My Favorite Recipes: Meet Lynn Fleharty

 

Lynn Fleharty

Albion librarian Lynn Fleharty provides story times and Play and Learn programs for youth and a book club for adults.

The Albion Library is a busy place. With a population of just under 600, the town has a full square block park in its center where the old brick high school serves as the community center and fire station. There is also a basketball court, baseball diamond and playground. The library is on the first floor of the old school and provides not only books, DVD’s and public computers, but is an important gathering place for citizens of all ages. Librarian Lynn Fleharty provides story times and Play and Learn programs for youth and a book club for adults.

Lynn’s path to the Albion library was a long and interesting one.

She was born in Bremerton and grew up on Bainbridge Island.

She came to the eastside for a degree in education from WSU. That’s when her travels really began.

Upon graduation she did a short stint teaching in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before taking a position in the Alaskan Bush.

For the next 23 years she and her husband, Randy, taught in the remote Eskimo villages along the Bering Sea Coast in a school district the size of Illinois.

There were no roads and so they had to fly a long way in a tiny plane to connect with the rest of the world.

Lynn taught elementary and Jr.

High, and Randy taught math and science.

He also commercial fished and eventually ended up with a complex IT job keeping the remote schools in the Bering Strait school district connected to each other and the district office.

Each village had only a few hundred people in it.

One year she taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade in one room, but there were only 10 kids.

There were 15 schools in the Bering Strait School district, all of them remote, traditional Eskimo villages.

The school had its own plane to fly kids and staff around between schools like a school bus.

Upon retirement from teaching Lynn, Randy and their children Kendra and James moved back to the lower 48. They returned to the Palouse when Randy took an IT job at WSU. Kendra transferred from the University of Alaska to graduate from WSU but is now back in Alaska working on a pilot’s license. James started high school when they moved to Albion and is now in his second year at WSU studying engineering.

In addition to reading, Lynn enjoys gardening and yoga. A lot of people recognize her because she rides a bike with baskets of bright yellow flowers to and from her work at the library.

“It's been wonderful to be a part of this community and getting to know the patrons as they come in. In a town where there is no place to gather in, like a cafe or a store. I hope the library gives people a place to meet neighbors.”

The library hours are Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m.-noon and Thursday 3:30-7:30 p.m. Adults, teens and children can sign up for Summer Reading right now and read to win prizes. Information for everything can be found on the Whitman County Library website.

Recipes

Black-Eyed Peas and Basmati Rice

1 cup basmati rice

1 ½ - 2 cups black-eyed peas

Olive oil

1 yellow onion

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 orange or red bell pepper, diced

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp oregano

1 Tbsp basil

1/4-1/2 tsp cumin

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp honey

Cook beans and save the liquid. Cook rice in 2 cups of water for 45 minutes. Saute onion and peppers in oil until tender. Add bay leaves, oregano, cumin, and basil. Cook 15-30 seconds. Add saved bean liquid. (About 2 cups or so. Add water if you don’t have enough bean liquid.) Simmer 15 minutes keeping an eye on liquid level Add vinegar and simmer 10 minutes more. Add beans. Simmer 10 minutes. Add bean broth or water to gain desired chili-like consistency. Add honey. Ladle over rice. Serve with sliced cheese.

Chicken in Apple and Onion Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup apple juice

1 onion thickly sliced

1 clove minced garlic

1 ½ tsp fresh thyme or ½ t dried

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 apple, cored and thinly sliced

Pound chicken breasts to ½ inch thickness. Heat oil, add chicken and saute for about 3 minutes until brown. Add apple juice, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cook 10 minutes until chicken is fork tender. Heat to boiling. Add mustard and blend. Add apples and cook until tender. Add a bit of flour to thicken if desired.

Jamie’s Favorite Cheese Scones

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

4 Tbsp butter

¾ cup buttermilk

1 cup grated cheese

Mix all of the ingredients and knead dough 6-7 times. Pat into a ½ inch thick round. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cut into pie wedges. Brush tops with buttermilk. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Cedar Planked Salmon

Brine salmon in 4-6 cups of water, ½ cup sugar, and ½ cup brown sugar (enough to cover salmon) for 4-6 hours. Soak a cedar plank. Heat grill to 400 degrees or so then turn to low. Place salmon on cedar and sprinkle with salt and pepper and 3-6 sprigs of rosemary. At 10 minutes sprinkle with garlic powder. Cook another 10 to 20 minutes.

 

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