My favorite recipes

When Kathy Miller began teaching in Twin Falls, Idaho, she probably had never heard of Whitman County, let alone Endicott. A graduate of Caldwell High School and The College of Idaho in Caldwell, she hadn’t thought much about living in out-of-state places.

That was before she met fellow first-year teacher, Daryl Storment, a graduate of Eastern Washington University. After a year in Twin Falls, they each took positions in Yakima where they married. The couple taught seven years in Yakima, making friends and enjoying their jobs until the opportunity came for Daryl to return to the family farm.

When Kathy retired a couple of years ago, she had added 23 years of teaching in Endicott for a grand total of 31 years. She earned her fifth year certification from Central Washington University and a master’s degree in curriculum and supervision with principal’s credentials from Gonzaga University.

Kathy experienced the transition to the St. John-Endicott Cooperative and moving from middle grades to junior high. She taught in a field of interest, art, for a number of years while teaching middle school. An experienced oil painter, she works in many other media. After seeing a friend’s newly purchased water color many years ago, she took a class at WSU and began painting in water color.

She headed the Endicott-St. John Corps of Discovery for many years, helping students research local history, which culminated in a trip to Washington, D.C., each year for students who completed the group requirements. Dr. Richard Scheuerman began the project, which he named for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, which explored the new Louisiana Purchase in the early 1800s.

A large part of advising the group was raising funds, so Kathy was a very busy teacher.

Kathy was reared in Caldwell near Lake Lowell, a local landmark not far from Ste. Chapelle Winery. Her father farmed and her mother was a good cook but a very busy nurse, so meals at home were efficiently done. Kathy’s mom had quick recipes, did lots of canning with the luscious local fruit grown in the Lake Lowell area and was a great pie baker. Kathy began canning while living in Yakima, with its abundance of fresh, local fruit.

As newlyweds, the Storments began life together cooking. They developed many Mexican recipes while in Yakima, adding more recipes and more heat—spicy heat—as time went on. As a young couple, they hosted post-harvest barbecues, Super Bowl parties and kids birthday parties. Then came large holiday dinners, larger graduation parties, and a full-scale wedding reception. They hosted a meal for Lyle Honn’s harvest bee, serving 150 people.

Their son Sean is married to Jenny, lives in Pullman and has three sons, Greg, Seager, and Matthew. His wedding reception dinner was at their country home. Sean manages apartments in Pullman, and Jenny works at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.

Their daughter Suzanna, an attorney in Seattle, is married to Will, a Seattle police officer. They met at WSU, so they number among the many Coug fans in the Emerald City.

With just the two of them at home now, Daryl and Kathy are eating more hummus and vegetables, simpler food in general, with an emphasis on dishes that can be served for several meals, planned-overs, giving them higher status than mere leftovers. Their dog Princess, a chow mix rescued by daughter-in-law Jenny, keeps an eye on the proceedings.

Their daughter Suzanna has caught the cooking bug to the point that she and Will seldom go out to eat in Seattle because she has something creative going in her own kitchen. She seems to have inherited her Grandmother Miller’s baking gene, as she loves to bake.

The Storment’s have discovered cruising in their retirement. They love to shop for bargains, and they have taken two repositioning cruises. On those cruises, a ship is moving at the end of a season from one area of operation to another. One year they cruised from Florida to Canada, with stops in the New England states and Canada’s maritime provinces. This past year they cruised from Florida through the Panama Canal to British Columbia, with stops along the way.

Kathy and Daryl finished building their home in the country west of Winona when Suzanna was little. They did much of the work themselves, and included space for offices and hobbies. They hung sheet rock, laid tile and grouted, installed plumbing and appliances and painted. A chopping block from the old Lake Lowell Service near Caldwell has its own niche in their kitchen.

However, Pullman beckons them, so their house in the country is on the market. They have decided they’d prefer to live closer to Sean and Jenny and help out with babysitting and attend grandkid events. It’s much easier to do those things living in Pullman, and they’re hoping to attend more events at WSU.

Recipes:

Pineapple Banana Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

(optional—1 to 2 cups grated zucchini)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat the eggs, oil and vanilla; add pineapple and bananas (optional—zucchini). Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into two greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Do Ahead Mashed Potatoes

—Perfect for large holiday dinners

8 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 cup sour cream

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup milk

3 Tablespoons onion salt

salt and pepper to taste

Lightly butter 9 x 14 oval baking dish. Boil potatoes until tender, drain. Mash with electric mixer. Add sour cream, cream cheese, 5 Tablespoons butter, milk, onion salt, salt and pepper. Put in baking dish and dot with remaining butter. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven until heated through and lightly brown, about 30 minutes.

Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Popover Pizza

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 envelope spaghetti sauce mix

1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella cheese

1 large onion, chopped

1 (15 ounce ) can tomato sauce

Popover batter:

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup flour

Brown beef with onion in large skillet; pour off fat. Add sauce mix, tomato sauce, and 1/2 cup water. Simmer 10 minutes. Spoon into greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Top with mozzarella cheese. Put in oven at 400 degrees F to keep hot.

For batter, beat eggs, milk, and oil with rotary beater. Add flour and salt and beat until smooth. Pour over hot pizza filling, making certain you cover fully. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until puffed and deep golden brown. Cut into squares and serve immediately.

Hayes Colorado Slush

1 (46 ounce) can pineapple juice

1 (46 ounce) can apricot nectar

1 (12 ounce) can orange juice concentrate

1 (12 ounce) can lemonade concentrate

1 pint apricot brandy

1 cup to 1 fifth vodka

7-Up

Mix first six ingredients and freeze till it forms a slush. Scoop out with ice cream scoop. Fill glass 2/3 to 3/4 full. Add 7-Up to fill. Sip with a straw.