My favorite recipe - Meet Mic Chambers, Colfax

Christmas isn’t Christmas for Mic Chambers and her husband Tom without a collection of Santas, Christmas Bears and grandchildren.

Mic collects Santa figures, then decorates her home and Christmas tree with them. Tom collects Christmas bears, specially designed bears that come out every year with the year embroidered on each one’s foot.

“We’ve bought them every year since 79,” Tom said. The collection of bears fills two spare rooms in the house.

Mic and Tom were both born in Butte, Mont. When she was five, Mic’s family moved to southern California and she lived there until graduating from school. She then ended up back in Montana where she met and married Tom.

They moved to Colfax, where Tom had relatives, and have remained here all their married life.

“I’ve pestered her for 36 years,” Tom said with a laugh. They raised their three daughters, Katerina, Crystal and Tracey, all graduates of Colfax High School.

Mic worked for 25 years as a florist, starting at Excell, now Rosauers, where she worked in floral for 10 years. She then went to Damery’s, which is now Flowers and More. She managed the floral department at Dissmores for a few years before returning to Flowers and More.

“You get burned out on flowers,” she noted.

After a quarter of a century in one career, she started looking for something different.

She began work part-time as a teller at Sterling Savings Bank, working her way up to a full-time personal banker position. Her main responsibilities are helping customers open accounts, loans and CDs.

She still dabbles in floral some, mostly for herself and family. She made a centerpiece for a recent auction, but Tom ended up buying it back.

Tom is a heavy equipment mechanic for Whitman County. He works on the graders, snow plows and trucks and goes out to fix them when they break down, regardless of the hour. Before coming to the county, he worked at Arrow Machinery.

Mic likes to read and sew and shares other hobbies with Tom.

“We both love to golf,” Tom said.

“We go to as many courses as we can go,” Mic added. Every summer they head to Montana to play golf.

“Mic tried it and she liked it,” he said. Having a good sense of humor is important for playing golf, especially when a tee shot rolls off for a drive of about two inches. She notes she doesn’t hit into trees like Tom does.

“Mine go straight,” she said.

“But I play the hook well,” Tom replied.

Their grandsons also keep them busy. After raising three daughters, Mic now finds herself with three little boys running around.

“What a difference,” she said.

Mic is an avid supporter of early mammograms. Last year she discovered she had stage one breast cancer.

"I found it early because of the mammogram," she said. With the early detection, she was able to get the problem taken care of before it progressed. Even though she doesn't have much of a family history of breast cancer, she still staunchly gets a screening every six months.

"Go get them," she said, noting women as young as 35 can go in. "The earlier you find it, the better off you are."

Chicken

1 (8 oz.) Russian salad dressing

1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

1 (10 oz.) apricot preserves

Combine salad dressing, onion soup mix and preserves. Mix well. Place chicken in single layer in baking dish. Pour mixture over chicken. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Baste occasionally. Serve with rice.

Hamburger Soup

2 lb. hamburger

carrots

celery

onion

potatoes

corn

stewed tomatoes

bay leaves

celery leaves

Brown hamburger-add to vegetables and juices of canned vegetables. Add water. Cook 3 to 4 hours.

Gingham Salad

Romaine Lettuce

Carrots

Red cabbage

Almonds

Blue Cheese

Mandarin oranges

1/2 cup honey

2 tsp. vinegar

1/3 cup salad oil

1 tsp. poppy seeds

salt

Mix salad ingredients. Mix dressing and top salad.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread

12 oz. cranberries (frozen or fresh)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

1 to 2 Tbsp. horseradish

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese

Over medium heat boil water and sugar. Add rest of ingredients, including cranberries. Bring back to a boil for 10 minutes. Cook. Spread over cream cheese.

Pig Lickin’ Cake

Cake:

1 (18 1/2 oz.) box butter yellow cake mix

3/4 cooking oil

4 eggs

1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges and juice

Beat all ingredients together for 4 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees in 3 layers for 20 to 25 minutes.

1 (3 3/4 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding

1 (15 1/2 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained

1 (9 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Mix all ingredients by hand.

Iced cake is best kept in refrigerator.