
Half way there! Typical western Kansas scene. Later

As I said earlier, each year I receive gifts of cookies, cakes and candy from my customers. I don’t know how I could have a group of such good cooks in one area.
So, I am going to have a contest where I pick the entries and the winner. In all fairness, there are some gifts that I just haven’t been able to taste yet. The entries below have been tasted and in some cases completely consumed. They will be in no order of tastiness.
Kathy was the first in. Actually, she brought her warm, gooey cinnamon rolls in to the post office the first of December. They were wonderful.
John has the reputation of peanut brittle. Actually, we kind of work him on this. We start around Halloween with a reminder when we see him about how much we love his brittle. Tom, the Postmaster, and I both received a sack and it was superior as usual. He spares no peanuts.
Jeanne and Nancy are a mother/daughter team. Their cookies are excellent in that it is a creative, yet simple plate. Every entry is superior in flavor—it is hard to beat a plate where every cookie is good.
Sandy gets a nod because of her sheer volume. She doesn’t just bring at Christmas. We have delicious entries from Sandy all year. Her brother is a fancy chief so she has secret ingredients which pull her entries up a notch.
Geneva’s plate is a hard one to beat because of her use of the best ingredients. Her cookies taste like pure butter. She uses some kind of pastry thing that makes little butter cookies that are excellent. Also, I love those cranaisins (I think they are dried cranberries) with Black walnuts in an oatmeal cookie.
John’s muffins—what can I say—they are absolutely the best. He makes some kind of basic muffin recipe and then crams in a ton of stuff such as butterscotch chips, walnuts, and who knows who else. They are wonderful. I also “hint around” for these anytime I see him out at the box. (I am not proud)
The last entry is Dale’s cookies. Dale does not get fancy. He specializes in just one kind. These cookies actually melted in my mouth. They are so good, that I think I will freeze a few to take to Colorado Springs so the family (all excellent cookie makers in their own right) can taste them. I am not sure what basic recipe Dale uses, but he puts dates, nuts, chocolate chips and possibly the kitchen sink in these bad boys. He told me today when he met me at the box with the cookies that I would not be able to eat only one. He was absolutely right.
Dale Wins!
I am glad to hear of a good Norton harvest as I do enjoy that particular wine. It is a dry,dark, rich wine that is delicious with a meal or sipping in the hot tub."We had the biggest grape harvest ever. Despite a little rain, the mid
August harvest of Vignoles proved to have good fruit. The Vidal harvest
was very large—so large in fact that we sold two tons of grapes to another
winery. The Norton grape was the last to be harvested in August and it
looks good."