My Favorite Recipe 7/7/11

Jana Mathia | Jul 07, 20110

Meet Melissa Gallegos, Garfield

After living in bigger cities for so long, Melissa Gallegos and her family wanted a simpler life. They found that life when they moved to Garfield in 2010 to be closer to her parents, Joe and Kathy Merry.

Melissa lived in Goldendale for 28 years before moving to Yakima for two years and then Centralia where she and her family lived for seven years before coming to Garfield. In Yakima she earned her degree in early childhood education. “I love kids,” she said. She was able to indulge in that for the two years when she taught preschool at Yakima. She had started home schooling her daughter, Kelsey, in Goldendale, and in Centralia she home schooled in a cooperative with a group of Christian parents until Kelsey was in the eighth grade.

When her son, Jacob, was born, Melissa stayed at home with him due to his autism. During that time she picked up a new skill, writing internet coding for web sites. She also got into graphic design.

“It was an outlet to be artistic,” she noted. While she had taken some computer classes in high school, most of the graphic design she did was self-taught.

“I love graphic art too,” she said.

Melissa has been able to indulge in that love as the graphic designer and webmaster for the Whitman County Gazette. She joined the Gazette in April after working as an assembler at Schweitzer since moving to the Palouse.

Now, instead of assembling components, she assembles graphics and builds advertisements for the newspaper. While the design aspect is the same as what she is used to, she’s using different software and working on a Mac instead of a PC. She also keeps up and updates the Gazette website.

For 27 years with her husband, Richard, Melissa was the at-home parent while he was the provider. Those roles are now reversed as Richard has been disabled since 2007. Before that time he was a maintenance electrician.

“He’s now the stay-at-home parent,” Melissa said.

The change has been good for Jacob, now seven. Melissa confessed she is more of a spoiler, but Richard is a bit stricter.

“It’s so good for our son for him (Richard) to stay at home,” she noted.

While Richard is good at keeping things clean, he is having to learn to cook meals and that can be interesting. He is also learning how hard being the at-home parent really is.

“It’s a 24 hour, seven day a week thing,” Melissa said. Although now in the role of provider, Melissa still does a lot of cooking on the weekends, making bigger meals so leftovers can be eaten later and preparing casseroles that are frozen until needed.

Melissa comes from a long line of great cooks. From her rancher maternal grandparents she learned to cook big quantities. From her mother-in-law she learned authentic Mexican cooking. Richard is half-Spanish, half-Mexican. His mother always intended to teach the family recipes to whoever he married.

Melissa noted that it can be hard to think Richard is Spanish-Mexican with his fair skin, blue eyes and blonde hair.

“I think my daughter actually speaks more Spanish than he does,” she said.

Richard’s great-grandfather emigrated from Spain. Richard’s father learned English as a second language, but never passed on his native tongue.

One thing that is hereditary in the family is height. Richard is six-feet four-inches tall. Kelsey, now 19, is six feet tall and Jacob, who will be attending first grade at Garfield in the fall, is already four and a half feet tall.

When at home, Melissa likes to garden and spend time with her family. They like to explore the area, checking out old barns and the Palouse scenery.

“It’s just really beautiful,” she said.

When Jacob isn’t taking classes as part of an extended school year program, he and dad go for drives and exploring. They also like to work outside.

Kelsey is now a sophomore at Spokane Falls Community College at Glaldish in Pullman.

Recipes:

Oriental Hamburger Casserole

This is a very easy and delicious casserole that my mom, Kathy Merry, first had in 1970.

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 can cream of celery

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can water

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Julienne water chestnuts can be added if desired

Mix well, pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, uncovered. Add one can of Chinese hard noodles to the top of casserole and bake for 10 additional minutes.

Rieska

This family recipe came to America from Finland with my great-great-grandparents when they immigrated through Staten Island. My great-grandma, Ilma Huhtala, made this American version (with shortening) for our family. This is what she wrote on her recipe, “In Finland this bread had no shortening—rich milk only (cream)—patted out on a floured board, scooped up with a long handle spatula, and baked on the bottom of the oven (brick) without any pan.”

4 cup all-purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2-3 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup graham or rye flour

2 cups milk

1/4 cup shortening

Sift together first four ingredients and mix in graham or rye flour. Make a well in the flour and pour in milk and shortening. Mix well.

On a well greased cookie sheet, pat out into a 15 to 16 inch rectangle or divide it into 2 parts, roll out as a thick pie crust and put on cookie sheets. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until well browned. This soft and chewy flat bread is delicious with butter.

Zucchini Baked Casserole

3 cup zucchini, grated

1 cup biscuit mix (Bisquick)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 cup cheddar cheese, grated

4 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup green pepper, minced

salt and pepper to taste.

Combine, mix and pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

1 6 oz pkg. Stuffing Mix

3/4 cup butter, melted

3 cups diced zucchini

2 cup cubed, cooked chicken

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 med. carrot, shredded

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sour cream

In large bowl combine stuffing mix and butter, reserve 1/2 cup for topping. Combine everything else with remaining stuffing mix. Transfer to a greased 2 qt. baking dish, sprinkle with reserve stuffing mixture, bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.