Cabbage consumption can beneficial to health

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Glen McNeil shares information about the health benefits of cabbage.
 

Ellis Co. Historical Society eyes past while planning for the future

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Ellis County Historical Society interim director Amanda Rupp stops by to share updates from the society.

Healing Kids’ Hearts retreat returns for 2022

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Center for Life Experiences executive director Ann Leiker shares information about the upcoming Healing Kids' Hearts retreat.

Sen. Moran says situation in Ukraine ’a test of American resolve’

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Post reporter Cristina Janney speaks with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) about a variety of situations facing Kansas and the nation.

Finding help through humor: Event seeks to raise funds for disaster relief

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Has Humor emcee Jeff Leiker shares information about the upcoming Four-county wildfire relief show.

Heartland Community Foundation funds assisting Dec. 15 victims

On this episode of the Post Podcast Heartland Community Foundation executive director Sarah Meitner shares information about the new Emergency Relief Funds.

HCT to present ’It’s Showtime’

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Cheryl Glassman shares information about the Hays Community Theater's upcoming production of It's Showtime.

Long time extension district agent retires

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Cottonwood Extension District agent Susan Schlichting speaks about her years at the district as she prepares for retirement early next year.

Holiday eating a staple of annual traditions

On this episode of the Post Podcast Fort Hays State University's Glen McNeil stops by to talk about holiday eating habits. 
 
Transcript
 
Glen McNeil 
In the McNeil house. Usually prime rib and then either ham, or sometimes a turkey that goes along with it. My wife likes really likes Turkey. But usually and that started with my mother years ago. I mean, I remember growing up that was Christmas dinner and so we've kind of my family side of the family has kind of stayed with that. So we generally have prime rib and either mashed potatoes, real mashed potatoes, not dried mashed potatoes, which are real mashed potatoes, but you know, yeah, it's not the same or twice baked. I love that really preferred twice-baked that takes a little more time and these days times important because family comes home our Christmas is gonna be this weekend. So our kids get to spend actual Christmas with all their in-laws. Last year we got him to share you know, it's kind of one of those trade-off things. They were all here for Thanksgiving. So you know we did that. So we have usually a primary oven then ham. Like I said mashed potatoes or twice-baked potatoes, or my wife makes this really list cheesy casserole, which I kind of liked that more so than anything else. But you know, you always have to remember that. I am the lessor in this when it comes to deciding what we have because the grandkids tell Grandma What they like now. And that's the main one there. We usually have like a seven-layer salad that Terry has made for years and it's lettuce and peas and salad dressing, Manny's based salad dressing and cheese and it's very good from that process. And of course, green bean casserole. You can't have a holiday without green bean casserole.
 
James Bell 
See, I'd fight you on that one. I can't stand this stuff. I can't I can't do it. It's one of those things. I can't even look at it. It makes me kind of cool.
 
Glen McNeil 
See, I love mushrooms.
 
James Bell 
And that's the trick, I think.
 
Glen McNeil 
Yeah, my favorite soup is mushroom soup. So has those in there. The green beans are okay, too. But we generate that and then we do freshly baked rolls. We've always done a fresh-baked bread that goes along with it. And then it kind of depends on you know what, what Terry's thinking about what she may want to do. A lot of times it's fresh broccoli seems to go well and my family likes fresh broccoli sometimes and broccoli cauliflower, carrot mix. You know, we we do that. The kids all get grape juice it also I'll get a glass of wine. Of course, you know how that part goes. And then leading up to that, of course, you know that you're doing all that preparation leading up to that we do like many families do is, is we sort of have our hors d'oeuvres, we don't really lunch, we middle the day, middle of the afternoon Christmas Day, so about 10 o'clock in the morning outcomes the what I was thinking about this morning, which is the summer sausage that sliced the cheddar cheese, the pepper, jack cheese, couple different varieties of cheese, crackers, you know all of those good things. And then of course, you feel guilty. So you also have you know, he also we also have some vegetable plates out and we make a taco dip, we kind of do all of the things around Christmas, based upon and Thanksgiving is pretty much the same way and so's Easter the foods that the family likes the kids like and the foods that my grandkids like It's like most people holiday season tends to congregate around the kitchen. You know and you and you visit while you're fixing meals and doing those types of things. So we try to be reasonable in what we do. And like we've talked about in here a lot moderation. Try to include some of those favorite holiday things that are a little bit high in saturated fat and cholesterol, balanced those out with some of those healthy alternatives. And then throughout the day, I try to work a little bit of all of that into my daily intake. But I think it's important that the holidays that we focus on the foods that bring us together and keep us together and the memories that are around that particular food. My mother's recipes, Terry's mom's recipes, recipes, Terry and I've built together for different things and so it just makes a friendly environment to build the food around. That's the holidays, I think. And we'll slip a little bit in there and we'll use that word moderation. You know, some of the secrets about holiday eating, and I'm sure like most people holiday eating has started for me last week, you know, you go somewhere, and there's snacks out and beverages out. And so it's Christmas. Yeah, and all the parties and all the events and those things and, and so you have to practice that, those little keys that we talked about that when you go somewhere, you know, you, you want to show your appreciation for Westerners. So you want to sample the things that are made. So you start with a small plate, okay, you know, if you had a choice of sizes, you know, different planets, pick the smallest one, and then fill the smallest one, one layer and take your time, support it with a beverage, you know, non-alcoholic beverage is good, you know from that. But if you do that with a small plate, there's less of a tendency to eat large amounts. Because you feel psychologicaly you feel more satisfied as whatever you put on your plate, that you've consumed them, and that plates empty, it's empty. And if you take a large plate, or if you graze, so to say, without a plate, you tend to consume more. And so that plate can help you in that process. Yeah, and what
 
James Bell 
You mean there is your you actually want to put the food on, not just stand there and kind of Munch because then you don't really, your brain doesn't know how much you had.
 
Glen McNeil 
Right? If you've, we've talked about this before, and I'm a watcher, right? I likey nobody will do that. But I also like to watch other people, you know, whether it's in the grocery store, or you go somewhere and, and there's an event and people are eating, you're snacking. And what you really notice is the people that don't use, in essence, a little bit of a crutch, like a plate, or something to put their food on, they eat considerably more, and they continue to eat constantly. It's not like they take a plate and they move away, but they stand there and it's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and then they're back to this or back to that they're always in action around the food. So you can help yourself with your holiday eating by fixing a plate and then moving away from where the main component of the food is, you can always go back. But a lot of times that moving away helps you feel a little more satisfied, and you're less likely to eat lots of food, so a large amount of food. So you can go back and eat a greater variety throughout the day when you do those types of things. And, you know, we talk about this time of year that we have a responsibility as hosts to offer healthy choices. So
 
James Bell 
You don't feel that responsibility to my house. You're just gonna whatever junk I've got,
 
Glen McNeil 
All right, some of us some of the responsibility. So we generally make sure that we have a great variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and, and, you know, different varieties of crackers or chips to offer. And you know, like I said before, yeah, summer sausage is great, the cheeses are great, the dips are great. You know, if we have one dip that may be somewhat fatty and rich, we have another one that maybe a salsa bass dip or something like that. So there are always those alternatives that you can offer. I doubt if anybody else, or very few people really ever think of that. When they come to our house, they think oh, yeah, just lots of food. In that process, so I think the holidays in relationship to food are, are very important, and especially what it brings to us in terms of memory and family and friendship.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, and I think too, and maybe you want to speak a little bit to this for for folks that are so health-conscious, and I know some of these folks in my world, you know, they need a rogue cookie without counting it and tracking it and how much do I have to run to burn that off? It's okay during the holidays to maybe not be so conscious, cuz you can always pick it back up in a couple of weeks, you know, New Year new resolutions and, and burn all that off and get back in that prime shape. You know, without experience, throw caution to the wind.
 
Glen McNeil 
Okay, it's it's the time to notice the wind a little bit more so to say which, you know, we had plenty of that yesterday. That was a terrible. But the fact is, yeah, if you're very, very health conscious about what you do, this is not the time to be doing that. Yes, remain health-conscious. Okay, and maybe you do a little bit of the calculations in your head or something, but it's not something to bring up in a group. And it's not a reason not to eat things. You can also do it a lot of times as what we refer to as sample, you can take a small plate, you can put small amounts of things on them. And because typically you don't have to eat the whole cookie. Right? Now you want to be careful in doing that, that you don't take a plate of food and take tiny little bites of everything and throw it all the way in front of your host. That's not a good process, you know, but the fact is that you can take smaller portions you don't have to eat everything you take, you can sample. And this is a time to relax a little bit. And I think what you're saying is relax a little bit and enjoy it. Don't worry so much about, you know, it's got 132 calories versus 108, it's got six grams of added sugar versus three grams of added sugar and all those, this is not really the time to do that. And you're only doing it for a very short period of time. Okay, and you're not going to come back after two weeks of Christmas, and deny yourself all this and exercise extensively hard to burn off everything you consumed. You want to come back after that period of time, continue your exercise the way it was, right, and maybe you for a very short period of time, you watch what you eat very closely to balance yourself back, most people are going to gain one or two pounds over the holidays, it's not going to take very long to get rid of those one or two pounds, once those extra holiday foods are not there anymore. So enjoy the season, enjoy what's put in front of you. Even though you know when you come back at the first of the year or after the first of the year, you're going to really focus on your life plan again. But it's a time to enjoy what's out there. And we should we really need you to know from a health aspect from a food and nutrition aspect with the stresses that have been around in the last year and a half. This should be a time to really sit back and relax and enjoy the types of things that we have always enjoyed. And to me foods at the top of that. You know that it brings in so many memories and so many aspects of comfort. It's really important to take some time to do that.
 

The end of the year can be a perfect time for charitable giving

On this episode of the Post Podcast Heartland Community Foundation executive director Sarah Meitner stops by to share information about end-of-year giving.
 

4-H Day with the Wildcat Women’s Basketball set for Jan.

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Cottonwood Extension District agent Susan Schlichting shares information about the upcoming 4-H Day with the Wildcat Women’s Basketball.

Ellis Co. Sheriff shares holiday shopping safety tips

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun shares tips on how to keep safe during the busy holiday shopping season.
 
Transcript
 
James Bell 
The holiday season means increased shopping and increased risk of theft. Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun stops by to talk to us a little bit about how to stay safe while out collecting those holiday guests. On this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Scott Braun 
You know, there's a couple of things we can do to protect ourselves. One, if we're buying gifts online, go to a reputable site, make sure that you're using some type of card or something that has some security to it, monitor your, your purchases through that. Get on some of those sites that will tell you if you have some things to charge to you is monitored closely. As we know scams go up during this time, this year will be no different than any other year, that will be a large percentage, a large percentage of fraud cases being reported to law enforcement to investigate the pretty difficult for us to do. Typically, they're out of our jurisdiction. But unfortunately, you know, the card companies are pretty good about working with people, but monitor that because they can get away from you pretty quick, cancel those cards, if it happens. Regards to gifts, you know, everybody's going to all of the stores around town or out of our community or wherever they might be. Make sure that when you're parking your car, that it's secure. Try to cover those gifts in the back. You know, it just takes a brief moment for somebody to break a window. Or if you leave that door open by accident, kids getting in and out. We're busy. We forgot, forget to check our doors and our kids. Did you lock your door? Yes, well, we all know that sometimes happens, right? And they take the gifts and it cost you some money. And we have some kids unhappy and so just make sure that you're covering those items up and securing your vehicle. And And ladies, please make sure your purses when you're in the stores that you're not letting them by themselves in the cart while you're trying on something or you're dealing with your kids. I know what happens. But please be cautious. You know, those increase every year also. And if anybody's been watching the news, we've been seeing a lot of that stuff in the eastern and western part of the states. Not in Kansas necessarily. We'll knock on wood on that. But there's been a lot of thefts from from stores, a lot of looting and things of that nature. And so unfortunately, that's a trickle effect. Sometimes we hope that doesn't enter our community, but we just want everybody to be cautious.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. And, you know, I heard a story a while back about some booze, doing some shopping and turned her back just turned her back from home to grab the purse out of the car. And then somebody tried to grab it from her. And more or less.
 
Scott Braun 
Yes, you know, and and that's a good point. I know my reaction is to fight that person or, or the ad and I and I get that I can't say that I would be any different. But you know, it is a purse. And I don't want anybody to be harmed, because there are some people that will harm other people to get that item. So just be careful with that. And you just got to be aware of your surroundings. When when, during this time or any time to be for that matter of fact, just be careful around your surroundings. And if you get that kind of funny feeling. Probably something not right.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, better safe than sorry.
 
Scott Braun 
Yeah. So you know, the last the other thing, and we'll kind of get off because I talked about it briefly of people traveling. Again, and I know I spoke about this a long time ago, but please have some precautionary items in your vehicle. Let's get some blankets in there. And let's make sure we have a you know, charger cell phone might have some type of heating item in there. If you're stuck, watch the weather in, you know, years ago, it may have been more difficult. But now we get weather notifications, they pop up all the time on our phones, if you have a smartphone, make sure people know when you're going to arrive approximately at a location. So if you're extended a significant amount, they can start making some phone calls and say, hey, my loved ones not here. Please keep in contact with them. But travel safe. Take a little extra time if the roads aren't good, because the last thing we want to do is have someone injured and and we do see quite a few accidents. There's a lot of travel during Christmas time. And our weather changes in Kansas as we know 30 seconds from now. It could be snowing, who knows? You know? Yeah. So just take a few extra minutes.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. And you know, I was talking to some friends of mine that are a little bit younger, just the other day about this very thing. And they said well, we have a cell phone failing happens. Let's make a phone call. And I'm like, oh gosh, I remember growing up and you know, we lived in a real small town. So travel was part of our daily life 30 minutes, 40 minutes every day. And we didn't have any way of contacting so those those that like the candle in the can and the blankets and all that you know still lives in my trunk. But these younger folks, I think they rely on the cell phones and just think well if I get in trouble I'm going to call but sometimes in service There's situations, you're going to wish that you had some way of staying warm, at least till somebody gets there. And you know, if you're stuck, pros are terrible, whatever it might be.
 
Scott Braun 
You know, technology fails us. And maybe that cell phone's not working, or you were on an all day, and you're gonna make that last phone call. And for whatever reason, your battery just died and you're in this snowstorm, and you can't make that phone call. We don't know where you are, we can't get to you. So you're absolutely right, we've got to take care of ourselves a little bit. We got to make sure we have some means of staying for a period of time. I remember a few years ago, we had some pretty good it's been a number of years ago, pretty good blizzards where I 70 was shut down and, and we were having a hard time getting to people stranded, we actually had to call the National Guard and they started running up and down the road because they had the vehicles to do it. So those people sat there for a couple hours before we get to him. But the point is, is we've got to gotta have some precautionary things and it doesn't take anything, throw something in a bag and put it in the trunk.
 
James Bell 
And just sit there for multiple years if you're like me.
 
Scott Braun 
Yeah, correct. And you have it when you need it. So yeah, so just a few things to think about. And probably last but not least, I know we're probably close on time. On behalf of the Ellis County Sheriff's Office, we'd like to wish everyone a happy, happy New Year and Merry Christmas and I kind of turn those around but I think you get the idea. We want everyone to travel safely and want everyone to have a joyous Christmas for sure. We've had some tough years and everyone gets together as just a wonderful holiday.
 

Ellis County COVID-19 update: Dec. 3, 2021

On this episode of the Post Podcast Ellis County Health Services Director Jason Kennedy shares recent information about COVID-19 in Ellis County.

Small steps keep food safe during Thanksgiving holiday

On this episode of the Post Podcast Fort Hays State University's Glen McNeil stops by to talk about cooking and eating a safe Thanksgiving meal.
 
Transcript
James Bell 
Small steps can help keep food safe during the holiday weekend, Glen McNeil, from Fort Hays State University stops by to talk to us about that on his nutrition health and wellness segment on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Glen McNeil 
We are a social people, you know, they call social animals we are because we like to get together. And one of the things that generally happens when we get together is food. Because food shows comfort, it shows love, it shows respect, you know, it shows that we like and enjoy the people we're around. So we offer them something, and then that encourages them to stay for longer periods of time. And, and visit and so you know, we have a lot of food and holidays and, and a lot is what tends to be there and it tends to be around quite a bit. And since you know we're off, so to say work, or we're with family, we tend to spend a lot more time sitting in the same locale. And that's when we find more snacking going on. And a lot of times, especially when you look at Thanksgiving, somebody does a really good job on making a particular order or a particular dessert or whatever that that food item it is. And we as individuals feel whether we acknowledge it or not, we feel a little bit of responsibility to eat something of everything. Now, except me, I don't eat sweet potatoes. So I don't like sweet potatoes. So how can you not okay, well, we'll talk that would be a whole two or three days.
 
James Bell 
We got to know the story behind that.
 
Glen McNeil 
Well, they're good for you. Okay, we're good for well, they're good for you in the fact of like any potato, they're good for you if you just eat the potato. But when you put all those other toppings and sweets and marshmallows and brown sugar, you sort of take away the good from it, and they're good source of vitamin A good, they're good source of beta carotene if you skins are a good source of fiber. So you know all of that I know that I just don't really like sweep. So okay, why do you do that? And I guess that's true. I tell my wife that. So she makes it every year. And they she says they're good. So I'll buy into that. But in other words, we we feel a responsibility to eat something that people repair to show that. Oh, well, thank you for bringing it. Yes, it's, it's good. Yes, I respond to the love and time you put into that food product. And so at Thanksgiving, of course, you know, it's traditional Turkey in a traditional meal. So first thing is, if you have not yet been to Turkey, good luck. Okay, they're tough to get right now the stores have them. Prices are up a little bit. We haven't seen any of these fantastic Turkey sales we've seen in the past, but kind of like everything else that's going on right now. It's tough to get items and products like that. So if you haven't watched turkey for, you know, a week from in essence a week from today, probably got to get your shopping done, okay to do that. And then if you're going to cook your turkey, next Thursday, take it home and put it in the refrigerator. Okay, don't put it in the freezer, it's gonna take a while for that to thaw out. Right. And we usually say about seven days, okay. And depending upon the size of the bird, you know, if you get a, if you get a, you know, a 15 to 20 pound bird, it's probably gonna take about seven days, in the average refrigerator, when you put it in the refrigerator, put it on a pan, put it on the bottom shelf. Okay, make sure there's no raw food product or anything below it, just in case those juices would have to spill over the pant would spill over the pan a little bit because like any poultry, you have the concern of salmonella, okay. But they're usually you know, in a plastic case or whatever. And part of the reason it takes so long for them thaw out, they're big. They're frozen all the way through, and you leave them encased in that wrapping. Okay, you don't want to unwrap it and put it in the refrigerator laying out, you leave it in case in the wrapping. So that kind of traps some of that cold in there in that process. So give it a good, I mean, now's a good time to put it in there. Give it seven days or so to thaw out. And if your refrigerator is not one that gets opened frequently, it may take a little longer than the recommended time that's on the turkey or the information because the temperature of the refrigerator doesn't go up and down very much. Terry and I learned that a few years ago with the kids all gone. You know the refrigerator doesn't get open as much as it used to. So it takes an extra day or two for our turkey to thaw out. So ours is sitting in the refrigerator now getting ready for we're going to host it next weekend. So we're giving it about 10 days to get good and thought out and you're okay so long as it sits in there and thaws. Depending upon how you're going to cook it then that that has an effect to the popular method these days is deep frying your turkey. Biggest key when you deep fry that Turkey is make sure it's completely thawede out. Okay, there's no water and there's no ice crystals. Ttapped in the cavity of that Turkey, because if there are, you're going to get a, not just a foaming of that oil, when you put it in there, you're gonna, you're gonna get a little pop that goes a big pop that goes along with it. And that the immediate thaw of that moisture coming out through the cavity where the neck is causes that oil to shoot up. Okay, and so it's very dangerous process. So it's a good idea to make sure it's really thought out, you know, open the cavity, take the giblets out of there, there in the giblets and make sure the cavity is somewhat dry and thought out on the inside. If your bird is not completely thought out, okay, you can thaw it out under running water, don't put it on the counter, you can use a microwave. I've never been real fond of, of using the microwave to thought that big of an item. Okay, in terms of that, but she thought under cold running water, you don't throw it under hot water, because that causes part of the bird to come up to a warmer temperature. And if there's bacteria present, it may allow some minor growth there. So you just put it in a pan big enough that it can stay submerged in, let the turn the faucet on cold and get it full, get that pan full, and then turn it down to just a little bit of a dribble so that the water continually runs off of it. And you'll find that it will fall very quickly. You know that that water is considerably warmer, it's cool to the touch, but it's considerably warmer than the bird. And so that will thaw your bird out relatively quickly. Okay, I mean, it's not super fast and don't use hot water. Okay, from from that process, and then it comes down to how you're going to cook it, whether you're going to smoke it, you're going to barbecue it, you're going to bake it in the oven, you're going to defend fry it, you know, I don't know whether never I've never thought about air frying, full size Turkey, but I suppose you could do it these days? Probably a little bit, it's probably a little bit big and thick. To actually air fry, you could use your air fryer, I suppose if your oven has an air fryer in it, you could use it to crisp the outside of the turkey. Okay, I don't know, I have not researched that part hadn't thought about that. And the other reason that brought up is we just our oven of 30 some years died. Oh, so we had to replace it here. And we got one with an air fryer in it. And you know, I hadn't thought about that. But you know, we're usually not big on that. If you do not have a $2 stick thermometer, go by. Right it is worth it. And it'll tell you I'm not going to say temperature. What I'm going to say is right on that thermometer, it's going to say Turkey. Okay, you cook it until it reaches turkey. Alright, until you reach that point get out. If you buy one that has one of those pop up thermometers in it. You know, the little pop up stick thermometer is when the birds done it, it pops up. I still say go get you a stick thermometer. And it's a you know, they're about five inches long with a dial on the end. And don't do not I had a friend of mine one time called me says Glenn I went out bought one of those thermometers, but it's just I don't understand it, it melted in the oven. Well said they're not designed to be used some of them. That's a pretty special thermometer, not the $2 one not to $2 one and he said oh, okay, but you know, put it in, I usually encourage people to put a right in the center of the breast, okay, and the largest part of the meat, make sure that that is up to temperature. When you take that bird out of the oven or out of the fryer or whatever, let's meet continues to cook for approximately five minutes, the temperature will continue to rise for approximately five minutes after you take it out. Now you can take it out and what I think is good, you take it out, you cover it with some aluminum foil, and you put a towel on top of it and you just let it sit there on the pan for about five minutes. So many people take it out of the oven set on the table and slice it right away. Wow, look at the juices run that's going to be so good. And then what they find out is it sits there for a while it gets dry. Okay, well, the meat, the protein that cooks when you cook protein, meat butter is forced out of it. And then when you let it sit and as the temperature starts to drop, some of that water is pulled back in. So then when you slice it after about five minutes, yes, you're still gonna see some of the juices run. But your meats gonna be more tender, it's gonna be juicy from that standpoint so that that's a good process. Recommendations these days if you're going to stuff your turkey you know whether you make your stuffing or you use stovetop or whatever it is you do, smart thing to do is cook the turkey when it's nearly done, okay stuff or wait until it's done and then put the stuffing in it and let it sit in there for that five minutes or so and absorb some of that taste. Problem is that sometimes in the cavity especially the bigger birds, the as The juices cook out of the turkey during during the heat process, they get absorbed by the stuffing, sometimes that stuffing doesn't reach 165 degrees. So you have a little bit of an issue there. So that you know, just the safe thing is to fix your stuffing separately. And then stuff your bird if you want, but most people I know now just make a pan of stuffing and put it on the table. You know, and of all things left over after Thanksgiving.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, yeah, I mean, who doesn't?
 
Glen McNeil 
Well, some people,
 
James Bell 
I well, I don't want to associate with them. People I'm sorry. I'm sorry, folks,
 
Glen McNeil 
Kind of like sweet potatoes. Some people don't like stuffing, you know, leftover stuffing. So you know, if you're going to do that make your bird so you know, you can display it. And it looks really good in terms of that process in which you're going to do. So we've got turkey and we've got stuffing and then you know, cranberry sauce, if you really, if you want to go along with it, you know make it and some people make their own cranberry sauce or they buy real cranberry sauce or, you know what's popular is the jelly cranberry sauce and they can that's the good stuff. That's the good stuff. You know why it's the good stuff. For sugar? Yeah, there we go. So that's, that's one of those things you want to be a little bit careful with about how much you're going to consume as a commercial product, it does have some more sugar in it. And whether you do mashed potatoes or twice baked potatoes, or just plain baked potatoes, you know, that's that's up to you and how you fix them and fresh and to get the most nutritional value out of your potatoes leave the skins on. Now a lot of people don't like mashed potatoes with the skins on him. But you know, that's the the fiber component component of the potato, that's also the little little piece in there between the skin and the potato itself where the true nutritional value is. And, and I understand that, I mean, I like my mashed potatoes to be real fluffy and soft. And you kind of don't get that if you leave the skins on that process. But I know some people who basically bake their potatoes first, and then peel the skins off and make mashed potatoes that way gives a different tastes a little bit different texture, and then they fry the skins and eat the skins later, you know, as a snack later in the day. So there's a lot of things that you can do. Remember, the two hour rule, okay, from the time you put it out, two hours needs to be after that two hour time period, it needs to be broken down into smaller portions put in the refrigerator or the freezer, you know, because the longer you leave it out there past that two hour time period, the longer it's in that danger zone that 40 to 140 Danger Zone for bacterial growth. And that's true as appetizers you set out ahead of time. You know, if you set things out ahead of time, like you know, we like to put cheese and crackers and vegetables and dip out kind of the first thing in the morning. So those things to snack on, you know, while you're fixing the dinner and everybody's The kitchen is the center place because everybody's around the food the kitchen in the dining room, you know, so we have those kinds of snacks out you just want to be careful that you don't leave them out too long. I know it's it's it's tough to throw food away. So you always kind of need to watch the times a little bit and and some things that are smoked or fermented you know, can last a little longer because they're in essence they have enough preservatives in them but I always remind people that the two hour time limit you know just when you get past that that's the real safe side can go somewhat past that but usually with a and especially with colds and flues on the way up COVID still around. The fact is you don't want to leave all that food out exposed so people can read on it. It's gonna happen you know, and hopefully nobody gets sick but but you want to do that. What else we need?
 
James Bell 
I think that's it.
 
Glen McNeil 
You're quiet today.
 
James Bell 
Well, your have given us so much good information. I keep writing notes. I notice that you're just checking them off as I'm I don't even have to ask your just on it.
 
Glen McNeil 
Desserts. You know, whatever your favorite dessert is. Mine's called butter finger dessert and it's made with pool whip and ice cream mixed together pushed, put on a graham cracker crumb crust, and then cooled it put on top and then crushed Butterfinger candy bars put all over it.
 
James Bell 
I'd never heard of that. I would eat that.
 
Glen McNeil 
My mother in law made makes it all the time. And my wife makes it and I just think it's.  Pumpkin pie is okay, I like pumpkin pie tube of Oh yeah, it's got French vanilla pudding in it too. Okay, so by the time you're all done, and you get all that together, I really don't mind if nobody else eats any of it because it's really good in the refrigerator for three, four or five days, you know as the flavors plan but that's that's my favorite but we always have pumpkin pie and we have like a fruit pie and apple pie or a cherry pie that that goes along with it. And so you you know if you spend the time to bake them yourself. You can do those things ahead of time. Do what you can ahead of time so the The person in the kitchen also has the time to interact with everybody else. You know, that's, that's a key don't don't lock somebody away in the kitchen. But some, some people want to be, you know that, that their this is their meal to fix yeah playing the role of the host. And yeah, you know, this, this is their meal to fix this is in our house, this is my wife's meal to take care of, I can help if she wants me to go get something or peel some this or peel some of that, but, but she's in charge in charge of the meal and the food because that's something that, you know, this she likes to do now when it comes to Christmas, and we're doing primary ever ham or something like that. And that's my part. Besides we don't get along in the kitchen, you can believe that. She does things her way. And I do things my way, which we've just learned, you know, from that, so we get along pretty good. And I will admit, she's a better baker. Much better. I'd rather eat her cookies and pies and cakes than mine.
 
James Bell 
Nice.
 
Glen McNeil 
So you know, a selection of variety of foods and desserts and what goes on the probably one of the biggest things is just watch how much you eat. Remember, the key one of the keys is, the smaller the plate you use, the fuller, it looks with smaller portions, right. So if you're trying to moderate that, always think of it in this way, I'm going to take a small portion, because I can always take more, there's plenty there, I don't need to fill my plate up here, you know, and really do this, what I can do is I can have a small portion, I can leave a little bit of everything I want. And then I can go back and have more of the things that that I really want, what we run into so often holiday times is is is people lose the awareness of what they're eating, there's, you know, so much communication, people who see having a good time, we just don't think about how long we've been snacking, how many times we've dipped into the dressing, or you know, the the sauce that goes along with the chips that are out there, or how many different types of cheese and sausage we've had with the four different types of crackers that are sitting there before and after the meal, you know, all of that thing, we tend to get lost in it and, and that's really that's good for us to get lost. You know that social aspect is good. But you need to have a little bit of awareness and spread out your your food intake during the day, you know, you're going to eat a big meal. It's just hard to do with all that food sitting around. It's not do that. But then you also know that there's going to be things brought out for the afternoon while you're around. Okay, and then there's going to be that evening meal that comes back. And for many people, it's tricky. You know, okay, well that's okay, so long as when you're done with lunch, you get that turkey broken down into smaller packages, put it in the refrigerator, so it can cool. And then when you pull it out in the evening, it's safe to, to eat from that standpoint. So you know, you that's that's what you do in that process is be able to do those things. And a lot of people say that, you know, the best part of Thanksgiving is two three days afterwards.
 
James Bell 
That's when my wife is she cooks way so much to eat way too much food just so we have it or so she can have it.
 
Glen McNeil 
Well yeah, you can eat it after break it down into small meals, you know, and just watches things cool, cool things in your refrigerator properly, don't leave things sitting out. That's what you really want to be careful of, you know, you want to think of the meal and at the same time, you want to think of what what's going to happen the next few days or time period where you're going to eat all those leftover foods and enjoy it. I mean, that's that's pretty much what we want to do. Especially the way things have been the past few years, make your favorite foods, take your favorite foods along with you snack just be careful. And it's a good idea for the afternoon while you're watching football and you're doing all those things and you have those chips and depths and vegetables and all of those things set out have small plates for people to use. That will help them eat less than if they just go and dip
 
James Bell 
Then you end up just standing there right watching.
 
Glen McNeil 
So you put it on a plate then you move. People tend when they put it on a small plate like that they tend to move away from the food and then he eat what's on their plate now maybe they go back but there's less likelihood that they will consume more so you can help your guests you know in in terms of that.

GUNS AND CAKE: Ellis Co. Historical Society celebrates 50 years

By JAMES BELLHays Post
As the Ellis County Historical Society continues to reinvigorate facilities and programming, the organization is set to host a 50th anniversary celebration Saturday, with historical re-enactments, presentations and more. 
"We've got (a lot) planned down there at the historical society," said curator Adam Conkey. "We're opening up our stone church. We're gonna have all of our outbuildings open."
But more than just an opportunity to explore buildings on the society's grounds, he said attendees would also experience history first-hand with gunfight reenactments and historical presentations.
"We'll have gunfights every two hours, 10 o'clock, noon, two o'clock, and four to close it out," Conkey said.
Throughout the day, a variety of speakers will discuss local history.
"We're going to have speakers on historical events, including Kansas history, Indian wars and Kansas forts," he said, including a representation of one of Ellis County's most famous residents George Sternberg and sessions about the Bissing Family.
"And we'll have Bukovina German immigrants, we'll have a discussion on that. Of course, we'll have Q and A after all of those as well."
He said the headline event would be James Drees talking about Jim Curry and vigilante violence.
"So if anybody wants to hear some real story about those gunfights, he's there to provide that," Conkey said.
Wrapping up the evening is a celebration from 7:30 p.m. to midnight at the Hays Community Theatre building, 121 E 8th.
"We're having a dance party, come in costume if you want, any, any timeframe," Conkey said. " It's the Historical Society, so you come from the 1980s if you wanted to. It's more of a celebration. We'll have cake there, and we also have a raffle for our Henry repeater rifle there as well."
All of the day's events are come and go and free to the public.
While the activities are a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the society, Conkey said it would also help kick off a new era, as work is ongoing to strengthen the society's connection to the community.
"We just want to remind everybody we exist," Conkey said. "It's been a difficult, rough, kind of few years. We haven't had our museum open for three years now, I believe, other than special events, and we're aiming to push forward and try to get our museum back on track.
"This 50th is our restart, if you will, for the museum," he said.
Most notably the society has struggled to open to the public as their main building, the Presbyterian church on the corner of 7th and Main has been closed due to water damage and then COVID and now will require significant investment before it can be reopened to the public.
"It's coming together. It's a process," Conkey said. "We are course writing a lot of grants to try to get things working again. And of course, we need a lot of community help as well."
He said in the last few months, many have stepped up from the community to help the society regroup.
"Even from high schools, high school age people are just as interested in this as the older people in the community," Conkey said. "So it's just more, more than I thought would happen in the last few months."
But he said more volunteers are welcome as work and planning continues.
"We want to get our main gallery situated, at least put back together," Conkey said. "That's a tough process. We've got plaster kind of crumbling into dust in there. So we're trying to get our walls repaired, getting our archives put back all together in the basement and everything. It's just going to be a process, that's going to take time."
He said while work in the main building continues, the stone church will serve as the main exhibit.
"As far as our grand design, there's still always going to be that need for a building," Conkey said. "We have that whole block on the north side of Seventh and Main. So we have a lot of room to expand. That's another exciting feature. Once we get the funding to do that."
"But there's a lot of plans in the works. They've had plans since the 70s to go forth with a reconstruction of old Front Street, kind of make it like a Dodge City type of deal. Our gunfighters are excited to be a part of this too. And all of it's just really going to grow from here."
Along with revitalizing their facilities, he said future events would also help solidify society as a valuable part of the community.
For more information or to volunteer for the society's efforts, email director@echshays.org or call 785-628-2624.
"We're happy to find places for everyone," Conkey said.

Holidays present a perfect time to document family histories

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Cottonwood Extension District agent Susan Schlichting shares information about Family History Month.
 

Creepy Classics concert from the Hays Symphony to celebrate Halloween

The Hays Symphony Orchestra is set for this year's Haloween concert: Creepy Classics. Conductor Brian Buckstead shares all the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Submitted
The Hays Symphony at Fort Hays State University will be presenting Creepy Classics: A Children’s Halloween Concert, featuring loud noises, creepy sounds and the scary stories music can tell, on Sunday, October 31, 2021, 2:30 p.m. in the FHSU Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center. The ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Brian Buckstead, assistant professor of violin and viola at FHSU.
The program features Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens, Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky, In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, by Edward Grieg, Suite from Psycho, by Bernard Herrmann, March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique, by Hector Berlioz, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Suite, by John Williams.
In addition, a host of music and Halloween themed pre-concert activities will be offered starting at 1:30 p.m.
“We think it’s important for kids to get their hands on instruments and to make connections between the music they’re hearing and how it’s created,” said Buckstead.
Symphony musicians and members of the FHSU Chapter of the National Association for Music Education will assist with pre-concert activities which include:
·  Spooky Music Tour—costumed statues come to life playing clips of the scariest sounds and music kids will hear in the concert
·  Drumming Circle—bongos, tam-tams, and other rhythm devices for making lots of loud noise
·  String Instrument Petting Zoo—hands-on guided experimenting with violins, violas and cellos
·  In the Hall of the Mountain King—tiptoe past the troll….run for your life in this retelling of the Mountain King story full of music, story and action
·  Meet the Family: Winds & Brass—flutes, trumpets, tubas, clarinets and more. FHSU students demonstrate their instruments from the wind and brass families
·  Creepy Arts and Crafts—create a variety of Halloween characters and props with a treasure box of arts supplies
·  Halloween Costume Parade—follow the brass leaders as costumed children parade around Beach-Schmidt and into the auditorium for the start of the concert
·  Free Trick-or-Treat Bags to the first 250 kids
The concert and treats are sponsored by a generous donation from Werth Wealth Management.
All Hays Symphony concerts are free and open to the public.
Attendees are encouraged to reserve tickets in advance on the symphony’s web site. Tickets may also be picked up in advance at the Hays Convention Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Hays Development Corporation, or at the symphony table in the lobby 30 minutes before the performance.

Cottonwood Extension district to launch Stay Strong Stay Healthy

On this episode of the Post Podcast Cottonwood Extension District agent, Bernie Unruh shares information about the upcoming Stay Strong Stay Healthy program.
 
Transcript
 
James Bell  The cottonwood extension district is set to kick off their Stay Strong Stay Healthy program a little bit later on in the month. Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the post podcast,
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  I have been so impressed with the benefits that have that people have seen from starting in this program. So we haven't had it here in Hays we started over last year.
James Bell  Oh, okay. So a year ago, even so, yes, so some of our listeners probably are familiar with this already.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Definitely. Um, I mean, and it's going on in Kansas for probably five to seven years. And so stay strong, stay healthy, as we say middle-aged adults 55 to 60. So I guess if you're middle, if you make it to 100, then yeah, that was 50-year-olds look young. So we are starting a class on October 26. At the extension office here in Hays, we'll be in the back meeting room. And it is designed to last for eight weeks. So we'll meet 16 times for an hour, twice a week. And just over that time period, we were so fortunate to see some really good changes in people, they just became stronger. They are supposed to. The idea is to do it every other day, do strengthening every other day walk, you can still walk every day, but just to get people up and moving. And you know how easy it is to go home and sit in your recliner. And maybe you don't do that. But 
James Bell  No that's exactly what I do. 
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Yeah, if you go home and you sit down and you don't get up and get moving, then your body just, it relaxes and nothing. There's no metabolism happening. There's nothing happening. So sitting is our worst disease.
James Bell  Yeah, and I don't it doesn't take long right to get yourself unhealthy if you're in that mindset of not exercising or not, at least going out and being active doing something.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  So we do some stretching exercises at the beginning. And then there is a program. And so we start out pretty easy, really only doing five repetitions, repetitions of a strengthening. And so I mean, we do the upper body and the lower body, I mean, the very first thing we do is stand up and sit down and stand up and sit down five times. And then a couple of weeks later, we're doing six times and then eight times and then 10 times and then doing 10 times twice. So it's amazing how you can increase over the eight weeks, it's a, it really is a great program, very evidence-based Missouri is who brought it to Kansas. And I think Missouri works with eight other states. So it's moving across the nation. 
James Bell  Very cool. 
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Stay strong, stay healthy,
James Bell  Like it. 
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Yeah. 
James Bell  So how do you get involved in this program?
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  We have registration forms at our office, and we'll get them on our website. And also on our Facebook page. They do each participant if you sign up has to fill out a questionnaire so we kind of know where you're at. So you know, you could be a person that is seriously not doing hardly any exercise, being pretty sedentary. And we can still have you come and get started. But we do kind of want to know where you're at. So if we do, I'm going to say that every physician is going to say, yes, you need to do this, we've never had a physician say no, you're not doing this, even if you have to have a walker in front of you, and you have to hang on. Or if you have to have a chair, we can get a chair that has hands-on, you know, so you could push yourself up, but we just have to get your body moving. And so it can be at many levels, you know, we're not going to get down on the floor and do push-ups. We're not going to, you know, do jumping jacks, it's it starts pretty slow. And then we do cool down at the end. And so it does last about an hour in the beginning. We're a little bit shorter, but I also include lots of nutrition and other I guess encouragement to walk every other day if you're doing strengthening every other day. 
James Bell  Okay, yeah, just kind of mixing it up. All right, so you get the benefits of both.
And I'm not going to use names. But there were a couple of gals well there were just people who really encouraged each other. So we were in a discussion I asked them what they were most thankful for. It was getting close to Thanksgiving last year. And the one person said I went to a doctor appointment yesterday and he said, I am better now today than I have been for the entire last year. And I saw this gal six months later and she was continuing to do the exercises with someone in the area where she lived. And she was no longer using a walker. So it was very encouraging and her strength improved and her balance improved greatly. 
James Bell  That's amazing. 
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Yeah, so it is $20 because we do have handouts and if somebody has weights they want to bring we start out with two-pound weights they can do if they want to start out with five pounds weights but we have two, three and five-pound weights that people can use and just leave at the office and then we also have leg weights so in case. You make the choice of how much you want to do and how quickly you want to move up and how much you want to increase in weight.
James Bell  Yeah but you never want to rush it right, you want to know incrementally.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie UnruhIt is very it's nice and easy and slow it but it will wear you you know even the first time if you haven't been doing anything the first time I was like wow I should have started you know working on this a little bit.
James Bell  You should have been like, you're like a teacher that's really the students just like a few days been like just a couple of workouts ahead.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie UnruhYeah, yeah but it does help get you moving and then you also meet more people who are kind of in the same situation that you are so you have this motivation to not give up like we should never give up.
James Bell  Well, yeah and I want to ask about that, the group nature of it I think that's gonna be really powerful for exactly what you're talking about right the motivation piece.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie UnruhDefinitely, yeah. And everybody was so encouraging. We usually had a topic of the day where they had to walk kind of to take their mind off of oh this is difficult. I usually had a topic of the day so they could learn a little bit more about each other so they could visit with each other and it wasn't so personal that you had to tell everything about your life but it was just to learn a little bit more about each other.
James Bell  Very cool, very cool. I love it. So how many people is or is this going to be limited? Or are you just taking it on.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Oh, we probably would cut it off because of the size of our room to 15 people.
James Bell  Okay, so if you're interested don't wait too long to get signed right?  Yes, call our office 628-9430 or you know, you can stop by the Extension Office, were at 601 main we're pretty easy to find. Excellent. I love it. And that sounds like such a cool program. But before we run out of time, we got to switch gears we were I was trying to look this up while you were talking a little bit on my computer here. Mental health, mental health. It's important all year, obviously. But there is a mental health month we can't figure out which month it is.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie UnruhI think it's important any month and especially when we come into the holidays I mean sometimes it is more difficult for people around Thanksgiving or around Christmas and then maybe even after the new year that is just such a rush of everybody's doing things and you really don't stop to either take care of yourself or maybe not even notice somebody who is having a hard time.
James Bell  Yeah well and also the seasonal I'm gonna screw this up but the seasonal affective darn it or something like that where the light you know being inside starts to bring you down.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie UnruhThe nights get longer and for some people who are at home not able to get out those evenings can be really long. So yeah, for any age group, and so managing stress. Gosh, one way is to exercise another way really is to stay connected with someone and so there was a seminar that I went to and I thought this was really cool that you know to start your day you should text, if you text, text two people before 10 o'clock text two before 10 and just stay connected with, if it's not a family member you know a close friend or acquaintance and see if you can make some connections with people, so those two things are really important but even um there's you know, different kinds of meditation but if you enjoy reading of you. I enjoy sewing and I can sit down at my sewing machine. And that's a better place to set than in front of the TV in my recliner. So find something that relaxes you and you get to kind of go into you probably do music, just go into your own little mode and not worry about the things that are out there in the big wide world that bother you.
James Bell  Absolutely I tell you so I was a music student in college, I was a percussion student. I still have my drum set up and on those days and after the morning show even every once in a while we get a stressful morning show and not because of the guests but just because things maybe aren't going correct with the technology here. But yeah go home and just jam out for 5-10 minutes and feel better. 
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  Yeah, you have to find your little spark that gives you that encouragement and motivation to keep going but you know if there is a person that really is so overwhelmed, there is help out there. I mean I highly appreciate our High Plains Mental Health Center and I know they put out some short videos I think Eagle communications helped them with those and one of them was caring for yourself but also watching your kids and helping them cope and so High Plains Mental Health is definitely a place but there's also you know if nothing else call 911 and they'll have a phone number for you you can call you know a suicide helpline or there's also a texting if you'd like to text. You can just text to this number and they will they will text with you and keep you get you through the really rough times.
James Bell  Yeah, but that I mean the important thing is making that contact. 
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh  It is. 
James Bell  It's reaching out to somebody and there shouldn't be any stigma or embarrassment it's you know we've all been in those situations where things aren't going well and yes you're down and as soon as you recognize that that's a good time to say like, you know what, I should talk to somebody.
Yes, the first I think the very first thing to remember is that everybody has stress it's just how you handle it. So we all have stress if you know and watch for the signs ahead of time, then you can prepare yourself to say okay, I need to do something for myself. I need to do something to relax or you know, get myself back down to a level.
James Bell  Absolutely.
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie Unruh   Okay. 
James Bell  Well, Bernie, tell you we've got to get over the weather but any other thoughts before we go?
Cottonwood Extension District agent Bernie UnruhOh, just give us a call. If you're interested in the stay strong, stay healthy or even if you have some questions about emotional wellness.

Heartland Community Foundation launches fall grant cycle

On this episode of the Post Podcast Heartland Community Foundation executive director Sarah Meitner shares the latest from the foundation.

Ellis organizations preparing for holiday season

On this episode of the Post Podcast Ellis Alliance executive director Sophia Henrickson shares updates from the Ellis business community.