My Favorite Recipes: November 21, 2019

If a person heads to downtown Colfax and stops by the Colfax Mercantile, they won't find just one little store inside, but will discover an incubator with eight different businesses. One of these businesses is Wild Women's Western Wear co-owned by Kristy Hennigar and Bryce Boesel.

While Kristy's family has deep roots in Colfax, Kristy herself was raised on a cattle ranch in Arkansas. Kristy, along with her parents and all her siblings except for her eldest brother, returned to Colfax when she was 13.

As a senior in high school, Kristy worked for a western wear store and absolutely loved the job. She has wanted to run her own Western Wear business ever since. With the help of Bryce Boesel, she was finally able to get the business up and running online this past April. The business partners jumped at the opportunity to move into the Mercantile where they now have a physical presence to match their online presence.

"We've had great success in here, it's been fantastic," Kristy said, "There's the eight businesses in here and we've all had really good luck."

Wild Women's Western Wear has been growing in Colfax as a unique business that appeals to farmers, their wives and others interested in Western style clothes, accessories and home decor. The business sells women's clothes and is working on expanding its men's line. They also are working on developing more designs for its signature line.

The western theme also fits in with Kristy's other business, Ranch House Catering. Remaining local to Whitman County, Ranch House Catering provides hearty, home-style dishes such as pulled pork, smoked tri-tip and potato salads to name a few.

Kristy has always enjoyed cooking, learning from her mom and grandmother. At 21, she starting working as a cook.

"I've done quite a bit," Kristy said. "It seems like every job I had I ended up in the kitchen eventually."

Kristy has been running Ranch House Catering for almost five years covering meetings, funerals, weddings and graduations to name a few events.

"If it takes food, we do it," Kristy said.

Ranch House Catering employs locally and uses anywhere between one and six people depending on the size of the event, with her dad as her right hand man in the kitchen and her mom also helping out.

"This is our hometown and we have so much support, right here, at home," said Kristy. "We definitely wanted to be a part of this."

Kristy moved away after high school, like many youth wanting to go to new places. Now she is raising her own three kids in Colfax.

"It's a fantastic place to be and to raise a family," Kristy said.

Kristy decided to be careful with the recipes so as not to divulge any trade secrets:

Recipes:

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1 1/3 cup unsweetened

raspberries

1/3 cup chicken broth

2 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. cider vinegar

2 ½ tsp. olive or canola

oil

2 tsp. dijon mustard

Press raspberries through a sieve, reserving juice; discard seeds.

In a jar with tight lid, combine the broth, sugar, vinegar, oil, mustard and reserved juice.

Refrigerate. Shake before serving.

Peach Bread

3 cups crushed peaches

2 cups flour

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup shortening

2 large eggs

1 cup pecans, chopped

coarsely

6 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 ½ cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

In bowl combine peaches and sugar, mix well, and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the flour baking soda salt and cinnamon, mix well, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325F

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar together with and electric mixer, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat util well blended.

Alternately, add the peach mixture and flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well blended and smooth.

Fold in pecans, scrape batter into a floured and greased loaf pan, bake until golden, about 55 minutes. Turn out and let cool.

Roast pork with spiced cherry sauce

1 boneless pork loin

roast (3,4 lbs.)

1 tsp. pepper

1 can tart red pitted

cherries

¼ cup vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. rubbed sage

1 ½ cup sugar

12 whole cloves

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 tbs. butter or mar-

garine

3 to 4 drops red food

coloring (optional)

Rub roast with salt, pepper and sage; place in an ungreased shallow baking pan.

Bake uncovered at 325F for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until meat thermometer read 160-170F

Meanwhile, drain cherries, reserving liquid. Set cherries aside.

Add water to cherry liquid to measure ¾ cup. Pour ½ cup into a saucepan; add sugar, vinegar, cloves, and cinnamon.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Remove and discard the spices.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining cherry liquid until smooth; add to saucepan.

Bring to boil; cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in lemon juice, butter, cherries and food coloring if desired; heat through.

Let roast stand for 10 minutes; slice and serve with sauce.