MY FAVORITE RECIPES By Mary Collins: Meet Molly Overby

Molly Overby wasn’t born in Colfax, but her mother was and summers spent with grandparents, Jim and Jerry James meant Whitman County was always at least a second home. Molly grew up living in California, the Tri-Cities and Utah, and lived in Texas for a while after marriage to her husband Kent. But they and her parents all found their way back to this area between 2000 when her parents, Terry and Jackie Ryan, moved to the family farm, and 2014 when Molly and Kent moved to Colfax.

Kent works for Facilities Services at WSU while Molly is the Senior Program Coordinator and Assistant Librarian for the Whitman County Library system. She started working at the library in 2015 as the mail clerk. Molly loves working with seniors and has made many friends among them. The regular programs Molly hosts are Color Me Crafty, Bingo & Pie and library outreach to local senior living facilities.

Molly also works at the circulation desk and other library tasks. She said the library is, “a great place to work, and I'm surrounded by amazing co-workers and patrons.” She likes that the library serves as a community hub with people of all ages coming and going for activities, speaker events, exhibits and books. The whole family loves living in Colfax and feel like it is where they are supposed to be.

Molly and Kent have a daughter, Madison, and a son, Preston. The household also includes two dogs, Nyla and Gypsy. When not working they are hiking, reading, spending time with family and friends. Recently, Molly has become interested in photography.

“It's hard to live in such a beautiful area and not enjoy taking pictures,” she commented.

She describes herself as a pretty basic cook, but her recipes sound better than average.

Recipes

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

3 lbs. chicken portions, skinned, boned and cut into cubes

3 Tbsp. butter

1 large onion, roughly chopped

3 stalks celery, roughly chopped

1 large green pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp. each cayenne, white, and black pepper

1 cup uncooked rice

14 oz canned tomatoes

6 oz smoked sausage, cut into ½ inch dice

3 cups chicken stock

Salt

Chopped parsley

Use the chicken bones, skins, onion and celery trimmings to make stock. Cover the ingredients with water, bring to a boil and then simmer slowly for one hour. Strain and reserve.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion. Cook slowly to brown and then add the celery, green pepper and garlic and cook briefly. Add the three kinds of pepper and the rice, stirring to mix well. Add the chicken, tomatoes, sausage and stock and mix well. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmering and cook 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is done and the rice is tender. The rice should have absorbed most of the liquid by the time it has cooked. Serves 4-6.

Pepper Steak

1 ½ lbs. round steak

½ tsp. salt

Minced onion

1 cup beef broth

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

Garlic salt

1 green pepper, sliced

2 Tbsp. corn starch

1/4 cup cold water

1 tomato, sliced

3-4 cups cooked rice

Trim fat from meat and cut into small pieces, brown thoroughly in skillet, add onion, broth, soy sauce, and a few shakes of garlic salt. Cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 20 minutes. Add green pepper. Cover and simmer five minutes. Blend corn starch and water. Stir gradually into meat mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Boil and stir one minute. Add tomatoes, heat through and serve over rice. Serves 4-6.

Paunutty

Brownie Pizza

1 Package fudge brownie mix (19-21 oz.) and ingredients to make brownies

1 (8 oz.) package softened cream cheese

½ cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 packages (1.6 oz. each) peanut butter cup candy, chopped

1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

2 bananas, sliced

2 Tbsp. (1 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit a large round baking stone (13 inches in diameter). Prepare brownie mix according to package directions pour over parchment covered baking stone, spreading evenly. Bake 15-18 minutes or until brownie is set. Cool completely. Mix cream cheese, brown sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Spread mixture over brownie to within a half inch of the edge. Sprinkle chopped candy and nuts over cream cheese mixture. Top with banana slices. Microwave chocolate chips on high for one-and-one-half minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring after one minute. Drizzle melted chocolate over pizza. Cut into 16 squares.