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Tag Archives: Kansas

Wanderings and Music on the Tallgrass Prairie…Oh, and Bierocks, Too

13 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Food, Kansas, Nature, Photography, Travel

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Food, Kansas, Nature, photography

I live in the American Midwest. Many Americans call this “fly-over country”, and within that unseen part of the country is what is known as “drive right through it country.” If you are the type of traveler that sticks to the interstate highway, zooming through state after state, as quickly as you can in order to get to those famous mountains and ski resorts in the western United States…well yes, Kansas and Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska become “drive all night to get through them” states. And you would be missing so much of what is beautiful about this vast nation.

The best example of a traveler’s missed opportunity I can think of is the state of Kansas. If road trippers would get off of I-70 and drive along Kansas state and county roads, they would find a land that is beautiful and mesmerizing, a place that makes you understand how big this country really is, and how vast its opportunities. We have driven along Kansas highways and byways many times, and I never tire of its beauty and its openness. As my granddaughter would say, “It’s so grand, Grandma!”

This is America’s heartland, and the world’s breadbasket. Once, this heartland was covered in acre upon acre of tallgrass prairie. Today the National Park Service estimates there is less than 4% of the original prairie remaining. Other sources estimate a mere 1%, while some optimistic souls believe there may be as much as 18% remaining due to unknown patches here and there. Original  prairie refers to tallgrass landscape that has never been plowed for other uses.

The largest swath of original tallgrass prairie remaining is in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. It extends from the northern border of Kansas on the Nebraska border, 200 miles south to just inside the state of Oklahoma. It is 80 miles wide at its widest point.

Its rocky terrain made it an undesirable area for farming. If you walk through the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills you will find pieces of chert, big and small, scattered across the landscape. The underlying bedrock of the area is limestone and shale. Over time this bedrock weathers, erodes and dissolves. Chert is a very hard rock found within the layers of the bedrock. When the limestone and shale erode away, the chert is left behind. Another name for chert is flint, and flint is what Native Americans used to make their spear and arrow heads.

Chert, or flint, is left behind when softer rocks around it erode. You will find flint scattered throughout the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills.

We have been to the Flint Hills before, but one of my bucket list items has always been to attend the “Symphony in the Flint Hills”. This year was the year, and we gave each other the trip to the symphony as Christmas gifts. We spent three days exploring Kansas in addition to attending the concert.  We were also excited to visit a place about which I have read a lot…Konza Prairie in Manhattan, Kansas. It was a major goal…to walk that prairie!

I have visited several prairies in Missouri, where our Conservation Department has saved many remnants of original prairie. But, honestly, there is simply nothing I have ever experienced on the prairie quite like the thrill of hiking Konza Prairie…even if it was 100 degrees when we finished (that is why you start out early in the day)! Please understand, trees are not a common feature in the tallgrass prairie, and that sun is hot as you approach noon. We were happy we had taken a lot of water with us…and our hats. The following pictures are but a few of the many I took as we hiked the shortest trail, about 2 1/2 miles.

Starting out on the trail.

This creek, dry this time of year, these trees, were a welcome sight after a couple hours in the bright sunshine of the Kansas prairie!

When you hike the prairie, landscape is not all there is to take in. I have never seen so many butterflies on so many flowers in all my life…and I have been around a very long time. Butterfies, wildflowes, birds on plant tops…I call it eye candy!

Prairie Clover
Prairie Clover
Leadplant
Leadplant
Prickly Poppy
Prickly Poppy
Sensitive Briar
Sensitive Briar
Prairie Rose
Prairie Rose

Butterfly Milkweed and Leadplant

And so, so many butterflies…

DSCN2820 (2)
DSCN2734 (2)
DSCN2726 (2)
DSCN2674 (2)

We saw many birds, but this Dickcissel sat still for me the longest……

Finally it was time to experience the purpose of this trip…the “Symphony in the Flint Hills”. We arrived early in the day, and took in the many events that are part of this big day. We heard talks on issues important to those who live in, as well as those who visit the Flint Hills, took walks through the open land, and rode a covered wagon, until we got to the highlight of the day…the Kansas City Orchestra playing on the open prairie as the sun sets and the sky becomes a field of stars in every direction. It is simply stunning.

As we mulled around the ranch which was the site of this year’s concert, we took the opportunity to take a ride on a covered wagon.

Just as dusk fell, the concert began, and it was amazing!

And absolutely nothing beats music, out in the open air, watching the sun set on the immense American tallgrass prairie!

A trip to the middle of America, a trip to the tallgrass prairie is a truly inspiring experience. I hope you might consider stopping sometime in this fly-over country, country Midwesterners call Kansas! To learn more about the “Symphony in the Flint Hills”, you can visit their website. More information on Konza Prairie can be found on the Nature Conservancy website

Bierocks

While visiting a new place, I always like to find a food that is unique to the area. In Kansas, I found Bierocks (pronounced “brocks”). Bierocks are a traditional German food, brought over by immigrants who settled in Kansas and established the farming that has made Kansas part of the world’s greatest supplier of food.

Bierocks are traditionally made with ground beef. I use ground bison for our bierocks, it is lower in fat than beef, and is a traditional food source of the western United States. For many years you could not find bison to purchase for food, but there is a resurgence in its use…and it tastes really good.

These little pocket meals are tasty, and though they take a bit of work, we always have extras. I put the leftover Bierocks in the freezer, and we take them out from time to time for a quick and delicious lunch that takes only two minutes to heat in the microwave.

DSCN3014 (2)
DSCN3015 (2)

Bierocks

  • Servings: 12
  • Time: 1 hour for prep and baking plus rising time
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

This recipe has been adapted from “Taste of Home”

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 1/8 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (it is the only kind I use)
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 large egg

For filling

  • 1 lb. ground bison (you may use ground beef instead)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 lb. shredded cabbage, cooked and drained

Directions

To make the dough:

  1. Combine 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar and salt in your mixer bowl and mix well. Set aside.
  2. Heat water, milk, and butter in a small pan just until the butter has melted, no warmer than 130 degrees.
  3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.
  4. Add egg.
  5. At low speed, blend until moistened, then beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.
  6. Gradually add remaining flour by hand, until you have a stiff dough.
  7. Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes.
  8. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.
  9. Cover and let rise in a warm place free of drafts until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and let rise again until almost doubled.

To make the filling:

  1. Brown bison with the onion, salt and pepper, then drain.
  2. Mix in the cabbage and set aside.

Putting it all together:

  1. Divide the dough in half
  2. Roll each piece into an approximate rectangle that is 15×10 inches. (Mine never looks like a real rectangle!)
  3. Cut into 5 inch squares and spoon about 1/2 cup of meat mixture onto each of the squares.
  4. Bring up the sides of the dough to enclose the filling, pinching it closed to form a meat pocket that looks a lot like a hamburger bun.
  5. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Old Fort Scott…and Hot Weather Soup

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Food, Kansas, Photography, Soups and Stews, Travel

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Food, Kansas, photography, Travel

Fort Scott

Over the years, we have traveled to many historic sights with our five children. The girls enjoyed the old and stately homes, the boys loved the battlefields…and yes, they all loved the swimming pool at the end of the day! Our youngest daughter, with permission of our guide, would sit and play any piano she came upon. Our sons would pretend to know exactly how to use any cannon they saw, on any battlefield, anywhere. We so enjoyed showing them our country and in so doing, teaching them its history. We have been East many times! And that brings me to another point.

It has always struck me as rather unfortunate that our schools teach so much of our nation’s history as it was experienced in the eastern portion of the country. This is especially true when teaching about the Civil War. It is true that many of the battles, perhaps even the most important, were fought east of the Mississippi River. But it is also true that many battles and experiences of significance and great consequence happened west of the Mississippi.

Our son, Matthew, began his love of history when he first discovered that our house sits on the parade ground of Fort Wyman, a Union supply fort from 1861 to 1865. We find musket balls, pieces of pottery and glass, and even iron implements almost any time we do some serious digging in the backyard. His interest grew even stronger after reading Rifles for Watie, by Harold Keith. The story is set in the Midwest, including our own home state of Missouri. It is the story of a teenage boy who joins the Union Army and sees action in Kansas, Missouri, and the Indian Country(today’s Oklahoma).

And that brings me to the subject of this travel post…Fort Scott National Historic Site…in the Midwest…worth a trip!

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Fort Scott was built in Kansas in 1842, one of a string of forts on the western frontier. Its purpose, initially, was to protect white settlers as they traveled the road west between the area controlled by the Osage Indians and the state of Missouri. Its other purpose was to help keep peace between the various Native American tribes in the region.

Officer’s Quarters

A look at the Officer's Quarters at Fort Scott

A look at the Officer’s Quarters at Fort Scott

jA game table in the Officer's Quarters.

A game table in the Officer’s Quarters.

The Quartermaster

It was the job of the quartermaster to build, maintain and supply the fort.

The Quartermaster's office at Fort Scott

The Quartermaster’s office at Fort Scott

The Quartermaster was also in charge of commissary which held the supplies for the fort.

The Quartermaster was also in charge of the commissary which held the supplies for the fort.

The Soldiers

The fort was home to dragoon soldiers, soldiers on horseback. These dragoon soldiers took part in several important events in American history.

Dragoon barracks at Fort Scott.

Dragoon barracks at Fort Scott. In the center of the table is a checkerboard, used by the soldiers to pass some of the long hours.

The dragoons were charged with protecting the pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail, as well as the merchants along the way who serviced the travelers.

Between 1846 and 1848, dragoons from the fort were sent to serve in the Mexican War. Some of the troops served under General Zachary Taylor, while others served under the command of General Winfield Scott, as he led them into Mexico, capturing Mexico City on September 13, 1847.

In 1853, following the American victory in the Mexican War, and because the Army no longer was involved in protecting pioneers on the trail or keeping a watchful eye on the Native Americans, Fort Scott was abandoned and all its property auctioned off. The town that had grown up around the fort was officially named Fort Scott. At about the same time, tensions over slavery were growing across the whole nation and the nation was moving closer to civil war.  It was the beginning of a tragic period in Kansas history and the history of the United States.

In 1854, Kansas was opened for settlement. As the territory was settled and moved toward statehood, its citizens would be allowed to decide if they would enter the Union as a free or a slave state.This was to be done by popular vote. Many people from both sides of the issue swarmed into Kansas, and into Fort Scott, trying to influence the result of the vote. The various groups that arrived in the territory were often violent, and soon the area was in a general state of terror. This period has been referred to as “Bleeding Kansas” because of the brutal attacks and murders that occurred during this time.

Civil War did break out in 1861, and the Union Army returned to Fort Scott. The fort was used as a supply depot and provided important support for the Union cause. Fort Scott maintained a hospital for wounded soldiers, as well as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war. It also became a place where people running away from the warfare all around them could come and find refuge.

Following the war, Fort Scott was once more abandoned and all its property sold at auction. The fort would see action one more time, between 1869 and 1873 when railroads were built across the area to the Gulf of Mexico.

Between 1865 and 1956, four African-American schools were located at Fort Scott. The most notable African-American to attend one of these schools was George Washington Carver.

If you walk behind the fort, along a short nature trail, you can still see the results of Kansas prairie restoration.

If you walk behind the fort, along a short nature trail, you can see the results of Kansas prairie restoration. These pictures were taken in very early spring and the prairie has not yet had a chance to green-up.

You can learn much more about Fort Scott, and also plan your own visit, by going to the park service website at http://www.nps.gov/fosc/index.htm

Hot Weather Soup

The first time we visited Fort Scott was in June of 1983. Knowing how much I loved cookbooks, one of our older sons, Nathan, surprised me with a small book filled with a collection of recipes from Army wives of the past, which he purchased in the fort’s gift shop. An Army Wife’s Cookbook with Household Hints and Home Remedies was compiled by Mary L. Williams and was published in 1972, by Southwest Parks and Monuments Association.

It has been extremely hot here in Mid-Missouri the last several days…heat index 102 degrees kind of hot! So I got out this little volume and made some Hot Weather Soup. It brought back so many memories. Our oldest daughter and I used to make this all the time in the summer…so good and so easy on a really hot day.

Hot Weather Soup

Hot Weather Soup

“A good hot weather soup is made from rice, with beef extract and seasoning. Cook two tablespoonfuls of the rice in a quart of water with a small onion peeled and chopped and one bay leaf. Cook slowly thirty minutes. Take out the bay leaf, and add two teaspoonfuls of beef extract. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.” An Army Wife’s Cookbook, p.9

Other than substituting 2 beef boullion cubes for the beef extract, the recipe as written by the Army wife can be followed just as written. Enjoy!

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