My favorite recipes

Tia Langston has always enjoyed art classes. After two years as an art major who focused on painting and ceramics at Spokane Falls Community College, she attended the Imperial College in London, England.

Now, however, her artistic outlet is food, especially decorated cakes and hand-dipped truffles. Over graduation weekend, she made two graduation cakes and a birthday cake. She does a chocolate-peanut butter combination that would make any Reese’s candy lover happy.

The daughter of Jenny Meyer of Endicott, she graduated from St. John-Endicott High School in 1998. She participated in volleyball and golf, drama and Future Business Leaders of America.

John Langston, Tia’s husband, is a graphic designer who produces the Appaloosa Horse Club magazine and does graphic design and multimedia video editing. He graduated from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. Growing up on a ranch near the Utah-Idaho border, he worked on the ranch as a kid and during summers in college.

Tia and John met online on a chat room for single Mormons, then began emailing and talking on the telephone and then he came here to meet the family.

When John was laid off, they made the move to Whitman County. Tia remarked that he would really enjoy life if he could make a living at his hobbies, building fireworks and woodworking.

The Langstons are remodeling the former Cecil Storment home. They enjoy living in the country near Endicott. Right now they are redoing the second floor and will redo the yard this summer.

Both John and Tia cook for their family. Tia works part-time making custom truffles and cakes. She is also the branch librarian at the Endicott Library which was recently remodeled

The Langstons have four children. Teagan, 10, just finished fourth grade and is active in Cub Scouts, coach-pitch baseball and is learning to play the trombone. Brody, 7, will be a second grader next fall. He plays T-ball. Kamryn is 5 and will be in kindergarten next fall. Liam is 4 and enjoys swimming. The family enjoys swimming, reading together and doing projects together.

Members of the Colfax LDS Church, Tia is first counselor in the Women’s Relief Society with Beth Moxley. The children attend Sunday School and John teaches the 12 to 13 year-old class.

Tia has a great method for dipping chocolates that she has developed to minimize mess. She dips the bottoms of the candies and sets them on a sheet. She lets the candies set and then dips the tops and lets them set.

Recipes:

Poppyseed Chicken

6 chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1/3 cup butter

12 ounces sour cream

2 rolls Ritz crackers

2 tablespoons poppy seeds.

Slow cook the chicken in a bit of chicken broth and water, just on the stove top, for about an hour so that it will shred easily.

Layer shredded chicken in a 9X13 pan.

Mix soup, sour cream and 1/3 cup butter and pour over chicken. Crush the Ritz crackers, add poppy seeds, and mix with the other 1/3 cup butter. Layer the crackers over the soup mix and chicken and bake for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Creamed Chicken and Biscuits

1/2 Large onion

1 1/2 teaspoons butter

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped pimiento

1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese, divided

8 frozen biscuits, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Chop the onion. Heat butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Stir in onion. Saute until tender. Combine onion, chicken, soup, sour cream, milk and pimiento in a medium bowl and mix well. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle baked layer with 3/4 cup of the cheese. Arrange biscuits in single layer over top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until biscuits are golden brown and the sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts cubed (raw)

1 cube butter

1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix

Put in crockpot and cook on low for 3 hours. Then turn on high for 1 hour.

1/2 hour before serving add:

1 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

Serve over rice.

Easy Chocolate Lover’s Cheesepie

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups (12-ounce package) mini chips semi-sweet chocolate, divided

1 extra-serving-size packaged graham cracker crumb crust (9 ounces)

2 Tablespoon whipping cream

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until well blended.

Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Stir in 1 2/3 cups mini chocolate chips; pour into crust.

Bake 10 minutes.

Without opening oven door, reduce temperature to 250 degrees; continue baking 30 minutes or just until set.

Remove from oven to wire rack.

Cool completely.

Cover; refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Place remaining 1/3 cup chips and whipping cream in small microwave-safe bowl.

Microwave 20-30 seconds or just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred.

Cool slightly; spread over top of cheesepie.

Refrigerate 15 minutes or until topping is set.

Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesepie.

Blueberry-sour cream Pie

1 deep dish baked pie crust - either pastry or graham cracker

Fruit layer:

One bag frozen blueberries or 1 pound fresh blueberries, set aside some fresh berries

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream layer:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together the blueberries and lemon juice in a medium pan. Cover and cook over medium low heat until the blueberries are simmering in their own liquid. Stir in the granulated sugar and cornstarch and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute. It should be quite thick. Stir in the vanilla and let the mixture cool for at least 20 minutes before spooning into the pie crust. If you have more fresh berries, sprinkle a few on top.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese, sugars and lemon zest with an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and blend until smooth. Spoon over the chilled blueberry layer and refrigerate for at least two hours.