Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
With the first serious snow of the season coating the Palouse, some people may be in despair about bad road conditions, cold temperatures and ice, but the arrival of Old Man Winter only whets the appetites of Tami and Tim Southern.
Tim, Laynie, Wyatt and Tami
“We kind of live for snowmobiling all winter,” Tami confessed.
Both grew up in the Spokane Valley and attended the same high school with about 400 other students. They met after graduation while watching Gonzaga basketball in the Sweet 16 and hit it off. Both worked for Fire District 8 in Spokane, Tim as a firefighter and Tami as an accounts payable clerk.
Tim was later hired by the Pullman Fire Department after they were married. He commuted to Pullman for the month before and several months after their daughter Laynie was born.
“He was not home for the first six months. It was hard,” Tami said.
They decided to move and wanted to locate in a smaller community, away from sirens and loud car stereos.
“We were tired of living in the city, we wanted out.”
Their out was Garfield, where they moved during the winter in 2005. After the move Tami worked at the Garfield Café for about two years until she was about eight months pregnant with their second child, Wyatt.
One thing they learned quickly about their new location was they were going to need a fence. Living on the outside corner of a sharp curve on Highway 27, once a year a car ended up in their yard or the wheat field right behind them. The first time they slept through it, but saw the tracks the next day. Further encounters urged them to build the fence. Tami noted this is the first time Tim has lived in a place with a fence.
Tim started attending city council meetings to see about easements and getting a fence. When a vacancy opened on the council in 2006, he was asked to submit an application. He was appointed to fill the vacancy and then was elected in 2008.
Tami is also involved in the city government. She was asked to sit on the variance committee in 2006 and three months later wound up on the Park and Recreation board.
Tami and Tim look forward to winter and breaking out their snowmobiles.
Last year Tami bought her own, smaller snowmobile to see if she would like it. She went sledding with Tim and some of his buddies in the back country. At one point they were playing around, climbing snow mounds that were too steep for Tami’s snowmobile. Tim let her use his which was much more powerful. When Tami went to climb the slope, the powerful sled started hopping to the side, off the other tracks. It bucked her off and rolled down the slope about seven times, losing the windshield and burying, then dragging, Tami. Tim recalled watching with his buddies and said that was the first time he’d ever seen the guys move that quickly. Tami came up unharmed but stuffed with snow.
“I laughed,” she said.
Laynie, 4, and Wyatt, 2, sometimes ride along, but not for long.
“They don’t get the concept of holding on,” Tami said.
On the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, Tami joins other local moms at the Garfield Community Church for Mom’s Connection. They get together while volunteers baby-sit the children.
“We sit, we talk, we do crafts. We have mom’s time without the kids,” she said.
“It’s a good forum for younger moms,” she remarked. It’s also good for the children as they get a chance to socialize and play with other kids.
Mom’s Connection started about two years ago. The group meets during the school year and takes a break during the summer. They meet at the church from 9 to 11 a.m.
Along with raising children, Mom’s Connection and community government involvement, Tami also helps her aunt who comes to the area to do dental screening for pre-schoolers.
“If it isn’t one thing, it’s another,” she said. “Does it ever end for me? I don’t think so.”
Crunch Top Apple Pie
3/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 (16 oz) jar apple sauce
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter, chopped into small pieces
dash salt
3 1/2 cups peeled, chopped apples
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 9 inch pie pan with pie crust. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Stir in apples, apple sauce and lemon juice. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter. Cut remaining crust into strips, arrange in lattice design over top of pie.
Crunch Topping:
3 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
Dash salt
1 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Using fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over top of pie. Bake from 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and continue baking for about 45 minutes or until crust and topping are golden brown.
Mashed Potatoes
3 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes (9 medium), peeled and cut into pieces
1 cup half and half or 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
Place potatoes in 3 qt. saucepan. Add enough water to cover. Cover and heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered 20-25 minutes it until tender. Drain. Shake potatoes over low heat to dry.
Mash potatoes in pan until no lumps remain. Heat half and half, butter, salt and pepper until butter is melted. Reserve and refrigerate 1/4 cup of mixture.
Add remaining milk mix in small amounts to potatoes, mashing after each addition until potatoes are light and fluffy.
Grease 2 qt. casserole dish. Spoon potatoes into dish. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Heat over to 350 degrees. Pour reserved milk mix over potatoes. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until hot. Stir potatoes before serving.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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