My favorite recipes

Taking care of visiting grandkids and taking them to swimming lessons in LaCrosse is keeping Jeannine Henley Larkin of Hay busy right now. Her daughter’s children enjoy a visit to Hay with recreation in LaCrosse.

Jeannine’s ongoing project is her work with the LaCrosse Community Pride. LCP members find it challenging to keep their project, which is not just a store, moving ahead.

At present they have a chiropractor and possibly a licensed massage therapist interested in having space in the store building. They are looking for other businesses and are thrilled that the branch library will be located in the store building.

Right now, buying groceries, especially fresh produce, is difficult for LaCrosse area residents.

Board members of LaCrosse Community Pride include Jeannine, Carol Audet, Alex McGregor, Scooter Lyle, Jen Broeckel, Tedd Nealey, Jeff Andrus, Gary Wargo, Ed Casey and Randy Myklebust. The committee has been working for several years to reopen the store. Filing their IRS form for a 501(c)3 corporation took more than a year to accomplish. Nothing seems to happen rapidly.

At this time, they are trying to finish the store building. It took more time and funds to repair the infrastructure of the store than initially estimated, so they are still in full fund-raising mode. The committee introduced their “Great Grain Exchange” at the Farmers Festival this June, so farmers can easily donate grain to the project, similar to the “Bushels for Butch” campaign for WSU Athletics. Forms are available at Jasper Trucking.

The editor of Wheat Life magazine has visited LaCrosse, and their project has been featured in the Spokesman-Review. The negative comments on the Spokesman-Review blog dismayed the committee, so they know that they have to explain their projects continually. They have applied for grants and have received donations of cash and many hours of donated labor. Youtube carries a video about the LaCrosse project.

Many years ago, LaCrosse Builders built a retirement complex, nine apartments for the elderly with rent based on income. It is important for elderly people in the community to have access to a grocery store and for non-drivers to have a safe and convenient place to live in their hometown. Jeannine serves on the board for the facility.

“I never dreamed I’d be living in a hundred year-old house in Hay and like it,” Jeannine remarked. She’s lived in cities, but she is happy back home in Whitman County. She and her late husband, Dan, created a dramatic kitchen, with brick red beadboard walls with hickory cabinets. The brick red matches a chimney they left in the kitchen for its visual impact. Antiques displayed on open shelves are from her family or are like kitchen items she remembers from her relatives’ kitchens. Hosting family and friends is a pleasure in her bright kitchen and comfortable home.

Over the last few years, Jeannine cared for her aging parents and her childhood friend, Liz Gordon, who had brain cancer. Her husband, Dan, seemed to be regaining his health after a series of challenges when he died unexpectedly a year and a half ago. She has been able to overcome these losses and find joy in her kids and grandkids and meaning in a variety of community service organizations.

Jeannine’s mom taught her to cook, and there was lots of cooking to do at home, especially during harvest. She began as a harvest helper and her first job was making the Kool-Aid for the crew. Of course, there was a secret ingredient, a fresh lemon squeezed into the Kool-Aid.

Recipes:

Apple Pie

1 9” prepared pie crust

8 apples, sliced, Jeannine prefers Granny Smith

3/4 cups sugar

3 Tablespoons flour

dash salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Layer ingredients, starting with sugar mixture, alternating with apples. Add top crust and flute edges. Brush top with milk, cut vents, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F for one hour or until apples are tender.

Mom’s Large Macaroni Salad

2 cups salad macaroni

1-12 ounce jar small sweet pickles

salt

pepper

1 bunch small green onions

1 small can pimientos

8 hard-cooked eggs

1 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon prepared mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon prepared mustard

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon vinegar

Cook macaroni in 2 quarts boiling water, salted water until just tender. Drain and blanch with cold water. Immediately add fluid from sweet pickles. Season with a little salt and pepper; let stand 3 hours or more.

Cut green onions and tops, sweet pickles, pimientos and eggs, reserving one or two of the eggs for garnish. Stir above ingredients into macaroni.

Mix together mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, and vinegar, and add to macaroni. Correct seasoning.

Heap a large amount of salad on lettuce leaves. Cut pimientos into strips. Use a slice of hard-cooked egg in the center of salad and arrange pimiento strips as spokes for a wheel out from egg center. The place a slice of egg at the end of each “spoke.” Scatter a few sprigs of parsley over top of salad.

Blackberry Dessert

Crust: 2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups flour

Filling: 8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

Topping: 1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

4 cups blackberries

6 Tablespoons cornstarch

12 ounces whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter and mix well with flour. Press into 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Mix together ingredients for filling and pour over cooled crust.

For the topping, mix together sugar, water, berries and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for three minutes.

Cool topping, pour on top of cream cheese layer, and spread evening. Top with whipped topping. Refrigerate. Serves 12 to 16.

John Wayne Casserole

2 cans 4 ounces green chiles

1 pound Monterey Jack cheese

4 egg whites

4 egg yolks

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sliced tomatoes

Remove seeds from chiles; dice. Grease 9 x 13 inch pan. Layer cheese and chiles.

Beat egg whites till stiff. Combine egg yolks, milk, and flour; blend. Gently fold egg whites into egg yolks. Pour over cheese layer. Use fork to pierce cheese so egg oozes through.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Lay tomato slices on top and bake for 30 minutes longer.