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Small Town Living

Day 211/365: Nebraska Sunsets, Country Skyscrapers

July 7, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Montana might be called “Big Sky” country but Nebraska has a little bit of sky too. We also have skyscrapers. They are grain elevators and water towers. See, they touch the sky. From this vantage point they almost touch the clouds.

Sunset Over the Country High Rises
Sunset Over the Country High Rises

I am very blessed to have scenery like this every day when I commute to work. The town of Murdock (part of the Elmwood-Murdock metropolitan) has a population of approximately 280 people and yet it has home town pride. A lot of people around here are farmers, as you can tell by the grain elevator on the left. However, it is located only thirty minutes from Omaha and more and more people drive to the city to work.

The number of hogs and cattle raised in the area has drastically declined in the past twenty years. The second “skyscraper” you see it the feed mill, which is no longer in operation. I used to work there in the early 1990’s. It was then called Greenwood Farmers Co-op and due to the competitiveness of the agriculture industry more cooperatives in the state merged together to form Midwest Farmers Co-op. I believe the feed mill is further south now in Syracuse.

So do you still think skyscrapers are only in the big city?

 

 

Filed Under: Project 365, Small Town Living Tagged With: 365project, country, Elmwood-Murdock, farming country, midwest, Nebraska, postaday, project365, rural america, skyscrapers, small town

Day 214/365: Happy 4th of July

July 4, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Happy 4th of Julty
Happty 4th of July

Happy 4th of July everyone! Here in Elmwood Nebraska we celebrate just like everyone else, with fireworks, picnics, parades (coming later), softball games, and watermelon. The holiday starts off with a bang ten days before Independence day when the fireworks go on sale.

This year I had an extra challenge. I was going to learn how to photograph fireworks with my point and shoot Fujica camera. This photo was actually taken two houses down from me as I braced the camera steady on the mailboxes. Tonight I’ll take the tripod for the big show in Ashland.

Photography Notes:

Photoshop composite of three shots. Two small bursts I selected the color black, chose the inverse selection so only the colored fireworks was selected, and pasted into main image in different layers.

Main blue fireworks: Aperture priority, f/2.8, Exposure 8 seconds, ISO 400

Gold Burst in top left:  Shutter priority, f/2.8, 1/50 sec ISO 400,

Filed Under: Photography, Project 365, Small Town Living Tagged With: 365project, Elmwood-Murdock, Holiday, Nebraska, Photography, Photoshop, postaday, project365

Day 208/365: National FBLA Leadership Conference

July 4, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

I'm Going to Nationals!
I'm Going to Nationals!

I’ve often bragged about our local high school, with good reason. This time it’s about our Future Business Leaders of America members who qualified for the National FBLA 2011 conference in Orlando Florida. Fourteen students loaded up the bus on Sunday and as you can see above, they were a little excited.

The students must compete and qualify on the state level by winning either first or second place in their division. Categories range from accounting, to community service, information technology, social media, website design, partnership with business, e-business, and dozens more.

This is just the beginning for these students who will learn so much, gain leadership experience and gain friendships that will take them far in life. More updates when my daughter gets back. (She’s in blue on the left by the way. )

Loading the bus!
Loading the bus!

Filed Under: Project 365, Small Town Living, Travel Adventures Tagged With: 365project, Elmwood-Murdock, Nebraska, postaday, project365

Day 207/365: Sunset Over the Ballfield

July 3, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Sunset Over the Ballfield
Sunset Over the Ballfield

Just another view of a legion baseball night. Too dark to get pictures of the players, senior legion baseball starts too late and sometimes, ends too late for me. Last night was a marathon game it seemed like ages before the game finished. Didn’t leave the ballpark until 11:30. Players still had to stay and rake the infield, so it was later for them and the coaches.

Just a simple picture, enjoy the Nebraska sunset.

Filed Under: Project 365, Small Town Living Tagged With: 365project, american legion ball, Americana, baseball, country, Elmwood-Murdock, Nebraska, Photography, project365, rural, small town, tradition

Get your Fill of Nuts at the Testicle Festival

June 26, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Yes you read the title correctly,it is time for the “Testicle Festival” in South Bend Nebraska at the local Round the Bend Restaurant. Some people refer to them as Rocky Mountain Oysters, Calf Fries, or just, calf nuts or balls, but regardless of the name they are the removable reproductive organs of a calf, lamb or even turkey.

2011 Testicle Festival in South Bend Nebraksa
2011 Testicle Festival (Day 201 of my 365 Project)

In ranching country, or just the midwest they are considered a delicacy. Here at Round the Bend Restaurant they are a sometimes considered a dare, a novelty, and a reason to celebrate and have a party one weekend out of the year.  I do have to admit, that after living in the Elmwood-Murdock area this was the first time I had actually eaten Beef Fries. They were actually very good. But when you cover anything in batter and fry it you can make anything taste good.

Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner’s Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright BizarreEdible plants and animals: Unusual foods from aardvark to zamia

For eighteen years hundreds of people show up the Friday and Saturday of Fathers Day weekend for bragging rights that they attended this very unique event. Many leave home with a custom T-Shirt.  Others leave with one more item checked off their bucket list.

Testicle Festival at Round the Bend in Nebraska
Just some girls getting some NUTS (taken with my cell phone)

Sometimes an adult beverage makes things go down easier and I’m partial to Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Only this time someone decided I needed the “Harder Lemonade” for this culinary experiment. Being in Nebraska you make friends with everyone and an event like this gives everyone a topic of conversation.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade, 6pk, 11.2 oz

The lady sitting across the table was from Chicago, first time at the nut fest, and she compared them to Schnitzel.If you’re wondering if there is a recipe somewhere, yes there is, but it’s not mine. Check out Cooking on the Sagebrush for authentic back country style cooking or even The Story Lady’s recipe. It’s not just people in Nebraska that enjoy calf nuts. Ree Drummond, the infamous Pioneer Woman talks about nuts, eating nuts, cutting nuts, and even takes pictures of nuts in unusual placements. It’s a way of life in some parts of the country.

You can buy Bull Fries online to cook for yourself, and where else? Amazon. So if you want to try a ranching delicacy, fry up a gag gift for a party, or just act on a dare, go ahead and order some bull fries and tell me how you like them.

Beef, Rocky Mountain Oysters, Sliced And Breaded, Frozen – 10 Lb Case

So next time you hear of a Testicle Festival, pull up a chair, tuck in your napkin and enjoy gourmet cooking, mid-western style.

BTW: My daughter, who worked as a hostess at Round the Bend, told me they served up 2,300 lbs of testicles and ran out before it was over on Saturday. If you’re looking for the location of Round the Bend it’s located between Omaha and Lincoln, exit 426, head south past the Wildlife Safari Park, “round the bend” and at the top of the hill across from Quarry Oaks golf course.

Here is a video of one of my favorite celebrities, Mike Rowe, eating lamb fries during one of his episodes of Dirty Jobs. Just think, NOTHING goes to waste, agriculture is efficient and one of the least wasteful industrys’. My Mom said everything on the pig is used, except the squeal. So do your part. Eat some nuts.

 Find a Testicle Festival in your Area

‘Testy Fest’ Returns to Virginia Square

Testy Fest 2015 logo The Montana State Society is again hosting its annual Testicle Festival in Virginia Square this year. The event, which lets participants dine on all-you-can-eat Rocky Mountain oysters while sipping all-you-can-drink beer and Crown …

Filed Under: Food, Project 365, Small Town Living Tagged With: 365project, blogs, cooking, Elmwood-Murdock, Food, Nebraska, Pioneer Woman, postaday, project365, recipe, Ree Drummond, Rocky Mountain Oysters, Testicle Festival, weird food

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