Tag Archives: food

Templeton at the fair

by nebraskawheatie

Before I explain the mention of Templeton, I’d like to go back to Sunday. As you know, we pulled into our driveway about 5:30 on Saturday evening. The next morning, I got a text from Jamie, “I made coffee and going after donuts”. Well, she knew she’d get both of us with that one! So, once again, we headed north to Louisville and got there just in time to see Curt heading to work. Sorry Curt! It was good to just sit around the table in their kitchen. We were all together again and it felt so good.

As the morning turned to noon, Jim decided he and I needed to make a trip to the shed to get his Toyota pickup. So, we left the girls to the job Jamie had planned for them – painting her bedroom. Once we got to the shed and drove the pickup out, we realized he’d had a critter claim the glove box and left a well designed nest made from materials such as the registration and insurance cards, string, and whatever else it could find in the pickup. Didn’t smell real good, though. Hope those critters don’t figure out how to get in the “cottage on wheels” this winter! They’d really have a grand time making the place their own.

On our way home, we stopped for a little more visiting. Had to see what was going on with Trish and Larry. Larry had minor back surgery just a couple of weeks ago so needed to get caught up on the doings at their house. We probably sat there at least 2 1/2 hours – just like we didn’t have anything else to do. I think both of us were putting off the work that needed to get done at home.

Once we made it back to the home place, Jim unloaded some of Frank and then decided the Pete needed a washing before we headed north again. We were rained on just enough on the way home to make EVERYTHING a grimy mess! While he did that, I got a few loads of laundry started and began the process of pulling weeds from the gardens. I was able to get the entire East side of the house back in order. At least when we go in the house from that door, I won’t have them staring at me. However, I certainly paid for my “strenuous” workout the next day! Sucks getting old!!! Back to Louisville for supper – pizza from Pizza Hut.

This brings us to yesterday – Monday – Happy Labor Day! Jim and I got up early and loaded what necessities we’d need for our trip in the Pete and headed for Grand Island. We hadn’t been to the State Fair in quite a few years and wanted to see how different it was being in Grand Island rather than Lincoln. The girls and Curt met us there. My brother, Matt, had been working the RFDtv booth all weekend and once he was done telling everyone, “yes, that really is Trigger and Bullet”, he met up with us and walked around. And, as the video portrays, we all turned into Templeton’s yesterday. Between all of us, we had prime rib sandwiches, bbq beef sandwiches, hand squeezed lemonade, cotton candy, funnel cakes, kettle corn, turkey leg, Ginny grinder, more cotton candy and more funnel cakes…almost forgot the corn dogs. THEN, the kids decided they wanted to go on one ride before we parted ways. Jamie, Callie and I opted for the wimpy ride – the ferris wheel – while the daring ones (Curt, Matt, Jenna and Taylor) opted for the “ring of fire”. I wish you could have seen the faces of the ones that rode the ring. A little white, a little nauseous. I don’t think the combination of funnel cakes, turkey legs and “ring of fire” set too well. The wimpy ones survived easily.  We parted ways. Jim and I headed north and the rest of them headed home.

The first night spent in our travelling Hilton was in O’Neill – at the park I told you about a couple days ago. Today was spent driving the same road north that we just finished driving south.  We met quite a few trucks loaded with hay and several loaded combines. Every time I’d see a combine I’d get a little excited cuz they had been in my world – the harvest world.  However, once we got to the South Dakota interstate, we headed west and went through Rapid City before venturing north to Belle Fourche. Remember the restaurant I told you Jim really likes to make a stop at? We ate an early supper at the Belle Inn Restaurant. Drove into the Broadus weigh station for the 5th time this summer and are now spending the night in the truck parking lot in Miles City. This place is full of trucks tonight and we picked the empty slot between two “reefers”. On…off…on…off and so on. Thank goodness for ear plugs!

I will share a few of our fair highlights but if you want to see all the pictures, I will have them posted on the Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking Facebook page.

The first purchase of the morning. A corn dog.

 Miniature replica of the NH harvest support truck.

I think Callie’s the only one that saw us waiting for them.

The girls are showing off their new “tats”.

This is how harvest equipment used to look.

Can you believe they paid $6 a bag for that?

Taking a much needed break! The fair was starting to wear on us at this point.

Left to right: Jamie, Taylor, Callie & Jenna

Jamie and Callie pretty excited for our ride on the Ferris Wheel.

Maybe now they’re not so excited. Both of them don’t really like heights very well. By the time it was over, though, they’d conquered their fear and were enjoying themselves.

The gang – after the “ring of fire” and the ferris wheel.  I even made it in the pic – see the shadow?

My family’s favorite meatball recipe and other ramblings

by nebraskawheatie

I have nothing fun and/or exciting to share with you tonight. I decided that while Jim was doing more combine clean up work, I would start working on the trailer house since I had hot water and a sewer drain. When we get home, I generally unload everything and then clean the trailer house from ceiling to floor. You would be amazed at how dirty this can get with road dirt and cooking. So, I try to thoroughly clean it before it gets put away for the winter. Last year, I put the trailer on a RV site thinking maybe I could sell it. I’ve had a couple of bites on it this summer so maybe if I get it cleaned and someone really wants to look at it, it’ll be in good shape. After it’s completely unloaded and cleaned, we’ll winterize it and put it in a shed we rent for the winter. If there was any one thing I wish Jim had it would be his own shed – with cement floor and heat. He can’t do anything with the equipment in the spring until it warms up and quits raining so he can work in the yard.

I guess the ideal time to have built a shed would have been when we started this business. At one time, our dream was to have 10 acres in the country with a shed and a newer home. At the time, we couldn’t afford 10 acres and then life just happened and the dream didn’t materialize. Now, we’re both older and getting older every day. I sort of think the shed idea probably won’t happen. So, we’ll just continue to rent one and hope that lasts a few years longer.

The house we live in is the one we moved into while I was pregnant with Jamie twenty six years ago. At the time, we thought it really seemed like a lot of house since we were moving from a one bedroom apartment. Then, Jamie came and Jenna shortly after. Taylor and Callie, too. So, at one time there was six of us living in a three bedroom house with just barely 1,000 square ft. But, as the sign in my entryway says, “Love grows in little houses” and it certainly did. Our little beginner home will probably be our finisher home. That’s ok, though, because unless we built a home on the acre we have, I would really HATE leaving my yard. Everything in my yard has been done with my hands except for a couple of nice oak trees that are in the yard. And Jordan is under one of those oaks. I wouldn’t want to leave her.

I made my family’s favorite meatballs for supper tonight. It was a little weird not making the amount I usually do. Even the pan I did make will take Jim forever to eat. Lots of meatball sandwiches 🙂 A funny story to tell you about meatball sandwiches. One of our hired guys came from around home. He was a good kid and would eat just about anything you put in front of him. He also went along with us for two summers. Anyways, it wasn’t until years after he was with us I learned that all the meatball sandwiches I fed him (using leftover meatballs) were eaten but hated. Poor guy! I wish he would have told me how much he disliked them! Sorry Homer!!

MEATBALLS (this recipe can be cut in half for a smaller batch)

3 lbs. ground beef                                          1 – 13 oz. can evaporated milk

2 eggs                                                                             SAUCE

2 cups oatmeal                                               2 cups catsup

1 cup chopped onion                                     1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder                                   1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp. salt                                                          1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. pepper                                                    1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. chili powder                                          1 Tbsp. prepared mustard

Mix all ingredients together and form into balls. Place in 9 x 13 pan.  For sauce, combine all ingredients. Pour sauce over meatballs. For small meatballs, bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. For large meatballs, bake covered for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Small meatballs are great as an appetizer.

Jim was disappointed that I didn’t use the picture of him with his head down by the food with a huge smile on his face. The pictures of the flowers were taken this spring before we left home.