My favorite recipes

Diane and Randy Daniels can hardly believe that they’ve been in Colfax for 21 years, because the time has gone by so quickly. Their three children are grown and working, and they have time for activities that they both enjoy.

Diane was born in Moscow and adopted by her parents, going home when she was five days old to their farm near Troy, Idaho. Her brothers were adopted through an agency. She was adopted privately because her parents feared they wouldn’t be able to adopt a third child. So, her parents had two children less than a year apart.

Randy and Diane met while she was still in high school and he was a student at Lewis-Clark State College. After graduation, she went to LCSC, and they married in 1980. While living in Lewiston, she worked for the US Department of Agriculture, and Randy worked for the City of Lewiston in surveying and engineering.

Daughter Christi was born in 1985, and daughter Mandi arrived in 1987. Brandon was born in 1989, and shortly after that Randy accepted a job at Whitman County as an engineer. Diane feels privileged to have become a stay-at-home mother when her second child was born.

They loved living in Lewiston and were near her parents, but eventually moved to Colfax to end Randy’s commute. After moving, she wondered why she was resistant to the change. They have loved raising their family here.

Randy works for Avista Corporation, and Diane works for WSU Foundation.

Christi graduated from Colfax High School in 2003 and from Eastern Washington University, where she met her husband Tyson Curtis, a Colfax grad whom she didn’t know, as he is six years older. She lives in Redmond and works for WesTower Communications as a data analyst.

Tyson is a medical training officer for Pioneer Human Services.

Mandi graduated from Colfax HS in 2005 and from Eastern Washington University. She works for Bright Horizons, a pre-school contracted by Microsoft Corporation to provide services for 600 children, newborn through age five, on the campus at Redmond. Next year Bright Horizons will provide kindergarten classes. Mandi teaches a class of 12 two-year olds.

Brandon, their son, graduated from Colfax High School in 2007. Living in Colfax, he works for the Whitman County Landfill.

At WSU Foundation for the past eleven years, Diane has accumulated several items in her job description. She is the principal assistant to the chief operations officer, primary support for marketing, communications, and information technology. When the receptionist retired a few years ago, volunteers were solicited to meet the public and answer the phone. So, Diane works from the front desk and is usually the friendly person who greets visitors to the foundation’s office in downtown Pullman.

In Colfax, Randy began volunteering to help coach his children’s sports, but he enjoyed it so much that he continues to work with the boys’ basketball team and the track team. As ardent WSU fans, Diane and Randy are volunteer officials for indoor and outdoor track meets.

There will be an important NCAA qualifying meet at WSU next year, so they will be training for certification as officials for that meet.

Since the Athletic Department knows them from officiating, they were asked to serve as concierges in the new premium seating area at Martin Stadium last fall. The view was amazing, and they agree that the great artwork in the box seating areas, white and gray paintings with crimson of famous Cougar games, needs to be repeated all over the stadium.

The Daniels’ have pulled their travel trailer to Canada and the Oregon Coast, but now they frequently meet their kids in the center of the state to fish and camp. They’re a close-knit family and enjoy the time together.

Randy and Diane attend the Church of the Nazarene in Colfax and are involved with church activities.

One of Diane’s treasured possessions is a cookbook of handwritten recipes from her mother. She aspires to create such books for her own children. She shares a few recipes sure to be included.

Recipes:

Cheese Ball

2 cups sharp or medium cheddar cheese, grated

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

1/4 cup margarine

1 Tablespoon minced onion

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients except nuts. Shape in one or two balls. Roll in nuts. Refrigerate.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup milk

1 egg slightly beaten

1/4 cup minced onion

2 Tablespoons parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients and make 1-inch meatballs. Brown meatballs in skillet or in a 350 degree F oven.

Sauce:

1/4 cup vinegar

1 1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup catsup

1/4 cup margarine

4 teaspoons prepared mustard

Boil sauce ingredients 1 to 2 minutes in microwave and pour over meatballs.

Fruit Dip

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup milk

1 package instant vanilla pudding

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple (undrained)

1/3 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Mix ingredients and refrigerate for one hour before serving. Serve with apples, strawberries, grapes, kiwi, bananas, etc.

Seven Layer Cookie Bars

1 stick butter, melted

2 cups graham crackers, crushed

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup coconut

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 can Eagle brand milk

In a 9 x 13-inch pan, melt butter, add crushed graham crackers and all other ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.