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• Musical Instruments
  • (the Haygood’s harp thing I mentioned can be seen here: https://lhs.fyi/LU (YouTube) 

This Weekend in Hedonism

• Cheryl’s Recipe Corner
  • Mom’s Macaroni Salad
  • Description:
    • My mother made this macaroni salad for any BBQ, outdoor holiday (like Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) and since yesterday was the 4th of July in the US, it seemed like the perfect time to drag out this recipe and dust it off.  Everyone loved this salad, except for me because of being a super picky eater growing up.  BUT, when I got older, I discovered it was very tasty, and now folks request that I make it for get-togethers.
  • Ingredients
    • 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
    • 4 large hard boiled eggs, (3 chopped; 1 sliced for garnish)
    • 1 cup finely diced onion (any type of onion is fine, red adds color, though!)
    • 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
    • 1 cup diced red bell pepper (optional)
    • 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (or chopped sweet pickles)
    • 2 cups creamy salad dressing (Miracle Whip or mayonnaise; I grew up with mom using Miracle Whip, but it’s still very good just using Mayo)
    • 3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
    • ¾ cup white sugar (less if you’re using Miracle Whip, which is already very sweet)
    • 2 ¼ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ teaspoon celery seed
    • Paprika
  • Directions
    • Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
    • Add elbow macaroni and cook for 8 minutes, until al dente. Drain, and set aside to cool. (do not rinse!)
    • In a large bowl, combine macaroni, eggs, onion, celery and red bell pepper.
    • In a small bowl, whisk together the salad dressing, pickle relish, mustard, white sugar, vinegar, salt and celery seed. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.
    • Cover and chill for at least 1 hour (overnight is better).  Lay egg slices on top and sprinkle with Paprika before serving
  • Notes:
    • If you’re not a fan of fresh celery, leave it out… but definitely use celery seed to give it that celery boost (it makes the salad).
    • The diced red peppers are optional as well, but it does add color and texture.  I don’t typically use them… but green will work just as well, if you want to have peppers in the salad.
    • I always add a splash of sweet pickle juice to my salad, and typically leave out the sugar (I do taste-test as I’m making the dressing, to make sure that the sugar level is appropriate; you want it sweet, but not “candy sweet”)
    • Dijon mustard can also be used, but I like using the bright yellow mustard.
    • If you’re not familiar with Miracle Whip, it’s a sweet version of Mayo.  Russ hated Miracle Whip (and I have grown out of wanting it on sandwiches and such, partially because I didn’t buy it due to Russ’s dislike), so mayo is perfectly fine to use.  BUT, you will want to add a bit of sugar to the mayo to help get the dressing to an appropriate sweetness.
• Cheryl’s Mixed Drink Corner
  • Blueberry Mojito
  • Description:
    • Summer calls for refreshing drinks, and this is one of my favorites!
  • Ingredients
    • 1 1/4 cups blueberries (about 8 ounces) 
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup mint leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
    • 2 limes, quartered
    • 1 cup silver rum
    • 1 cup sparkling water 
  • Directions
    • In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of the blueberries, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and 2 tablespoons water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, breaking up the blueberries with a potato masher or wooden spoon and stirring occasionally, until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and press through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl. Let cool at room temperature for 15 minutes or refrigerate for up to 4 days.
    • In a large pitcher, muddle the mint leaves and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar with a muddler or wooden spoon until the mint is bruised and fragrant and the sugar starts to dissolve. Add the lime wedges and continue muddling until the limes are juiced. Stir in the blueberry syrup, rum, and sparkling water. 
    • Divide the remaining blueberries among 4 tall glasses. Fill them with ice and pour in the blueberry mojitos. Garnish each glass with a sprig of mint.
  • Notes:
    • You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for this.  Or substitute any berry (Blackberry, Strawberry, Raspberry… or a mix of berries) you’d like.  No need to defrost the frozen berries, just toss them in the saucepan with the sugar and water and simmer as directed.
    • If you’d like a non-alcoholic version, leave out the rum and add more sparkling water or a lemon-lime soda (like Sprite, Starry, etc)
    • If you’re not a mint fan, you can swap with basil or lemon balm. Just don’t skip the muddling step to release all that fresh flavor.
    • If you’ve not heard the term “Silver Rum” before, it’s the clear rum you find on the shelves in the liquor store.
    • The syrup is useful for things beyond alcoholic beverages. Drizzle it over pancakes or waffles, stir it into lemonade or iced tea, or spoon it over vanilla ice cream. It also mixes nicely into yogurt or sparkling water for a fruity treat.
• Russ’s Drink Corner (now hijacked by Cheryl - and probably occasionally by Bill!)
  • Item: Ironroot Harbinger
  • Description: The Ironroot Republic Distillery (aka Likarish Family Distillery - started by mother Marsha and sons Robert and Jonathan) first opened to the public in 2014. One of 27 distilleries (and growing) on the Texas Whiskey Trail, Ironroot utilizes heirloom corn varietals from local farms to add a unique Texas flavor to their spirits.  Harbinger is their flagship bourbon which is a cask-strength, non-chill filtered, over-proof sipping bourbon that, as their first release, was the herald of things to come at Ironroot.
  • Details:
    • Region: Distilled at Ironroot Republic/Likarish Enterprises - Denison, Texas; 
    • Info: 2018 Edition; 27 Months Aged
    • Mashbill: A mix of 90% Heirloom Texas Corns: Purple Corn, Bloody Butcher Corn, Flint Corn, non-GMO Yellow Dent Corn.  10% Texas Rye
    • ABV: 57.5% ABV/115 proof
    • Color: Dark Amber
    • Nose: Vanilla. Cooked brown sugar with a hint of Maple Syrup. Texas Corn – it’s odd, sweet/sour twang. Orange marmalade, and cherry
    • Taste: Extremely oaky.  Weird pie crust taste (bitter, almost).  Light cherry taste. Baking spices, cinnamon, cloves.  Bitter coffee (which could be affecting the pie crust taste, adding to the bitter).  Mild Rye heat, but not overwhelming.  In an odd way, it really tastes like a poorly made cherry pie (light on the cherries) with a cup of old, extremely strong coffee.  BUT, it works.
    • Finish: Short to medium length. Lingering Texas Corn. Brown sugar. Light cherry. Very slight hint of orange. Toasted Oak. Oily (the mouthfeel on this specific Bourbon is unlike others I have tried that have had an oily complexity).
    • Cost: $65 (only available in Texas, AFAIK, because they have some weird liquor laws)
    • Score: 91 - The bottle is a fair price; the taste (although odd, and not terribly smooth) is interesting - in a good way.  A drop of water did seem to cut the “funk” a bit and changed the taste profile (brought out a touch more of the orange).
    • Note: IMO, Texas is far too hot for a smooth bourbon; all of them we have tried have been “eh” to “okay” to “good”… but none have been great.  All the extreme heat does is make the whiskey over-oak far too fast before the ethanol can be tamed and the more subtle flavors of the wood and distillate can come together.  The day we visited Ironroot (July 2018) and toured the rickhouse (which was in a metal warehouse) it was UNBEARABLY hot (I think the themometer on the wall said 120 degrees).  We were only in that area about 5 minutes because it was so overwhelming.  But if the whiskey is baking in temps like that for several months out of the year (I used to live in Dallas, which is 75ish miles from Denison - Texas weather is not for the weak!), it’s going to end up producing a whiskey that has some “funk” to it.  Places like Tennessee and Kentucky have more distinct seasons… cold winters, hot summers, mild spring and fall.  Texas just tends to have varying degrees of heat… with the occasional ice storm thrown in for good measure.
• Bill’s Whatever Corner
  • Item: Jowler Creek Beaver Blend 2020 - Red Wine

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  • Memorial Service for Russ, K5TUX
    • There will be a memorial service held for Russ at our home in Mt. Vernon, Missouri on November 1, 2026.  Everyone is welcome!  If you’d like to join us, please send an email to [email protected] and we’ll send you more info!
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  • @PaulGriffith on YouTube Episode 620 Comments:
    • I like Avocado Bacon Lettuce Tomato on whole wheat, and sometimes as a wrap.
  • Patrick Barkey N9RV Shared WRTC from Lee G0MTN
    • The special callsigns to be used in WRTC 2026 will be revealed near the end of the Opening Ceremony around 18.00 UTC on Thursday 9th July. They will be published on the home page of https://www.wrtc2026.org immediately afterwards. With thanks to Bill W9KKN, an update to the SuperCheckPartial files to include these callsigns will also be made available at that time. https://www.supercheckpartial.com/
    • Site builds have commenced. A team of volunteer site builders met for training on Saturday to build the first site, and then split into groups to complete the 50 site builds in the coming days. This is progressing well - great work. See more at: https://www.wrtc2026.org/2026/07/05/site-builds-commence/
    • The World Radio League (WRL) online scoreboard dedicated page is available at https://worldradioleague.com/wrtc  During the contest the YouTube commentary feed will be visible on this page, but in its place now is an explainer video showing how to get best use of the available data.
    • Reminders: There will be daily YouTube TV shows starting Wednesday 8th July at 16.30 UTC, as well as the contest livestream itself which can be viewed separately from WRL. Go to YouTube here to subscribe and be notified of these  https://www.youtube.com/@WRTC2026/streams
    • Please get on the air to support the event. Submit IARU HF Championship logs as normal https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/ which will support the adjudication process. Chaser awards will be available from https://www.wrtc2026.org/wrtc-2026-competition-awards/
    • WRTC Information: https://lhs.fyi/LT (WRTC 2026 Main Page)
  • Updates since 621 our featured topic of OscarWatch.

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