birthday.
Happy Birthday, Kansas!!
Last year we decided to take a trip each month to someplace in Kansas that we had never been to before. What a great time we had traveling this beautiful state! We will probably go and see more things that we missed. 12 months was not enough to see it all!
This year what we intend to do monthly is to visit a restaurant we have never been to before. We are creatures of habit and tend to go to the same ones we know we really like! The young marrieds introduced us to Cheddars. They had told us how good it was and inexpensive too. One day while shopping in Wichita, we decided to try out that restaurant but couldn't recall the name. We knew the approximate location and came upon Chester's. Thinking that was the spot, we went in. Well, the price tag on the food is quite substantially different!! Since then, we have gone often to Cheddars and LOVE it!

We contacted some dear old friends; not that they are old - they are our age - but we go way back.


Allen met Dave and Becky at Hutch Juco. We became friends. We went to their wedding - they didn't come to ours though. But I guess we can excuse them because they got married the day before we did and they were on their honeymoon. We both moved to Stauffer Place, the newly married apartments at KU and hung around together those 2 years there.

They moved to Wichita and we followed the following year when Al was doing his residency at Wesley. We both had boys, 4 1/2 months apart.

And girls are just a few weeks apart. We used to get together often!
Then they moved to Derby and we moved to Newton. Not so far apart in distance, but we both got involved in our churches and children's activities. We always kept in touch through Christmas letters and going to our kids' weddings.
Allen and I decided we would invite them to our very first restaurant adventure. We had them pick out the restaurant that we have never been to.



We ordered the Baby Back Combo with seasoned fries and sweet and smoky beans. Oh my goodness!!!
So delicious!! (if you know I am highly allergic to brocolli, you will realize this is not my plate; it was Dave's. Al and I almost always split our dinner and I forgot to get a photo before we did that.)
We spent 5 hours non-stop talking and catching up. We just picked up where we left off years ago. What a delightful evening with dear friends! And very good food - HIGHLY recommend the restaurant! Located on Rock in Derby if you want to know.
Al had fully intended to pick up the tab for us both, but Dave insisted.

We will be looking for another couple to take out in the months to come (you want to pick up the tab too??? Ha ha!!) and other restaurants to try out for the first time!

Kansas restaurants rock!!