My Favorite Recipes: Meet Sharon Helmick, Colfax

Sharon Helmick of Colfax.

Sharon Helmick grew up in Colfax, the daughter of Boyd and Marie Harlow, with sisters Glenice and Bonnie.

When Mr. Harlow was ill during his last years, Sharon and husband Ken brought him back to their home in Colfax to care for him.

Her heart was always on the farm. She received the most ribbons at the Palouse Empire Fair one year with a variety of chickens and a calf. Since she loved chickens, her dad bought a variety of exotic ones for her. Sharon, Glenice and Bonnie slept outside under the stars with their big black dog in the summer. Their pet pig Dorothy, given by their Uncle Ray, would ride in the back of the pickup with the girls.

After graduating from Colfax High School in 1956, Sharon attended Washington State University for two-and-a-half-years, loving the social life but bored with the prerequisites required for physical therapy. Working for a dentist on Saturdays and summers during high school, she became interested in medical care.

Sharon began working for a dentist in Spokane Valley, got married, moved to California and had three children. After they moved back to Spokane, she taught home economics at Northwest Christian School to help pay for her children’s tuition. They then attended Shaw Junior High School and Rogers High School. While some people are nervous about those schools, her children flourished there and enjoyed the schools.

An oral surgery office was her next place of employment, and she credits the dentist with teaching her so much. Meanwhile, Heidi, Paul and Pete were growing up and leaving home. Pete survived a terrible motorcycle accident on his graduation day while riding on the Mount Spokane Day Road. In spite of a broken jaw, skull fracture and other serious injuries, he walked out of the hospital 13 days later. The principal came to their home two weeks after that to have a private graduation ceremony for Pete, with friends attending.

With her younger son at Washington State, she took the position of house mother, now called house director, with Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She loved this job for 11 years, treating the members like her own children, and they loved her little dog. House directors usually direct and supervise other employees, such as cooks, houseboys and any cleaning helpers. She continued to work for the oral surgeon during the summers.

Some of the sorority members still keep in touch with Sharon. As house mom, she experienced all sorts of college pranks and has observed naked boys riding motor scooters and boys sliding down stairways on twin-size mattresses.

Not much bothered her, and she was not shy about correcting bad behavior. She found the fraternity boy who helped himself to a hunk of the Gamma Phi fence for an evening fire, and he was soon back at the house, rebuilding the fence.

Ken and Sharon married in 1999 on a sailboat in the San Juan Islands. He wore a tux, she wore a lace dress and both wore deck shoes. He is a supervisor at the Compton Union Building on the Washington State University campus, and they were married during her last two years at Gamma Phi Beta. They occupied the house director’s apartment then. Ken was a great help in the sorority, doing handyman chores and helping in the kitchen when the cook was away.

The two are enjoying their home in Colfax, continuing to fix it up. They have one dog, Gus, a white Bolognese, which looks a lot like a Bijon, and he does not bark. Ken is working on roofing the house, with half done and the rest to finish this spring or summer.

Heidi, Sharon’s daughter, is a nurse who has worked at the neonatal intensive care unit and the cardiac care unit at Sacred Heart. Paul is a contractor, and Pete is a chemical engineer. With seven grandchildren, aged eight to 27 years of age, Sharon feels fortunate that they are all within driving distance. Three are in Coeur d’Alene, three are in Spokane and one is in Kirkland. The older ones are more involved and have less time for visiting grandparents.

Ken and Sharon love cruising, including two cruises to Alaska, and Ken has been to South America, while Sharon has been to Jamaica. They plan a cruise every two years. They love Alaska, and have taken two different routes. They leave a car with a son in Kirkland, and he takes them to the terminal and picks them up when they return.

For their next Alaskan cruise, they want to leave from Vancouver, British Columbia, and go to Sitka, where Alaska state troopers train. Sharon wants her photo taken with a trooper.

Ken is still working, and Sharon is retired. She thought there would be more time, but she seems quite busy with involvement in Daughters of the American Revolution, Athenaeum Club and Bible Study at Onecho Bible Church. She sews and knits, and she loves adult coloring books, which she finds very calming.

March Madness is a favorite time of the year, and she has her bracket filled out, which she and one of her sons enjoy. Ken retreats to the kitchen to watch something else when he is sick of basketball. Playing piano is an enjoyable hobby, and she thanks her parents for encouraging her to take lessons and keep practicing.

Sharon, like many adults, is having another round of braces, this time Invisiliners. She has had both hips and knees replaced, and at this point cannot think of anything else she wants replaced. She is too busy enjoying life.

Recipes:

The Wonderful “Colcannon”

1 pound green cabbage, shredded

1 pound peeled potatoes, cooked

6 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup cream, plus more if needed

1/2 cup butter

salt and pepper to taste

Cook cabbage until soft and potatoes until soft. Mash potatoes; add drained cabbage, scallions, cream and whip with mixer. Add butter, salt and pepper.

My Mom’s Salad Dressing

From Marie Harlow

1 cup canola oil

4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine and shake. Great for green salads.

Tuscan Kale Soup

1 can white beans, drained

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 medium chopped onions

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 ounces Spanish chorizo sausage, finely chopped

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 bay leaf

6 cups low-sodium chicken stock, or more if needed

4 cups fresh kale, cleaned and chopped

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sauté onion, sausage, and garlic. Add sweet potato, bay leaf, basil, salt and pepper. Add chicken stock and beans and bring to a boil; then simmer, covered, 25 minutes of longer. Remove bay leaf before serving.