My favorite recipes 4/28/11

Meet Danielle Treis, St. John

When Danielle and Kenneth Treis decided to move their family out of Walla Walla, they had two criteria. The first was their new home be no more than two hours away from Walla Walla so they could easily visit family there. The second was access to high speed internet for Kenneth’s work. They stretched the time to two hours and fifteen minutes when they chose a home in the St. John area where they have lived for the past three years.

When the Treis family made the move, Danielle was pregnant with their fifth child. She spent a good portion of the move in the Whitman Hospital and Medical Center with a broken leg. She had broken it while carrying stuff up the stairs in their new home. She healed by the time she delivered her baby, returning to her doctor in Walla Walla for the birth.

Danielle and Kenneth now have six children, Dominic, 10; Catherine, 8; Marianne, 7; Christopher, 5; Bernadette, 3; and Teresa, 18 months.

Danielle grew up in Walla Walla. Kenneth is originally from Montana, but his family moved all around. He moved to Walla Walla during Danielle’s senior year in high school. After college they lived in Walla Walla for seven years.

“We wanted to live out of town,” Danielle noted. The booming winery industry in Walla Walla had driven up real estate prices so moving somewhere local would have been expensive.

St. John fit the bill and the Treis family has found welcome among the citizens. When they first moved there, Danielle joined the gardening club and they are members of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. Danielle currently homeschools their children, but she’s not worried about the day they join the public school system because they already know many of the teachers and staff.

It was different to come to a town with only 500 people, Danielle noted, but they are fortunate to have everything they need there.

Kenneth works from home writing custom computer software. Danielle has a degree in professional writing which can be used for grant proposal writing and annual reports. After she graduated from the University of Puget Sound, she worked writing manuals on how to use and repair food sorting equipment. Now she helps Kenneth edit websites.

Her main focus is on her children and their home.

“I’m a home executive, I guess,” she said.

When they first moved to St. John, Danielle stumbled across the Master Gardener program.

“I enjoy gardening and I just wanted to learn more,” she commented. She attended the classes in Clarkston last year and fulfilled her volunteer requirements in January so she is now a certified Master Gardener. Danielle has used her professional writing skills for the program, revising and working on brochures.

Gardening on the Palouse is much different than in Walla Walla she noted. Her biggest fight is not against the deer, but the wind and cold.

Music is a part of their family’s life. She and Kenneth play piano and sing at their church. They are teaching their children to play the piano and the oldest two children are learning to play the violin from a teacher in Cheney.

Danielle, Kenneth and Dominic have their amateur radio operator licenses for HAM radios. Since the move the radios are mostly for fun. They have one in the car and at the house so they can radio home when they want. They also take the radios on hikes and use them as a learning tool about radio waves, transmission and mechanics.

“It’s just fun. It’s good science for the kids,” Danielle said.

In Walla Walla Kenneth was involved in ARES, amateur radio emergency service. In the case of an emergency, amateur radios can get into places cell phones and other devices can’t. His group would have drills to hone their skills in case the need arose.

The children are involved in the Colfax Rivers Edge 4H group.

They have been doing a lot of remodeling as they finished the basement after the move.

French Crepes

After we tried these one Sunday and the kids loved them, it has become a family tradition to make these every Sunday for brunch after church. Ken usually makes them for us — he even has special pans to cook them in! We have multiplied the original recipe six times for our family.

3 C all-purpose flour

3 C milk

1 1/2 C lukewarm water

12 large eggs

12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

1/2 C sugar

1 t. salt

Mix all ingredients in a blender, food processor, or large mixing bowl (we use the last option).

Let batter stand for 30 minutes (or make ahead and chill overnight).

Preheat crepe pan (or other non-stick or seasoned flat-bottomed frying pan) over medium heat & coat pan with a little bit of butter.

Pour 2 T. of batter into pan, lifting pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer.

Cook until the top is set and the underside is golden.

Turn the crepe over, using a spatula or your fingers, and cook until the other side is lightly browned.

Continue cooking the rest of the crepes, stirring batter before pouring each one into the pan.

You can butter the pan each time, but we find this is not necessary.

To serve, we let everyone fill their own with whipping cream, yogurt, fruit, or other fillings and roll them on their own plates.

Stovetop Macaroni & Cheese

This one is a big hit with my children, and it is often requested on special days (birthdays, baptism, etc.). And grownups seem to like it, too. I modified the original recipe so that I could feed my large family and have leftovers.

6 to 8 c. elbow macaroni or other small pasta

1 T. salt (for the pasta water)

8 T. (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces

One 12-oz can evaporated milk

1 1/2 c. regular milk

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 pounds (approx.) of cheddar cheese, grated

1 to 2 tsp. salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Boil the pasta in a large pot just until tender. Drain and return to the pot. Add the butter and stir until well blended. Add the evaporated milk, regular milk, eggs, and grated cheese and stir together until smooth. Set the mixture over very low heat and, stirring constantly, bring the mixture to the first bubble of a simmer, about 5-10 minutes. It should thicken noticeably; this may take several minutes. Increase the heat slightly if the sauce is still soupy after 5 minutes, but try not overheat it (above 170 degrees F) as the sauce will curdle. Serve immediately if you can.

Ken’s Snazzy Spinach Calzones

My husband created this recipe when we had a lot of spinach to use up one day. Now it has become a family favorite. I like to make extras and freeze them for microwaving later, but we don’t end up with many left over anymore. I might have to double this one again.

Bread dough:

1 3/4 c. water

2 T. butter

3 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

3 c. whole wheat flour

2 c. minus 2 T. white flour

2 T. gluten (replaces the 2T. we leave out of the white flour)

1 1/2 t. yeast

This is our homemade bread recipe that we make in the bread machine. For calzones, I mix the dough with our heavy-duty mixer and let it stand while I make the filling.

Filling:

A whole bunch of spinach, chopped

1/2 brick ( approx. 1 pound) mozzarella cheese, grated

1 lb. hamburger browned with garlic, oregano & cilantro, or 1 lb. Italian sausage, browned

1 or 2 eggs (you choose)

1 “glug” of cooking sherry

Mix all filling ingredients together in a large bowl (or use a heavy-duty mixer). Divide dough into 8-12 roughly equal pieces. Roll smaller pieces out one at a time, put some filling in the middle, and fold the dough over the top, sealing edges tightly. Cut small slits into the tops for ventilation and place on greased cookie sheets. Optional: brush tops with egg white and sprinkle with parmesan cheese before baking. Bake @375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Filling will be bubbling and tops will be browned.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Lower fat, Higher Protein, Reduced Sugar, Whole Grain, Almost Healthy, Fully Rationalized)

I’ve been working on this recipe for a long time, and it recently won one of the Make-it-with-Wheat contests at the Palouse Empire Fair. My husband’s favorite cookies all have peanut butter and chocolate in them.

2 C peanut butter (I use Adams Crunchy)

1/2 C butter

1 C sugar

2 C brown sugar

6 huge eggs (farm eggs; use 7 regular eggs)

2 C white flour

2 C whole wheat flour

2 t. baking soda

2 1/4 C (one 12 oz. package) chocolate chips

Make like cookies. Translation: cream butters and sugars, including peanut butter, together, then beat in eggs, then mix in dry ingredients, baking soda first, then flours. Stir in chocolate chips. Batter will be very stiff and sticky. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets or roll into balls (this will make your hands very sticky!). Bake @ 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.