My favorite recipes

eMegan Dorman has spread her wings and traveled far and now she and her husband Mike are happy to be living in Whitman County. Colfax folks have known her since she moved here at the age of five when her mother, Sue Doering, became Colfax High School’s head volleyball coach. Eric and Sue lived in Spokane when Megan was born.

Megan’s brother Kyle, now 27, and sister Kinsey, 24, were born in Colfax.

In high school, Megan loved sports, playing volleyball and softball all four years and basketball for two years. She followed this with playing volleyball for two years at Pacific Lutheran University which she said was more relaxed than high school volleyball because PLU plays Division III sports. That was fine with Megan since she was there for the academics.

While at Pacific Lutheran Megan began coaching, helping with volleyball at Life Christian Academy in Tacoma for her last two years of college. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Her travel began during high school with a trip to Europe playing volleyball. As a volleyball coach she went during college with a team, and she took a tour on her own.

Thanks to Jack and Sandy McBride and their contacts, Megan’s first teaching job was in China in an international school in Wuxi, located an hour inland from Shanghai. She arrived in China in August giving her time to get acquainted. Traveling with friends during weekends and breaks gave her a chance to see a lot of the country. Chinese New Year in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore was another great travel experience.

With her height and blonde hair, traveling in a group with some men over six feet tall and some other blonde women they received a lot of attention from Chinese people, especially men. It felt like living in a bubble. Personal space is very tight anyway, so being stared at seemed especially strange.

Not wishing to extend her teaching contract for another two years, she returned to the United States and was hired at Endicott to teach primary grades. Her teaching assignments have varied with the number of students in those grades. She began teaching kindergarten three days a week, and first and second grades Monday and Friday afternoons. Her second year, she taught full-time kindergarten on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus first and second grades in the afternoon. She taught social studies, handwriting and science in the afternoon.

Now she teaches kindergarten and first grade all day, every day. For the core subjects, Megan has a paraprofessional to help handle small groups in reading, writing and so on in the morning. She teaches math for both grades. By herself in the afternoon, she uses center work and small groups. There will be 15 children in her class this fall with reading level ranging from pre-reading kindergarten children to proficient first graders.

“Reaching each learner – it’s pretty nice to have small classes,” she remarked. The K-1 age group was challenging at first because of the wide range of skill levels.

Mike Dorman teaches history and social studies at Washtucna in grades seven through 12 except ninth grade, which does not take a history class. He also coaches junior high school boys’ and girls’ basketball. That works because the girls play in the fall and the boys during the winter season. He is a graduate of LaCrosse High School and Eastern Washington University. Like Megan, he has a mother who teaches, Connie Dorman in LaCrosse.

The Dorman twins Emma and Lexi are now 15 months old. Megan had an uncomplicated pregnancy with twins, and they were born at 38 weeks, so she was able to stay active. Now the girls are walking and going wherever they want. Fraternal twins, they are both very blonde.

The Dormans enjoy walks, going to the park and using the swings, swimming and the little girls have push trikes. They spend a lot of time in the gym and love to visit the Dorman farm. Mike and Megan are pleased that the girls are really well-behaved when they are out and about. Megan also plays on an alumni volleyball team in the summer.

Megan is ready to begin her eighth season coaching volleyball at St. John-Endicott High School this fall and at Endicott-St. John Middle School in the winter. High school, she observes, is more intense and competitive while the younger girls’ team experience is focused on fun and learning skills. Of course for high school, intensity and competitiveness is fun, too.

Recipes:

Garlic Green Beans

1 Tablespoon butter

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small head garlic, peeled and sliced

2 14.5-ounce cans green beans, drained

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil. Add sliced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is lightly browned. Add drained green beans and season with salt and pepper.

Cook beans for 10 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve warm. Serves 5.

Microwave

Taco Soup

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 package taco seasoning mix

1 can (15 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained

1 can (15 ounces) beans in chili sauce, undrained

1 can Rotels chilies and diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can tomato soup

1 soup can water

tortilla chips

salsa

sour cream

grated cheddar cheese

Place burger and chopped onion in Deep Covered Baker. Cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Remove and crumble with Mix n Chop. Cover and return to microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and use Mix n Chop until desired consistency is obtained. Drain. Add remaining ingredients, stir thoroughly, and heat 10 minutes until hot.

Serve with tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, and grated cheddar cheese.

All-American

Pot Roast

1 large onion

3 stalks celery

1 boneless beef chuck pot roast, 3-3 1/2 pounds, trimmed

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, pressed

3 stems fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 Tablespoons water

2 Tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Dice onion using chef’s knife. Slice celery into 1-inch pieces. Season beef with salt and pepper. Place onion, celery and beef in deep covered baker. Whisk together broth, wine, tomato paste, and garlic pressed with garlic press in small batter bowl. Add broth mixture, thyme stems and bay leaves to baker. Bake, covered, 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.

Remove baker from oven. Remove beef from baker to large grooved cutting board; tent with foil. Discard garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Carefully pour drippings from baker into strainer of gravy separator. Allow fat to rise to the surface. Slowly pour off juices using spout with divider into 10-inch skillet. Stop pouring before fat pours off with juices. (Discard fat.)

Bring juices to a simmer over medium-high heat. Combine water and flour in 2-cup prep bowl; whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to skillet, whisking to incorporate with silicone flat whisk. Cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes, or until gravy is thickened. Slice beef; stir with gravy.

Apple Crunch Pie

Filling ingredients:

6 cups sliced and peeled apples

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 homemade or store bought pie crust

Topping

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup butter, soft

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place crust in pie plate. In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; mix. Cover, microwave for 7 minutes. Spoon into crust-lined pan. In small bowl, combine all dry topping ingredients, then cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake 35-40 minutes.