MY FAVORITE RECIPES - Meet Robert and Kathy Wride, Colfax

Jana Mathia | May 13, 20100

Robert and Kathy Wride have an inside joke about 45-20. It means if they had gone the 45 miles between their high schools at Garfield and Genesee, they might have found each other 20 years sooner. Instead, they had to wait until 2006 for their first date.

“Been inseparable since,” said Robert.

Robert grew up on the family farm in Garfield. His class was the first to graduate from the new Garfield-Palouse co-op. He served in the Navy for 10 years and then returned to the Palouse. He did several different jobs over a few years and finally settled into law enforcement in 2002. He has been a member of the Colfax Police Department since 2004.

Kathy has lived on the Palouse since 1986. She moved from Moscow to Colfax in 2000. At the time she only knew one person in the town. She submitted a job application at Whitman County Growers. The same day another employee gave her notice, and Kathy was hired as the office manager. In that position she became acquainted with a lot of people. She noted if you open yourself up as a newcomer, you will meet many friendly people.

She worked there for six years and then took a position at US Bank in Colfax. For the past four and a half years she has been the assistant relationship manager for the bank.

“You’d never know from our titles what we did,” she said. Relationship managers handle commercial loans.

When Kathy went to work for the bank she had to be fingerprinted. Robert saw her for the first time when she came in to take her fingerprints. He didn’t say five words to her. Destiny gave him another chance when Kathy had to come back a second time for fingerprints, and once more, he said hardly anything.

Kathy lived next door to Robert’s brother who said the two had a lot in common. One day while Robert was on duty, he saw her and pulled over to say hi. They went on their first date the day before Thanksgiving. Three years later, to the day, they were married in Colfax.

Kathy was on the Colfax City Council for one and a half years until she married Robert. Then she had to resign due to conflict of interest regulations.

“I really enjoyed city council,” she said. “I liked being the voice of the people.” Many times she had people thank her for her vote. She learned a lot through the experience and hopes to get back into it some day.

She also does Meals on Wheels a couple times a year and serves at the fireman’s breakfast during Hullabaloo.

Robert, in his job, gets to interact with the public every day, for better or worse.

“I enjoy doing it. I like that off-chance we get to help people,” he said. His favorite times are when he goes to a good event with a good outcome. Unfortunately, he is usually going to a bad event, hoping for a good outcome. He also helps area farmers during harvest.

Kathy has two adult sons and she and Robert are raising his sons from a previous marriage, Tyler, 16, and Carter, 13.

Kathy and Robert like to do things together.

“We cook together a lot,” Kathy said. They like to come home and try new things, cooking and baking. They also tackle the weeds together. Both like to fish.

“I’m the good luck charm,” Kathy states. Whenever she goes along, Robert always catches a fish.

“Not one time have we ever been skunked,” he noted.

Recipes:

Baked Pineapple Stuffing

1/4 lb. butter

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

5-7 slices white bread, cubed

1 medium can crushed pineapple

Mix all ingredients together and place in greased casserole dish. Bake 1 hour at 350.

Garden Fresh Pasta Salad

12 oz. pkg. rainbow pasta

1 cucumber, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 white onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

3/4 cup oil

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup white vinegar

2 tsp. mustard—wet, regular

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1 tsp. garlic salt

Cook pasta according to package. Set aside. In large bowl combine all remaining ingredients then gently fold in pasta. Refrigerate until chilled.

Pineapple-Blueberry Jello

1 lg. box raspberry Jello mix

1 cup boiling water

1//2 cup cold water

1 can blueberry pie filling

20 oz. can crushed pineapple w/ juice

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

8 oz. cream cheese

Mix boiling water with Jello mix and then add cold water. DO NOT make according to box instructions. Mix in 9x13 dish with pie filling and pineapple. Put in freezer to set.

When set, beat together sour cream, sugar and cream cheese and spread over set Jello.