Top 15 Show Essentials that often get forgotten- Don’t forget these!

As we pack and get ready to leave for the National Junior Shorthorn Show, we thought it would be a good idea to put together a list of items that often get forgotten. Below is the Top 15 items that we have forgotten and we don’t want you to make the same mistake!

  1. Show Stick
  • This may seem like a “no duh,” but we can’t name the amount of times that we had to borrow a show stick.
  1. Extra Socks and Shoes
  • You don’t want wet shoes all day after washing!
  1. Registration Papers & Health Papers
  1. Speakers/Headphones
  • Who doesn’t love some good tunes at a show?! But remember your surrounding and your audience, you’re a role model for your fellow members.
  1. Favorite Food/Snacks
  • Although fair and concession food is delicious, it can get tiring after a few days. Make sure to bring some of your favorite snacks! Below is a couple of our favorite food while attending shows!

Wyatt: crockpot cheesy potatoes, cake cookies, and hobo sandwiches

Faith: Chips, summer sausage & cheese, and sweet tea

Wade: crockpot breakfast burritos, peanut butter cornflake bars, and cinnamon rolls

  1. Lawn Chairs, Coolers, & Crockpots
  • Lawn chair for naps, cooler for drinks and food, and crockpots for cooking.
  1. Contest materials
  1. Boots
  • You don’t want to show in your barn shoes.
  1. Favorite Starched Show Jeans
  • You also don’t want to show in your barn jeans.
  1. Revive, Hocus Pocus, Tall Adhesive, & Paint
  • Although you can buy these at many shows, it’s easy to spend some big bucks if you forget these.
  1. Clippers
  • These are crucial in preparation for the showring.
  1. Extensions Cords
  • Clipper and blower cords are only so long….
  1. Wash Bucket, water hose, and foamer
  • You ever tried washing an animal without these? Good luck.
  1. Fans
  • Remember, “No Butt Fans in the Barn.” But they are allowed in tie outs
  1. Show Halters
  • It happens to everyone, double check before you leave!

We are 3 DAYS from Junior Nationals! We can’t wait to see you all in Tennessee!

ASA Members, welcome the newly formed band, “The Red Roans”

Our names are Wade, Wyatt, and Faith and we will be your entertainment (interns) for this summer’s tour. The biggest show of the year is scheduled in Lebanon, Tennessee, on June 17. We have been very busy preparing for the performance of the year and we’re ready for a week of “Strumming a Shorthorn Tune!” Our band members and stage crew here at ASA are excited for a fun filled week and can’t wait for the final performance!

Keyboard Player Wyatt

Is everyone ready for a good time?!? This past week in the office has been very busy but also very enjoyable! My main focus has been preparing the set list (exhibitor folders), designing graphics and preparing content for our social media pages. I have really enjoyed meeting my fellow band members (other interns, well only one of the interns since the one of them is my twin brother) and the stage crew (ASA staff) as we prepare for this great performance! I have really enjoyed Kansas City and look forward to exploring more! I’m very excited to meet you all in Tennessee!

Guitarist Faith

How’s everyone doing?! I have been Strumming a Shorthorn Tune all week as my band members (other interns) and I prepare for our upcoming concert! I have been working hard on ticket orders (entries) to make sure that you have all the correct information and payments to attend this great performance that you don’t want to miss. I’m excited to be here and can’t wait to learn more about Kansas City and the Shorthorn breed. Hope you’re ready to rock out and strum along with my crew and me! If you have any questions about your tickets (entries) make sure to contact me or our lead singer (Shelby Rogers) at any time!

Drummer Wade

Who’s ready to have some fun?! Hope you’re all ready to pack the seats and tap along to the best hits at the greatest concert of the summer. I have been incredibly busy preparing contests for our audience (Junior members) and making sure the week is filled with exciting and competitive activities. The fellow band members and set crew have enjoyed the last week of getting to know each other and we are looking forward for the final performance in Tennessee. Kansas City has been a good time and I’m excited for more adventures in the near future. Make sure to get your tickets booked and get ready to jam along to the newest and hottest hit of the summer!

 

We are 18 days away from the biggest concert of the summer and can’t wait to enjoy the fun filled week in Tennessee!

Intern Update: Favorite Beef Recipes

Hey there!

Abbey and Taylor again. We are officially in the month of June and less than a month out from Junior Nationals.  We’re so excited to be there and get to meet all of you. Entering entries to the computer and contacting members for exhibitor packet information makes us feel like we almost know you a bit. (Does that sound creepy? It might be.)

Today instead of giving you an update on our lives as interns (because really the only update is that we are working hard to have everything ready for Junior Nationals), we are going to share our favorite beef recipes. We were inspired to write this post after finding some AJSA aprons in a very cold storage room that Abbey dubbed as the ‘meat locker’.

Abbey’s recipe ­– There is this amazing little taco truck a couple towns over from where I went to high school in Colorado called Lucy’s Tacos. After trying many different items on their menu with at least 50 different options, I discovered their Carne Asada Fries.  When I moved 10 hours away to Oklahoma for college I had to find a way to keep these fries in my life, so I developed my own recipe.

AbCarne-asada-friesbey’s Carne Asada Fries

Prep time- 45 min. to an hour. (Most of this is down time letting the fries soak)

Cook Time-45 min. to an hour.

Total time- 1.5 to 2 hours.

Serving size – 4 people

Ingredients – Fries

  • 4 large russet potatoes
  • 2-3 tablespoon olive oil, or preferred cooking oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste (most days I like to add in a little garlic salt)

Ingredients – Toppings

  • Half pound to a pound of steak – depends on how much meat you want. I prefer a nice marble tri-tip steak for some extra flavor, but you can also use skirt steak of steak you want.
  • Weber Steak and Chop seasoning to taste
  • Shredded cheese – I like a three cheese Mexican blend, but from here on out the ingredients are all personal preference
  • Sour Cream
  • Avocado or guacamole
  • Salsa
  • Shredded lettuce

Instructions

  1. Cut the potatoes into sticks, about a quarter inch to half inch thick depending on how you like your fries. Then place the fries into a bowl of ice water and soak for 30 min. to an hour. This will help the fries to be nice and crunchy.
  2. Preheat oven to 425F
  3. After the fries have soaked, rinse and dry them thoroughly. Use 1 tablespoon of the oil to coat a baking sheet then toss the fries in the rest and season to taste. Spread the fries even over the baking sheet and cook at 425F for 45 min to an hour until nice and golden. Turn the fries about halfway through.
  4. After the fries are in the oven cut the steak into half inch cubes and coat the cubes in the Weber’s seasoning and let sit at room temperature until ready to cook.
  5. When the fries have about 15 min. left cook the meat in a skillet on medium0high heat. I like to use a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or a griddle for a nice sear but any skillet will work. If needed add a little bit of olive oil to keep the meat from sticking and burning.
  6. When the fries are nice and golden turn the oven off and remove them. I like to layer on some cheese and place the fries back in the still warm oven to melt the cheese.
  7. Plate the fries and add toping as desired.
  8. Enjoy!

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of my Carne Asada fries, but I have provided one I found from www.carlsbadcraving.com that is similar to what I based my recipe off.

stuffed peppers

Taylor’s Recipe:

As we all know, nothing beats Grandma’s cooking and I am pretty much certain my granny is the best cook of all! Growing up just a hop, skip, and a jump away from her house, I spent many days learning all the tricks to making the perfect dish. Moving 1,300 miles provided me with the chance to practice all that she taught me. Although, I will never be the cook she is, I think I have done a good job of perfecting a few recipes.  One of my all-time favorites to make is stuff bell peppers. Especially if they are fresh peppers straight out of Papa’s garden! With little preparation time, this is the perfect meal to toss in the oven on a busy night.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 30-45 minutes

Total time:  45-65 minutes

Serving size: 6-8 peppers

Ingredients:

  • 6-8 bell peppers
  • 1 box New Orleans dirty rice
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 can of tomato sauce (8 oz.)
  • Shredded Mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Brown the ground beef in a large frying pan and add in the chopped onion, cooking until the vegetable is softened.
  3. Next, add salt and pepper to taste, and then add the can of tomato sauce.
  4. Stir in cooked rice and cook for another 5 minutes or until the rice is warm. (Meanwhile, cut the tops of the peppers off and spoon out the rubs and seeds. Rinse.)
  5. Lightly, sprinkle the inside of the pepper with salt and fill the peppers with the hot meat and rice mixture.
  6. In the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish, put a ¼ cup of water (so you can steam the peppers while they are cooking).
  7. Place peppers in baking dish and top with shredded cheese.
  8. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees until the peppers are tender and the cheese is brown.
  9. Serve hot & enjoy!

apronsHope you have been practicing your beef cook-off recipes! It will be time to show those cooking skills off before you know it!

Shorthorn love,

Abbey & Taylor

The Intern Update: Our First Week

IMG_1829Hello AJSA members, Abbey and Taylor here, giving a little update of our first week and a half as interns!

Though the hours from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. seem to drag on every day with repetitive Junior National’s entries on Taylor’s part and going back and forth between design and updates for Abbey, the week as a whole has passed by fast.

Each day we start by going over our six most important things to accomplish. We compile these lists at the end of the previous work day. Scheduling and prioritizing is key for us to accomplish all our tasks in time for the National Junior Shorthorn Show. But we can and are excited to do our jobs!

Abbeys perspective: I’m usually a person that likes to sit down and get as much of a project done at once. However, that is so not possible with this position. I have many different tasks to work on and accomplish in hopes to help make this year’s NJSS one of the best yet.  So with that I am having to force myself to space out my time and work on items just a little bit. This fact excites me for one (probably a little nerdy) reason: I love to learn! Even if it’s something simple like a new way to manage my time and work. That’s what this internship is for, to build on my knowledge as an agricultural communicator and better all my skills. It also helps to have a boss as awesome as Gwen and all the other great people in the office. Getting settled in has been a breeze.IMG_1858

Taylor’s Perspective: It is hard to believe we are getting ready to wrap up our second week here at ASA. I have never visited Kansas City before, so I have been spending some time sightseeing on the weekends. This past Saturday I ate at Joe’s Kansas City barbeque and I can definitely say it was worth all the fuss. I’ve never had better gas station BBQ in my life! J  It has been a few long and tiresome days getting all of you guys Jr. National’s entry forms in, but gladly I am no longer buried underneath paperwork. It may have been with some help of a few Starbucks coffees, but I managed to get everyone entered.  After typing the same name multiple times, I feel like I personally know each of you!

Gwen, Montie and the rest of the staff have been awesome! Each one willing to offer help whenever needed and give a little wisdom here and there.  I think I can speak for Abbey as well, when I say that I find myself fortunate to have an internship with people who are willing to help prepare me for my future.  I am really excited to learn and grow as a person this summer and know that this experience will be one for the books. Stay tuned for more updates as the weeks progress!IMG_1859

The countdown to Jr. National’s is on and we cannot wait to meet you all!

-Abbey & Taylor

Summer 2016 Internships Announced

We would like to welcome to the ASA/AJSA team our summer 2016 interns, Abbey Martin and Taylor Wilkinds.

Abbey Martin of Rocky Ford, Colorado is attending Oklahoma State University with a major in Agricultural Communications and a minor in Agribusiness. She will be receiving her diploma upon Abbeycompletion of her internship here at ASA. She is most excited about working with professionals in the industry and improving her skills in a true work environment. She hopes to learn some of the ins and out of what a breed association does on a day to day basis and how she can improve and progress in the industry. Martin’s livestock background consists of helping her parents with their 40 head herd, showing steers in 4-H for nine years, along with her experience of being a carcass data collector on the end of the production side.

 

 

Taylor Wilkins comes to us from Brooker, Florida. She is from a small rural county where she grew up raising and showing market steers, as well as purebred Angus heifers. She is attending Iowa TaylorState University majoring in Agricultural & Life Sciences Education. Wilkin’s is looking forward to being surrounded by professionals/experts in the industry and is excited to work with a group of individuals who share similar passions as her. She is thrilled about the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience, and is excited to learn how the association functions on a daily basis. In addition, she hopes to learn more about the Shorthorn breed itself and the impact it has on the cattle market.

Reserve Your NJSS Booth Today!

Reserve Your Booth Today!

njss_2016_logo 2The Trade Show at the NJSS is a top networking event each year. Why should you have a booth at the 2016 NJSS in St Paul, Minnesota, July 2-7 this year? The numbers speak for themselves. This is a ‘must attend’ event for anyone in the business!

Event Demographics

  • 400+ Youth Exhibitors
  • 5 Days of upbeat, action-packed, competitive & educational youth
  • 2,000+ Parents, Family, Professional Crew & Seedstock Breeders

Click here to fill out the booth registration form.

Booth Options & Prices Include: 

  • 10 x 10 Inside Booth – $300
  • 10 x 20 Inside Booth – $600
  • 10 x 30 Inside Booth – $1,000
  • 20 x 20 Inside Booth – $1,150
  • 20 x 30 Inside OR Outside Booth – $1,600
  • Electrical Hookup or Internet – $50 OR Both for $75

Please send payment and contract to:
AJSA, Attn: Trade Show 7607 NW Platte View Road, Kansas City, MO 64151.

For more information about the trade show please contact Kathy Heise at 651-345-4997 or Gwen Crawford at 816.599.7777.

2016 Junior National

The 2016 NJSS will be held July 2-7 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Find all of the new and updated information about the 2016 Junior National Shorthorn Show here!

The Edge Goes Digital

The Edge Newsletter, your reliable guide to all things NJSS, is now available in electronic format only. Read it on the AJSA or ASA website, find a link on our ASA Facebook page OR download and print it out at home.  Just don’t wait for your mail carrier to deliver it, because it’s ONLINE ONLY in 2016! Click here to read the Edge 2016 Newsletter.